New Guy here with a general question about HE

[ppespepe]

Hello people, Apologies in advance are in order for such long first post.

This is my very first post. Just ordered my Hubitat Elevation C5 (whatever that means) from Amazon, Waiting for it to arrive but sadly I tried to cancel the order once I learned about the Lutron Pro Thing... It is really a show stopper big time for me because I really don't want to buy yet another hub (I already have two non HE compatible lutron bridges)

Anyway, everybody sounds so optimist about the HE that since I couldn't cancel the order, I'm giving it a try so here I am asking for some maybe basic guidance on HE while I wait for the international ship of my HE.

Today I have:

• Hue lamps, bulbs, play, switch (i love Hue)
• Lifx Mini Bulbs
• eMylo wifi switches (SmartLife tuya switch)
• August Smart Lock Pro with the wifi thingy and the zwave.
• Lutron Dimmers
• SmarLife/Tuya smart plugs with a led ring..
• Kasa Smart plug
• Smart things multi sensor (the new one), motion sensor and one Smart Plug and presence sensors
• Harmony hub (which so far I hate because I could not do anything good with this expensive toy)
• Broadlink Mini RM3 or something like that.
• DreamScreenTV which seems to be WiFi only for the phone.
• Dreamcolor Minger led strips that seems to be only visible to Alexa...
• Wyze PAN camera
• Tiny cam pro software running into a Samsung tablet to be able to show camera stream on an actiontile's tile.

And a collection of AppleTV, Apple Home Hub, Google Home Hub, Google Home Mini, Echo Spot and Echo Show for whatever is worth.

And I use Actiontiles to try to live the dream of a real smart home

So far I have achieved so few and spent so much that I'm a little bit frustrated. The only way to integrate my Tuya's switches is through IFTT which I don't like at all, it is very slooow and I have not been able to do very basic things like to turn on my balcony's hue light if the door is opened but only if its dark. I mean, so far I don't see smartness anywhere.

Now my questions:

• Is there a way to integrate with those TUYA devices?
• What is the best way to do panels? maybe there is a way to integrate HE with apple home kit or smartthings or alexa or google to still receive updates or notifications when I'm out of my house?
• Do I have to de-register all of my smartthings zigbee accesories to register those into HE? or it can be used on both?
• Can HE make my Harmony Hub useable? I mean, I wanted to be able to program some automations giving looking for the power of having buttons on my touch panel (any of my tablets urnning fully kiosk on android or tkiosk on apple) being able to even turn on my fans? the problem I have been facing is, I've been unable to add remote control buttons instead of the whole activity thing... even worst, if you run an activity and want to run another one, Harmony seems to like to turn the first activity off before... sad...

So here is the thing... is there a way to really add smartness to my whole house with what I already have? maybe converting my Smart Life things to tasmota (whatever that means) or an app (I'm able to do cut and paste but the last time I wrote a code, Basic wasn't visual) If HE is so good that the only thing I need to fulfill me dreams is the lutron... good deal, I can buy it but, will it work with whatever else I already have?

I also have a couple of Raspberry Pi 3 B+ one with 7 inches touch screen and the second with the 3 incher.. so toss in into your ideas if those two little darlings can make my life easier

Since I have those Raspers I thought about HomeSeer but chances are I would need to buy a Zigbee/Zwave dongle anyway and apparenlt it requires $29 to $39 third party add on even to use electricity... (if I'm not mistaken of course) so I think that won't cut the cheese for me...

Now thank you so much for taking the time to read and forgiving my english!

Have a great day!

[erktrek]

Okay I will let other people chime in on the compatibility stuff.. there are a ton of knowledgeable Lutron people on these forums.

As far as the RPi's & 7" touch screen if you already have them - there is a very easy way to incorporate HE's dashboard feature by running something like this:

guysoft/FullPageOS

Just use it to point to any dashboard(s) you create. I've used this with other projects and it's very handy.

[erktrek]

Also check out this thread:

[RELEASE] Send IP2IR - Control all of your IR devices from your Dashboard

*** BPTWorld apps are no longer being developed or maintained. Thanks *** Introducing 'Send IP2IR' app and driver! Now you can control all of your IR devices from your Dashboard. 100% Local Control - Uses Telnet to 'talk' to the device Parent/Child App structure Create as many child apps as needed Create Child apps for Switches - Things that use two commands (Television power, Stereo power, etc.) Create Child apps for Buttons - Things that use one command (Vol up/down, Channel up/down, Input…

[ppespepe]

Thank you erktrek! that is really a great idea for the 7 incher!!!

