New to Hubitat - HE C-8 with devices in Canada

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Hello,

This is my first post here, so please feel free to direct me somewhere else if this is the wrong place.

I just did a bunch of research into which Hub ecosystem I wanted to invest into, and Hubitat Elevation C-8 was looking like the way to go. I already purchased one, and am running into a couple issues, but first for full context, here's a list of what I already have, and a wish-list of things I'd like to do in the future:

  • Philips Hue Bridge + 12 lights (6 bulbs, 6 downlights)
  • Ecobee Smart Thermostat with 2 sensors
  • Lutron Caseta Smart Bridge (not pro) with 2 Caseta Lamps
  • Several Wi-Fi Outlets
  • August Wi-Fi Smart Lock
  • Google Nest Hub Max, 2 Google Nest Hub, and several Google Nest Mini
  • 3x Google Chromecast
  • MyQ enabled Garage Door opener
  • 2x Google Nest Doorbell (Wired) Gen 2

So far all my automation has been using Google Routines/Automations. The following things are what I'm looking to do in the future:

  • Add open/closed sensors to all doors and windows
  • Add leak sensors to all water fixtures (sinks, toilets)
  • Smart Valve closer on water main in case of leak
  • Smart power monitor (Emporia Vue? not Zigbee but looks promising regardless).
  • Motion sensors for some rooms to trigger lights, etc.
  • Add humidity sensors to bathrooms to automate fans

From my research, it looks like my best bet to have my automations be fast and consistent are to use local connections via Zigbee or Z-Wave devices, with Matter/Thread coming soon. This is what led me to getting a Hubitat C-8, and I have been leaning towards Zigbee for any of the product research I've been doing.

I purchased some Aqara door and window sensors, and Aqara leak sensors, after watching several videos of them being recommended. However, I've had issues trying to connect them to my C-8. Some forum research led me to several custom drivers, each of which I tried with no success. My C-8 will find that they are connecting, but the devices will not connect. From what I could find, it looks like Aqara is using a non-standard Zigbee protocol which has issues when trying to connect to Hubitat. I'm still within my return window, but currently am holding onto them in case anyone here has advice for me.

Trying to look for alternatives to those Aqara products in Canada, I can't find any Zigbee devices on Amazon or other retailers that do the same thing, without finding devices that are either very poorly rated, or out of stock with no information on when they'll be back.

So I'm boiling it down to these three questions:

  1. Should I give up on my Aqara sensors and look for a different brand?
  2. What retailer should I be looking at purchasing devices from in Canada? What brands are reputable for these examples above?
  3. Does anyone have any product recommendations for any of the things listed above that I'm trying to achieve? Should I be trying to proceed with the Hubitat ecosystem?

Thanks for reading my giant post. Any advice on any of the above is extremely appreciated, I'm definitely overwhelmed at the moment, so any guidance would be amazing.

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Welcome to the community!

First a little housekeeping.
Go to Hub owners - Hubitat , join the group and then you'll be able to post pics and links.
You can also subscribe to the Canada section to get a notification if someone finds/posts any deals.

Briefly:

  1. Always avoided Aquara but some people love them. :man_shrugging:

  2. Amazon stock is pretty low ATM but it does vary quite a bit. https://www.aartech.ca/ is pretty popular (free shipping over $100)

3a. Philips, Tuya, Sonoff (sensors and dongle), most of my other stuff is no longer available locally.
3b. Hubitat does have a learning curve but there's always someone willing to lend a hand if you need it. :smiley:

Also:

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These are great.... They just work... Also have battery and temp reporting.

You need the pro bridge 2 to integrate into Hubitat. Very worth it. Can probably pick it up cheap off of ebay.

