New Hubitat user in Australia

Hi everyone,

Just got my new Hubitat.
Starting with Hue, Sonos.

Looking for/at

  • Smart locks - Yale Assure (this is the reason I got the Hubitat actually)
  • Hue indoor and outdoor lights
  • Sonos
  • New security system
  • Blinds

I am looking at these day/night roller blinds with a transparent screen during the day, and black out at night - looking to see if I can find a motor system that works with this
Or a set of these blinds that have a motor that works with Hubitat?

Also doesn't seem to be too many choices for security systems here?

Cheers,

Tim

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Oh, and looking for some roller door motors and controllers.
Was looking at B&D, not sure if there are better options?

An expensive option for blinds would be Somfy motors, which I have. They work well with a Bond hub that has an API that can be accessed via a Community developed set of drivers for Hubitat. There are other options, but thought I'd at least share mine. If you are planning a dual roller it would get even more expensive...

Putting the negative of the cost to one side, the benefits are the Hubitat integration, the fact that the Bond API is available locally via your LAN. The Somfy / Bond hub combo also opens up a number of options for control beyond HE, including the Somfy remotes, Bond mobile app, as well as Google / Alexa. The reason I mention this is that I value these options due to the likelihood of failure of various elements of a HA setup, so having backup options is often a valuable asset and allows for transitioning between different platforms if you choose to in the future.

And welcome to the Community :slight_smile:

Simon

welcome to HE @tsmithac !

+1 for the bond, it works well.
+1 for the Yale (go with Zigbee module, not Zwave)
+1 i like the B&D's, any garage door controller with a dry contact input can be done with a Fibaro Smart Implant or similar.
Hue is great but super expensive, especially here.
Check out the Mercator Ikuu range, it can be paired directly to the hub and is much cheaper for the same functionality...better range too.
if you've got mitsubishi A/C units, there's a good integration some dodgy guy has pumped out ( :crazy_face: couldn't resist @sburke781 ), and others can be controlled with IR senders or dedicated units such as sensibo.
so much to automate, so little time!!! :slight_smile:
and plenty of guys willing to provide advice on this forum when you're stuck.

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Yeh there doesn’t seem to be much around for a security system that integrates easily, I have been toying with the idea of something like Konnected but I’m not 100% sold on it.

I may just end up going with the Konnected integration kit so I can just harness the state of my existing Bosch system, sensors etc

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Big fan of Konnected, I'm using it with my Bosch system.

Yale Assure with ZigBee - agree.

Welcome to Hubitat, I'm in Brisbane :slight_smile:

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Thanks @sanewton72 so easy to forget the stuff I have done when there's so many other great drivers / apps around here...

Just in case any picks this up, I did have the question the other day about the add-ons for Mitz units that use the IntesisHome setup, these unfortunately won't work with my drivers, but there is another set of drivers here on the forum that have been developed, so you may want to check those out.

Welcome Tim,

Just on the journey myself - been experimenting since the C-7 came out in my shed and caravan while we build a new place. I've been leery of smart locks as they seem to be poor locks, but living out in the country off-grid, it's probably a good trade off to be able to let someone in someday from wherever we're at, so ... I'll watch for good pointers. :slight_smile:

I've not really thought about a security system per se, but am thinking I might go with a Unifi Protect setup and just run Hubitat Safety Monitor as a motion detector that snags a few frames and sends them to our mobiles.

The Sonos is fun to play with - in my shed, if I'm Away (or turn it on to freak people out) HSM senses motion or door opening and the Sonos plays the voice saying, "security breach detected" and the coloured lights come on in red. I need to get the Star Trek "red alert whoop whoop" sound byte I think. :slight_smile:

I have a couple dozen Aeotec Wallswipes and nano dimmers / nano dual switch modules for the lights indoors - the outdoor ones are not dimmable other than the ones at the deck - which will use the same touch-slider wallswipe.

