Hello all! New here but have reviewed some similar topics and can't seem to find the answer so here goes: I have two hue bridges which I've successfully had Hubitat discover all bulbs and groups for each. Yay! Now.. questions:
I have many scenes on each hue bridge that I'd like to see loaded onto the Hubitat for further control. How do I make this happen? I do have polling set at 1min!
I also have two Echo Dots (3rd Gen). I did select the following groups in the Hubitat Amazon Echo App for both Echo Dots to control: All, Master all (zones on the hue bridge but discovered by Hubitat as groups (I guess)) and Greatroom (a true group on one of the hue bridges. NOW... I've asked Alexa to discover my devices and she searches.... and never finds anything. What do I do!?? Is there something else I have to do to connect the Echo Dots?
Hubitat's Hue Bridge integration does not currently support scenes, so there is no native way to integrate them. If I ever find time to finish it, I'm working on a community integration that will include these.
For the groups/zones, Alexa should discover them automatically if you're using the Hue skill for Alexa (using the Bridge). I wouldn't put Hubitat into that at all unless you have a good reason. If you do want to, you'll have to uncheck the box that is by default checked to exclude Hue Bridge devices. I'm not sure which way you're trying, but I'd recommend the former.
Thank you for the quick response! Ok.. So you've helped me a lot so far! I thought that if I installed the bridge app on Hubitat that Hue would talk to Echo. I guess not! Like I said I'm very new to all of this!
So at your advice I have installed the Hue skill in Alexa and now Alexa app can see everything including lights, groups and scenes. And.. of course now I can turn off/on lights, etc w/Echo.
Questions!
Because of my misunderstanding, what does the Hue bridge app in Hubitat really do? Just allow Hubitat to see Hue and collect all devices for Hubitat use? And.. what use would that be?
I don't understand your response "I wouldn't put Hubitat into that at all unless you have a good reason. If you do want to, you'll have to uncheck the box that is by default checked to exclude Hue Bridge devices. I'm not sure which way you're trying, but I'd recommend the former."
From your response why would you rather I control Hue w/Alexa instead of Hubitat or am I missing something?
Are you also stating that I may want exclude Hue all together from Hubitat or just use Hubitat to have Hue work with smart switches and contact sensors inside of Hubitat?
In terms of "what I'm trying". Hue and Echo got me to want to get a smart hub based on many Youtube videos mentioning that I should have one to manage everything to prepare for future products. So.. to me at this point the idea of having lights go on/off when I open a door w/door switch and turning off/on lamps that don't have wifi but instead have a smart plug are exciting ideas to me. However I'm now confused as to what role Hubitat plays in all of this so far??? Please don't take offense to that I am really trying to learn and I wasn't going to buy a Smarthings hub because well.. yours researches to be superior!
Thoughts on above?
knowing that I have about 67 hue lights and two hue bridges and now a Hubitat and 2 Echo dots (at this point) but no smart switches, etc. yet.. would you have any recommendations for me in terms of what should see what and or how I should
organize these systems?
If I trigger a scene in Hue is there a way to have Hubitat capture that state for a new scene in Hubitat? I ask as it would be really great to NOT have to recreate all the scenes I have in Hue if I don't have to!
I reread what I wrote and realize it's unclear. I meant only that for Alexa integration, I'd go Hue directly to Alexa, not Hue to Hubitat to Alexa. (No reason to put Hubitat in the middle of that.)
There are plenty of uses for the Hue Bridge integration. Presumably you will want to use Hubitat to manipulate your Hue Bridge lights--that's how you can do that. Hue had a few native options for automations, but nothing like you can do with a full-blown system like Hubitat. That's where I do (almost) all of my Hue-related automations--plus you can, of course, automate other devices along with them. You can also use devices from both of your bridges in Hubitat, whereas Hue doesn't have a way to natively use devices from another Bridge.
Unfortunately, for Hue scenes, the Bridge integration doesn't get those. It could, but it's just a feature Hubitat hasn't added (yet?). You can still use accessories on the Hue system directly to activate those (a Hue Dimmer, the Alexa skill, etc.) or wait for a community workaround. Hue B Smart can get scenes, but it's a bit of work to install.
Thank you for the clarification. I am reading tutorials and getting ready! Ya I use Hue Labs ("Third Times A Charm")for an automation where during a specific time period, a HUE motion sensor turns on night lights and then turns them back off when no motion is detected for 60 seconds plus. Seems simple but in HUE, the updates usually screw it up and because it's in the "LAB" it's a pain to get to. Seems like Hubitat (HE) will make this so much easier!
I'm sure I've shown my "newbyness" by now. If you have any suggestions for community topics that are pure gold to guys like me besides my poking around please let me know! This is the first smart hub I have ever used!
Welcome to Hubitat! Home automation can be fun, and I think Hubitat is a great system (I've used a few different ones and stayed here for the local execution and wide variety of Zigbee and Z-Wave device support, plus the staff are active in the forums and fairly responsive to community ideas.)
Once place you could start if you haven't are the docs: http://docs.hubitat.com/. They show you what's possible using built-in features of Hubitat. For example, you can learn about the built-in "apps" (Hubitat's term for automations) that can do things like manage your thermostat schedule or create motion lighting automations. They are a bit new--and so is the platform--so feel free to point out anything you think is lacking from them. This perspective may help staff improve them for new users in the future.
This Community forum is also a great place. If you have a question, feel free to ask, and lots of people are usually willing to help. (I'd consider searching first just to make sure no one has asked the exact same thing.) You'll see lots of people on the forum doing lots of crazy things because the system is so extensible (with things like custom code, the Maker API, or even Rule Machine) but that's nothing you need to do, so I'd encourage you to not think that's what everybody does or something you have to do to use the platform. Built-in apps and drivers work well for most people. But if you get bored or have a neat idea, there are often lots of possibilities! I discovered a few neat ideas here and in some other forums (including that of the similar-in-nature "classic" SmartThings platform). Good luck!
Hue B Smart can get scenes, but it's a bit of work to install.