These are fantastic and come with a 48" pig tail if you want to use it (optional)

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/Electronicheart-Neo-Coolcam-ZigBee-Water-Overflow-Sensor-WiFi-water-leak-detector-Waterproof-Leak-Detector-Kitchen-Bathroom-Flood-Level-Alarm/PRD4G6HMR9J29HK

Pretty much anything. I like the Hue indoor sensors (pair directly to hubitat)

My go to are NYCE sensors (Humidity/Temp/Motion) for the bathrooms. Moes for hallways.

Now onto stuff you have

You need the Pro 2 bridge. L-BDGPRO2-WH

Brand/Model?

There is some integration

Install built in chromecast connector

same as above

I don't like the My Q myself as it's cloud based. I much prefer using a zooz zen-16 with an ecolink tilt sensor. It can run inline with your oem garage system. That said, you can use MY Q lite available in Hubitat Package Manager.

The API may allow some stuff to work. Dunno.

Aquara stuff works horribly.

Since you're new, I recommend glancing at this. It might help you avoid some gotchas..

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Awesome, thanks! I joined those groups and added notifications for Canadian sales.

It looks like on both Aartech and Amazon, I'm better off looking at Z-Wave devices, at least right now. Do you have any advice between the two?

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This is amazing, thanks!

The WiFi plugs are ZOOZEE and work with the SmartLife app, but the Amazon page is down now so I can't link the exact model and don't have the boxes anymore. I'm not against replacing them if needed.

These are great.... They just work... Also have battery and temp reporting.

These contact sensors look awesome, and the price is much better than what I was looking at elsewhere. I don't see any info about the protocol they use on the product description, is there something I should be looking for when looking at these kinds of things to be sure they'd be compatible?

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@kkosev has an integration that may work, just understand they will be cloud based. (icky)

These are zigbee. I have 36 of them currently in use for all our windows...

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image

These guys are pretty popular with the community, one of the better values ATM on amazon.ca as well. (click pic)

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I buy some stuff from AArtech.ca and they have been great for CDN purchases.
The love hate thing for Aqara is true but I have had great success with them using the community driver and Tuya repeaters. I have lots and rarely do they give me any trouble; they were a bear on ST!
Remember to dig into the foumd for drivers/apps and suppport. HE does a great job of the built-ins but the creative genious of the members is massive; I run lots of user created code and that's what makes this platform so complete.

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Awesome, thanks. I'll probably grab a bunch of those. How can you tell they're Zigbee from the listing? I'm just wondering for the future, it's hard to tell with some of the devices what protocols they use.

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Here's the Tuya integration:

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For some it's obvious, they'll have "Zigbee" in the title/description or in the device details. For others I've sometimes just had to search using the Amazon Q&A option on the product pages:

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Going to the manuf web site is usually helpful as well.

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My comment above was specifically for this link posted here. I'm not sure how to tell with some of these kinds of products where nothing seems to be listed, but maybe I'm just missing something.

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Yeah, for stuff like that it's the old "Google is your friend" story. I usually just Google the device name/numbers from the description:

Also, just posting a question about them here is pretty reliable too. :slight_smile:

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Do these work in a way where the sensor plus the probe work at the same time? For example, if I put one under my sink, with the probe to the toilet, both ends will work? I'd like to cover 3 toilets, 5 sinks, a dishwasher, a washing machine, a sump pump, and a water heater. If the probe and sensor work together, that saves me about 150 dollars.

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I second that choice. Easy to setup, great support. I have been running iotaWatt for almost a year now and the iotaWatt "mains" reading over this period is 99.5% of what my house meter readings,

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They only come in zigbee

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Yes but really if you have one under your toilet you dont really need the probe...I keep one under each sink and water heater tray..

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I think the gap there is you wouldn't catch the start of a small leak. I think I would want to know that there's a leak under the sink before it gets to the point of flowing out to the floor. Just using the sensor under the sink wouldn't catch a flooding toilet (unless things are REALLY bad).

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Mine is on the floor under the sinks so hopefully would catch it... And one behind the toilet on the floor...

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Same, but I guess having a single device with two probe points would be the cheaper route. Think that's where the OP was headed.