I need to pick some high density LEDs to put in channels under the cabinets and vanities (wifey has those 'floating' vanities), and as a future project, having electrics in place for dimmable LED channels in various places like walk in closet, or a 45 degree diffuser channel around the ceiling/wall corner. Not sure which ones are good, but I have an Aeotec smart strip (I think they're discontinued now?) in the shed - turns red when the alarm goes off, or when I set the scene to "Telescope Time".

Aeotec has been my favourite but I like the Fibaro smart implant and may try more Fibaro stuff. Got several Multisensor 6's and the drywall mount ('Recessor' I think they're called) - with those, the dimmers and dimmable track & downlights, I spent the money on the controls rather than the LEDs, which means I should be able to use the controls with newer fixtures, and hopefully more cost-effective ones.

I sound like an Aeotec salesman but I have no commercial interest or friends involved with them lol - but there is a "nano shutter" too! :smiley: The dimmer, switch/double swithch, and shutter controller all snap onto the back of a Wallswipe and configure themselves accordingly: dimmers are a tap on/off, slide up/down to set level, a short-range IR sensor for touchless/dirty hands, and if you hold it, it will also dim up or down. If you put a dual switch on the back (same little ribbon cable) then the touch panel changes to two zones that are tap on/off. If you put a shutter controller on there, it sets up with 3 zones, for up, down (left/right? open/close?) and stop in the middle. When I get blinds, my current thought is to use the shutter controller but I am not there yet - and not married to Aeotec though it certainly seems like it as I write all this Aeotec this and Aeotec that...

I've been searching for HVAC and HRV control options but other than the Intesis interface, I haven't found any drivers when searching for mitsubishi heavy industries - thanks to the others who have recently posted as I see from Simon there is someone who's made drivers somewhere, which is my next hunt. :smiley:

Chris in central Vic

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Thanks Simon!

Speaking to a friend in the business, he said Somfy is about the slickest out there.
I have now completely forgotten the name of the alternative that was apparently not too bad either.

Got someone coming out today to measure up.

Did you just find a curtains / blinds company to do the lot?
Or did you do some DIY in there?

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Awesome, I'll check out Somfy and Bond.

What's the reasoning on the Zigbee vs the Zwave?
The Yale also has their own module and a Hub too - quite a flexible little device it seems.

I am blown away by the pricing on Hue here.
The brightness is underwhelming for some areas too.
And of course, internationally looks like there are lots more options coming out or available (including a brighter one)
But their range is still pretty amazing - all the outdoor stuff we can get as well.
Hopefully we get brighter stuff soon.

We've got a Daikin - looks like it can be upgraded with a Wi-Fi module.
I have a couple of Sensibo's from our last house - the native Wi-Fi should be better.
I thought it would have been smarter.. i.e. just tell it I want the room to feel like 22 degrees, and it could fill in the blanks. But you still had to set up a lot of rules and messing around with it.

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there's a 2 pronged answer to that, locks in particular and generally.
locks: it seems that anyone on the forums who uses z-wave locks seems to have a poor experience, and ends up going zigbee. so i took their advice.
generally: zigbee is the same frequency around the world, whereas z-wave uses different frequencies around the world. and guess which country manufacturers ignore (/prioritise just behind Burkina Faso) when building stuff? oztraylia. so over here buying z-wave is like buying electric vehicles. you can only find one or two examples at best, and you'll pay triple what the rest of the world does. plus shipping. :slight_smile:
also, i find zigbee easier to pair/work with compared to z-wave.

daikin wifi works well, @eriktack has updated a ported driver from ST, you can find it with a forum search...would recommend wifi over sensibo and other IR drivers.

I didn't do any diy as such, I had the motors installed by the blinds company and then I sourced and setup the Bond hub myself, which was very easy. I already had the blinds installed by the same company in some cases, but they were able to trim the tubes down before installing the motors.

The other thing to consider is battery vs powered motors. Most of mine are powered, requiring an electrician to wire in the plug for the motor. The one battery powered one I have is an Alpha motor, which does not work with Bond, sadly. There is an expensive Alpha hub I could buy and potentially integrate with HE, but for one blind it's not worth it.

Hope that helps.

Simon