I'm hoping those web panels rocks!!! Actiontiles does not seems to have an URL that includes the username and password and the panel you want so from this perspective, HE should be a great addition.

Have you ever played with housepanel? Never tried but seems to work with both, ST and HE.

Once again, thanks!

[erktrek]

I installed an earlier version and it looked great. Unfortunately it was running on the same PI as my WebCoRE server and that had issues so eventually wiped it. The developer @kewashi has been very helpful and responsive.

You could probably install HousePanel AND FullPageOS on the same PI. HE's version is getting better and better as well - but lacks some of the prettiness/functionality of HP I think.

[marktheknife]

@ppespepe

Is there a way to integrate with those TUYA devices?

Sort of, but it takes some effort. In general, WiFi switches don’t play nicely with a z-wave/zigbee hub like Hubitat.

[DEPRECATED]TuyaHubitat - (jinvoo, smart life, tuya smart - switches only)

Hi all, I just wanted to take a minute to share something I have been working on. Lots of research and poking has led me to a local control solution for these wifi devices. At this time support is for outlets only, however seems it is possible to expand and include most products controlled with this api. Install can be a bit technical but not overly challenging. UPDATE - 5/23/18 - With Dave's guidance, got all plugs working from one hubitat device. Refresh now refreshes all devices at once and…

@ppespepe

What is the best way to do panels? maybe there is a way to integrate HE with apple home kit or smartthings or alexa or google to still receive updates or notifications when I'm out of my house?

This seems like multiple questions? There’s a built-in dashboard that can be accessed remotely. There’s also sharptools. If you setup homebridge on another device like an RPi, you can see your Hubitat devices in Apple HomeKit; you’ll need an Apple home pod, Apple TV or a spare iPad to enable remote access or notifications though. If you’re looking for notifications only, then you can get that with Pushover, which isn’t free but is worth the small expense.

@ppespepe

Do I have to de-register all of my smartthings zigbee accesories to register those into HE?

Yes, with a caveat. There are solutions that could allow you to keep a device on ST, but sync it with a virtual device in HE. So it’s technically possible to have a zigbee device paired to your ST hub but accessible from your HE hub.

@ppespepe

If HE is so good that the only thing I need to fulfill me dreams is the lutron

I had a Lutron caseta (non-pro) bridge that I used with my ST hub. I switched to Hubitat, got a pro Lutron bridge and I haven’t regretted it for a second since.

[kewashi]

@erktrek

You could probably install HousePanel AND FullPageOS on the same PI. HE's version is getting better and better as well - but lacks some of the prettiness/functionality of HP I think.

Thanks for the positive recognition. HP should have no problem Co-existing with other things on a single rPI. Mine runs along side HomeKit, KuKu Harmony, and a general web server. And yes it supports both ST and HE side by side. Love seeing new people try it out so if you do let me know what you think. There is nearly no limit to how you can customize HP.

[ppespepe]

Hello @kewashi, I'm giving HomePanel a try... I'm eyond novice but learning fast!

22 hours after unboxing my hubitat! The setup was very easy... customization on the other hand proves to be a lot harder than setup but let's find out!

Thanks and kudos to you!

[Eric.C.Miller]

Nice!

[kewashi]

Really nice — and you are off to a good start with the hard part behind you. Customizing is all about using the tile editor and having patience. First thing I would do is hide the title of the analog clock and change the background color. So many more options you can implement. Use your imagination and enjoy.

[erktrek]

Are those running on your RPi? I am curious about how those 7" screens are working. An alternative that I've been discussing with people in some other threads is using an inexpensive tablet like the Amazon FireHD and running an application called "Fully Kiosk". I was able to purchase the tablets in the US for around $50 with special offers and then root/disable most of the apps and change the launcher.

Here are some threads on the subject:

Wall Mountable POE Tablet for Dashboards?

I know some people have fit other tablets to their walls for a control dashboard, but I was wondering if anyone has looked at getting a wall mountable tablet from alibaba or such. They seem to do pretty cheap android tablets that can even be POE powered. Example Glenn.

