Brand new Hubitat user here, trying to figure out how to actually make this work. I'm not a dev by any means (just some R and really intense Excel formula experience). I'm not totally averse to learning to code in this system if I need that to accomplish what I want, if anyone knows of good tutorials on how to get started, but I also don't want to have to dive headfirst into that to get up and running on the key things I want to do.
Here are the devices I own:
Philips Hue bulbs (white ambiance and color)
Ring alarm system (contact sensors and their hub, may install the motion sensor sometime. No cameras.)
DLink wifi water sensor
Wyze camera (we use this intermittently)
Two Echo Dots
One Google Home
Considering adding in the very near future:
Philips Hue buttons and/or dimmer remotes (or some other brand if there's a good option)
Here are a few of the things I'm hoping to accomplish:
Set up circadian lighting on the Philips Hue bulbs
Ideally what I want is that if I turn on a light at any point in the day, it should automatically turn on to be a different color and brightness depending on the time - cool in the day, warm and dim at night. I've run into some roadblocks here. I've installed the Circadian Daylight user-created app, but I was having issues getting it to actually do its thing. It started working the other day, then just stopped changing the color and there was also a period of the day where every bulb in my house was a different color temperature. I'm also confused about how to go back to it if I were to decide I want to override the color temporarily. Based on reading the post here about its development and evolution, I'm not sure it's actually the solution for me. That said, though I'd like to keep all my automations in one place, I am messing around with the Philips Hue Time-Based Light formula (previously Feel Better with Light) in Hue Labs, and considering getting some Hue buttons, since those are supposed to work with that formula and because I'd still like to have some physical switches. Does anyone have experience with those buttons and how well they do what I'm looking for? And do the dimmer remotes also have that capability? It seems like the buttons may be a better choice for the white ambiance lights and the dimmer remotes for the color since they have a little more functionality, but I could be mistaken. Or does anyone have other possible recommendations, either software or hardware?
Connect D-Link water sensor and change the Hue light colors when moisture is detected
First roadblock is I can't figure out how to connect this sensor. From reading some posts, it seems I should be able to connect it through IFTTT and I'm supposed to install a virtual device, but beyond that, I'm completely clueless how that works. I have the IFTTT integration (as well as Google Home and Alexa, which work with the sensor as well). Again, unfortunately, I need my hand held as I get the first steps going.
Connect the Ring contact sensors
I don't have any specific things I want to do with the contact sensors YET but I think I'd like to be able to use them as triggers if possible. Same issue re: no clue how to make them functional devices
If anyone has advice, or great videos/other tutorials on how to get going with these, I would definitely appreciate it. I want to learn this system but trying to understand it all out of the box is a bit overwhelming and I'm not really finding what I'm looking for in searching this forum.
Ah good. That was going to be my very first suggestion. I assume your hue bulbs are paired with the hue hub and you're using the standard hue integration app. That works great for bulbs, but I would suggest other hue devices be paired direcly to HE and NOT to the hue hub. They will be much more responsive since HE will not have to periodically poll Hue for a status. (New community integrations offer alternatives to polling but that's a longer story.)
IMHO I would ditch the d-link wifi water sensor and just get a bunch of zigbee or zwave water sensors. That way all the integration is local, no cloud dependency, and a lot simpler to set up. I'm partial to the ST zigbee water sensor now made by Aeotec, and I have a bunch of Sensative zwave leak sensors as well.
The ring sensors can be paired to the ring alarm or to HE but not both. However an alternative method is to use the ring alarm community integration, so you leave all your sensors on the ring hub but integrate the ring system as a whole with HE.
If you go that route consider using Hubitat Safety Manager. You can also connect your water sensors to it, and even have it shut off your water main if it detects a leak.
I'm in general not a fan of smart bulbs if you can use a smart switch instead. Smart bulbs have a habit of being defeated by a not-so-smart user and a dumb switch. If you decide to go the smart switch route I strongly recommend Lutron Caseta and their PRO series hub. I think you'll find them rock solid. As a side benefit the Pico remote is a very popular button controller.
Good to know about the Hue pairing. I don't have any plans to add other non-bulb devices but will keep that mind if we do.
Re: the water sensor, I'm definitely considering switching to a different device (especially because the local control is part of why I got the Hubitat) but it's a lower priority so I'd like to keep using what I already have for now, where possible. I'll check out those sensor recs soon, though!
I'll check out the Ring community integration and start digging into Safety Manager as well. Thank you!
And re: the smart switches - one thing I forgot to mention is whatever I use, it has to be something that is NOT hard-wired into the light switch (municipal law where I live would require me get a permit and hire an electrician to do that replacement which is money I'm not particularly interested in spending right now). At the moment, I just have covers over the switches to prevent accidental use and I plan to stick whatever smart switch/button next to it. I'll look into the ones you recommended. Do you think they'd work with the circadian functions I'm hoping to get?
Not familiar with the circadian functions as it relates to home automation, The Picos are great but they require the Lutron Pro hub. I don't think I'd bother if I wasn't going all-in for Lutron switches. Understand about the municipal law thing. That's a pain. The safety covers over the switches are a reasonable alternative.
I've done a bunch of IFTTT integrations so as long as the d-link cloud app supports it, you should be able to get it to work. You might also find a community integration that did not require IFTTT though I don't recall coming across one.
Okay, figured out that I need to log into IFTTT to connect Hubitat (I'd already installed the IFTTT integration on HE), but beyond that, I'm at a complete loss on what to do to connect the device. The DLink device is already connected to IFTTT and I have an applet I've been using with it directly through the free version of IFTTT so I know the DLink to IFTTT connection is solid.
Oh ok the rest is actually pretty straightforward. On the HE side create a virtual switch called something linke "DLINK water detected" or some such thing. (I don't think a virtual water sensor will work.) Configure the HE IFTTT integration to expose the virtual switch to IFTTT. TLog into IFTTT and connect it to Hubitat. Go to IFTTT and create an applet. Hard for me to describe the exact steps since I dont have a dlink water sensor but hopefully it' fairly straightforward. Then what happens is IFTTT will turn on the HE virtual switch when water is detected. Just use that switch in your HE automations.
If you can create a second IFTTT applet that turns OFF the switch when water is no longer detected that would be useful!
PS: I just took a look and though I see a DLINK Router listed on IFTTT I don't see a water sensor.
Ah hah! THANK YOU!
Just ran that through IFTTT and will test it out in HE today. (The non-router DLink stuff is through "mydlink" which is a separate thing in IFTTT).
I did't look that far If you can get IFTTT to turn off the switch when the water clears you can use the notifier app to send you notifications every X minute until the water clears.
I have about a dozen water sensors and a DOME water shutoff valve all controlled by HSM. When any of the water sensors detects water all hell breaks loose (sirens, text messages, Alexa, etc) and it shuts down my water main.
I'll bet that bit of municipal code is widely ignored! I can't imagine paying an electrician to substitute one fairly simple switch for another. For complicated wiring, maybe or possibly junction boxes stuffed with 12 gauge cables!
which is money I'm not particularly interested in spending right now). At the moment, I just have covers over the switches to prevent accidental use and I plan to stick whatever smart switch/button next to it. I'll look into the ones you recommended. Do you think they'd work with the circadian functions I'm hoping to get?
If you can get IFTTT to turn off the switch when the water clears you can use the notifier app to send you notifications every X minute until the water clears.
