I'm planning to move to Hubitat

Why Hubitat Elevation
41

Can you please elaborate? I have my Lutron Caseta SmartBridge Pro2 connected to HomeKit natively (HomeBridge is not involved, nor Hubitat). I can control my Caseta switches, dimmers, and fan controllers with zero lag via the HomeKit "Home" app on my iPhone.

When are you experiencing a lag? :thinking:

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42

+1 on Home app. We switched our house from Hubitat dashboard to Home app a couple of months ago, using Homebridge, and haven’t looked back. It’s not nearly as powerful or customizable as HE dashboards, but is intuitive, looks great and just works. It is also accessible from iOS Control Center, which is more convenient on an iPhone than a web dashboard.

An unexpected benefit of Home app is that it switches seamlessly between local and cloud control, so I can also control my office lighting from my Mac while VPNed into my company’s network.

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43

@ogiewon:

I have it set up somewhat differently, which may account for that lag.

The client changes the status of a Lutron switch via the HomeKit "Home" app (on an Ipad that is permanently mounted, or on his IPhone).
That change is conveyed via the HomeBridge (which runs on a RPI), to Hubitat.
Hubitat then issues a command to the Lutron Caseta SmartBridge Pro, which executes the change in status.
The change in status goes all the way back to reflect on the "I" device. (Switch -> Lutron Caseta SmartBridge Pro -> Hubitat Elavation -> RPI (runing HomeBridge) -> IPad mounted in the house -> "I" device.
That's a lot of travelling! Even though for each stop it's very efficient.

Is there a different way of organizing things?

44

The way I would believe most users set this up is as follows:

  • Lutron SmartBridge Pro2 (with native HomeKit Support) <--> HomeKit (no HomeBridge)
  • Lutron SmartBrdige Pro2 <--> Hubitat via Telnet integration
  • Hubitat <--> HomeBridge <--> HomeKit (only for devices not capable of being directly integrated with HomeKit, for example Zigbee and Z-Wave sensors.)

I am now also using a Philips Hue bridge, to further improve native HomeKit integration

  • Philips Hue Bridge <--> HomeKit (no HomeBridge)
  • Philips Hue Bridge <--> Hubitat

In addition to Apple HomeKit, both of these platforms (Lutron Caseta and Philips Hue) also support direct integration with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Logitech Harmony Hub, SmartThings, Home Assistant, Node-RED, etc... It is nice to have options, and to know I'll never need to un-pair and re-pair these lighting devices to try out another home automation platform.

I am really liking the reliability, robustness, performance, and integration options afforded by moving all of my lighting onto these two 'subsystems'. Hubitat is still in control of all automations, but it is nice knowing that if my Hubitat hub was to ever have a problem, we'd still have control of all the lights via Alexa and HomeKit.

Hope this helps! :slight_smile:

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46

Thanks, Dan!
I implemented that idea today, and there was a definite difference... it was much faster.

Also, for those who read this note at some point in the future, put the Lutron app on the Ipad which is going to be the home of the HomeKit app. That way, it will pass through all the Lutron names/rooms, etc.

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