Wall Panel App for Android

I have found a new app on the play store that I really like so far for displaying a dashboard on my wall-mounted tablet. It's called, intuitively enough, Wall Panel. Seems to load a lot better on my very old tablets (1st Gen Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3) than Fully Kiosk does. Liking it so far. It works great for Sharptools.

Fully Kiosk: Dashboard not updating changes in status

I am running two fire tablets with fully kiosk. I am having an issue when I turn a switch on from the outlet or from one of the other tablets, not all of them will update. It will show switches on that are not and vice versa. If I get out of the dashboard and go back in it will show display correctly. Any ideas?

[ppespepe]

Thanks Ken!

Just a quick question if I may: Ho can I get rid of the authentication?

and... are there any other skins? I mean I have the auto but do you know any place where somebody published theirs to learn how to make it more appealing for me?

Kindest regards!

PP

[ppespepe]

Hi @erktrek,

It works.. I mean housepanel, even though I'm so new to it, is what I was looking for... exactly what I wanted. The ability to move buttons freely is what action tiles lacked big time. Their levels of customization seems to be really endless.

I just want to share somethings I've done to achieve the 7 icher to work... I'm pretty sure there is room for improvement but here it goes:

For this particular RPi I used NOOBS because I got tired of opening the thing to take the SD out and reinstall the raspbian. So now it is a lot easier.

First things first: You need to turn the screen upside down to be able to stand the thing on its rubber feet:

sudo wget -P /tmp https://raw.githubusercontent.com/remonlam/rpi-touch-display-fix/master/rpi-touch-display-fix.sh

sudo chmod 755 /tmp/rpi-touch-display-fix.sh

/tmp/./rpi-touch-display-fix.sh

On screen keyboard to have a tablet like experience (even though it won't appear when you touch a text box which renders it almost useless): sudo apt-get install matchbox-keyboard

Then installed the House Panel from housepanel.net (kudos to @kewashi for such a great tool) it is so easy even myself got it working first try. Just bear in mind if you use a Mac for the setup, use safari (maybe even chrome) to copy the ID and the other big number because, at least from my side, it was not possible from firefox (I have no clue why)

Then simply made my RPi a kiosk (of sorts) by editing the following file:

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

And then added the following line before something 0 (zero):

xinit /usr/bin/chromium-browser --no-sandbox --no-first-run --window-size=800,480 --noerrdialogs --start-fullscreen \

--start-maximized --disable-notifications --disable-infobars --kiosk --incognito http://localhost/housepanel/housepanel.php &

The result:

In case you wonder, the 3.5 incher is running homebridge but I have no idea how to integrate @tonesto7 's hubitat-homebridge app to HE.

I installed homebridge using iOS homebridge app, it was very easy:

Clicked "is your plugins missing?"

There are lots of supported integrations... this developer needs to acknowledge HE

Then when you click "Universal" it gives you:

[erktrek]

your HousePanel looks great! Thank you so much for your report - I am so tempted to get a display for one of my PI's. I read about the upside down screen issue. RPi's are so flexible.

[kewashi]

@ppespepe

Just a quick question if I may: Ho can I get rid of the authentication?

by default set the password of the admin user is set to blank, but if you previously set it to something non blank the only way to remove it is to edit the hmoptions.cfg file. Look for “pword” in the config section of that file. Remove the string of characters assigned to your username.

As a reminder, each user name is assigned a unique panel configuration file. For example the admin user setup is stored in hm_admin.cfg so be sure to keep the name you used unchanged.

[kewashi]

@ppespepe

and... are there any other skins? I mean I have the auto but do you know any place where somebody published theirs to learn how to make it more appealing for me?

There is currently no library of user developed skins but I love the idea. We can start a new thread and invite users to post their skins. HousePanel ships with four skins - two of which are kept up to date.

• skin-housepanel - default blue ish theme
• skin- modern - a cleaner more technical look
• skin-plain - bare bones starting point
• skin-material - user developed variant

The material skin is really cool looking but I don’t maintain it so there are some compatibility issues with the current version. With some effort it could be revived I think.

[taysnet]

Hi @ppespepe Do you run the House-Panel-Server on the Raspberry Pi itself? And also the Pi as the Panel UI with a RPi Kiosk?

I have a Pi3B+ and a QNAP, juggling where to install the HousePanel server?