I wasn't aware that Home Assistant could do this type of query - I'm hoping this happens through an integration with the Insteon Hub itself and not via the cloud services. I'm trying to disconnect myself from the Insteon online service. Not that I don't want to pay for it - I just don't trust it will be around for a long time. Insteon seems to be a dying platform but with a significant install base keeping it alive.
I have had GREAT success with the Hoobs bridge technology. It doesn't seem to support thermostats but the Insteon thermostats are not that great to begin with and I'll gladly replace.
Anyway, way too much information. Mostly just wanted to say thank you for getting back to me.
No internet required to access the hub and devices via Home Assistant. Same with operation of the hub via the community integration found here. Doesn’t need internet to control the devices.
In step 3, the Insteon hub should respond with a beep when it finds the device you're adding (it's a two tone beep if I remember correctly). If you cannot get it to join via button presses, then you will either need to purchase a month of access to the Insteon app to get it added to the hub, or if you have Home Assistant you can use their integration to add or remove devices on the Insteon hub for free.
I keep the Home Assistant integration on hand for just adding devices (a rare occurrence) and disable it when not needed. Their integration works well for adding and removing devices, but isn't as fast and reliable as the Hubitat community built integration when it comes to daily use.
This works on Chrome (scrolling is a little wonky, but it works), but it may be somewhat inaccurate (i.e. Names will be out of date and devices added after their cloud went private will be missing) if you don't have an Insteon subscription.
The devices I added directly to the hub via the Home Assistant integration do not show up in their database, and the device names are out of date. This is because they are just showing what they last had added to the hub via their app, which was simultaneously synced to their cloud servers.
I recently spun up a HA docker image and enabled the Insteon hub integrations. 11 or my 20 leak sensors are trickling in...but I don't see a way to add new (leak sensor) devices to the Insteon hub.
Be patient. The add device function is not fast, nor is the listing of the devices as you have already noted.
NOTE:
If you are running the Hubitat integration that uses the node.js application, stop it while using the Home Assistant integration to add or query devices. The HA integration will be very slow to list devices if the two are running at the same time, and the results might be unpredectable when attempting to add a device. Once you're done adding the device, disable the Home Assistant integration and startup the node.js application again (if applicable to you).
Sorry. I don't have an answer here. I'm going to suggest that you reach out to @teharris1 on the Home Assistant forum. Not sure what the best thread to reach out is, but you could start here.
Out of curriosity, if you don't have an Insteon account, how do you get status from the leak sensors? Only three alternate ways I'm aware to do it are the Hubitat Community Node.js integration, Home Assistant, or ISY.
Ah yes, I forgot all about the Homebrige plugin. So there are four ways.
Scott Kuester wrote the Insteon Server and Client listener back end apps for the Hubitat Insteon Node.js integration. They were born from a desire to have something faster and more stable than that plugin.
Probably user error but getting the Node.js integration installed and configured was a nightmare. Once I found the the Homebridge plugin I never looked back - until now, that I need a new setup at a rental property.
For a rental property, I wouldn't suggest Insteon leak sensors at all. Your choice, but their lack of battery reporting and no audible notification make them less desirable for a situation where they're off-site.
Assuming your rental property is going to have a Hubitat hub, then my go-to sensors are the Thirdreality leak sensors. They are inexpensive, stable, very sensitive, report leaks audibly and via Zigbee, report battery, have a very long battery life, and just need two AAA batteries. I have four of them in our rental unit.
