careli.fryer.maf02 is the main switch and it can start/stop cooking with on/off commands.
So if I import this to Alexa and change its name, I will be able to turn on/off using it.
However, I am already able to do that with Mi Home skill.
I am looking for a way to control other functions of the device.
moving to another place is a difficult process. I wish you gıo through it easily.
And I am sorry to take your time with my questions. Please feel free to ignore me. Maybe you can answer after you complete the move process...
Thanks and no worries. I’m answering because I want to, not because I feel obligated. All good.
You’ll only ever be able to do more than what the HA integration allows, and only if it creates an entity that is compatible with one of the existing Generic Component devices available on HE.
One thing that comes to mind would be to setup an automation on HE so when you leave, the air fryer would automatically shut off in case you forget and leave it on. But honestly, none of these things are all that useful for an Air Fryer anyway, in my personal opinion. It is one of those appliances that typically is going to cook so fast, that there’s little to no chance you’re not going to be there for the whole process anyway. Seems like a feature just for the sake of a feature. Just my personal opinion though. Maybe something I’m not considering that would be very helpful.
My main uses are preheating from another room, changing temperature to crisp things towards the end and notifying me to shake during cooking. Also keeping track of timing (eg notifying me when the cycle finishes).
A mixture of pain medication and mobility issues make an integrated cooking facility very useful. A measure of caution is always helpful but the benefits certainly outweigh the relatively minor risk in my case.
I'm using a Proscenic T21, it's currently managed using a branded app via their servers but having done some research after seeing this thread I'll be converting it to Tasmota (hardware swap, replace the WiFi board with an ESP32) which will enable full local control via home assistant.
Actually, what I need is an Alexa command to do these (with priority order):
ask for remaining cooking time
ask to pause cooking (with original Mi home integration, I am able to start/stop but I need a pause)
ask to change target cooking temperature
ask to change target cooking time
These can be adjusted through HA. But up to now "target cooking time" and "remaining cooking time" was not created on Hubitat. I need to figure out a way to force it updated maybe.
Also, at first when you told me to install HA and do the integration through it, I had thought that it would create a "Air Fryer" device on Hubitat (and Alexa) that I would be able to control all features through it.
Now I understand that I will receive several entities from HA and will only be able to control them individually as separate devices. That's interesting.
You understand correctly now. The way this integration works is it creates a device on your Hubitat hub for a matching Home Assistant equivalent to one of the Hubitat Generic Component drivers, in other words, for this to work, the device you want to import has to creat an “entity” on Home Assistant, and there has to be a Generic Component driver of that entity type on HE.
“Air Fryer” would be too generic of an entity, since it would only describe what the device is, not the individual capabilities of the device.
I've played a little bit with the HA
I even integrated it directly with Alexa using AWS Lambda service and a custom Alexa skill.
But finally I decided to remove HomeAssistant.
It's entity based structure is not good for me.
Even if I directly integrate it with Alexa (removing Hubitat from the flow) I have to use separate virtual devices to control each feature (target temp, target duration, remaining duration, status of device, recipe ID)
A normal kitchen appliance integration shouldn't be like this. There are robust and good Alexa integrations where Alexa identifies the device as a kitchen appliance and controls all features through a single device name.
(eg. set target temperature 200 on air fryer)
Well that’s good you found a solution that works for you.
If you want HE to control one of the features, you could do it via the Alexa integration and a small bit of code on HE that makes a switch act like a contact or motion sensor. This can trigger an Alexa routine when your virtual “contact” closes.
Alexa routines now allow you to create custom actions. In other words, anything you would say to trigger a device can be initiated from a routine instead.
