I just got my hubitat and it found none of my WiFi stuff on the network. Ok, maybe to be expected. So I started shopping around for zigbee or z-wave replacements for my current gear and I am having some sticker shock. The price of devices that use Zigbee or z-wave is approximately double that of WiFi only devices.
Of course the other option seems to be to install Tasmota on my existing devices that support it, but that seems to involve a steep learning curve and a solder iron.
Don't forget to look into Lutron Caseta (with the Pro bridge).
Seriously though, everyone has a favorite when it comes to zigbee or z-wave. Both have plus and minus. I have both but slowly moving as much as I can to Lutron. It simply works better than anything else I've used in over 15 years. (yup, all the way back to x10 days)
Not all zigbee and z-wave stuff is expensive. For example, Sonoff zigbee sensors are about $10 apiece and work with Hubitat.
If you can flash your existing WiFi switches with Tasmota, you can get those automated using Sonoff sensors.
There are other WiFi devices for which there is built-in support like Shelly switches/dimmers. These are also relatively inexpensive. And while I haven't used them, I understand they are pretty reliable.
There's an ota method to flash tasmota, depends on device, but alot of good info on Google.
Stay away from xioami devices, plenty of headache with those dropping off and it limits your choices with other zigbee devices.
True, Zooz switches and dimmers are less than $25 each at the smartest house site. Inovelli are not much more, and even a GE switch is about the same price.
How cheap in both quality and cost would a wifi device have to be to be less expensive than any of those?
Yup. Especially in Canada. The only way to get Zooz stuff is through amazon and even when the smartest house has sales, the amazon prices stay at $50+
Yes the sonoff zigbee stuff is about $20 Cdn on amazon. I have bought four of the inline and two of the plug in modules so far and they are working very well.
But I still have a my 17 Teckin SP10s that I have converted to Tasmota via OTA and I am using @markus driver. Also work very well and they go on sale for a four pack for $44 on amazon. Very hard to beat that pricing.
I think I paid $60 for my Leviton zigbee plug in dimmer. Crazy. And I just paid $60 for another zen31 RGBW controller. Wifi magic RGBs are like $10.
Thanks for the advice. I have:
Wyze - 12 devices
Geeni - 5 devices
Feit (As mentioned) - 2 devices
Roku - 4 devices
LG ThinkQ - 1 device
Amazon Fire Sticks - 2 devices
I am very interested in the Sonoff sensors as mentioned, just haven't bought them yet because I wasn't sure what I was going to have them actually talk to. I want to create some door opening automation but when you only have half the pieces you need, you're not going to get very far.
Very interested in devices with OTA Tasmota flashability. The time commitment required for taking devices apart and soldering in leads sounds like a lot of time away from the family.
Don't know this smartest house site you mentioned having the Zooz switches for less than $25 but I'll check it out. Ideally I'd prefer more in the $10-20 range but $25 is not too bad.
They are actually having a sale right now but again only ship to US addresses.
Many esp8266 devices can be converted to Tasmota OTA (over the air) without soldering but it requires a raspberry PI and it’s a little bit of a process to get setup.
You may be able to integrate these with Echo Speaks.
Feit
Some (all?) Feit devices use Smartlife/Tuya's API. I have an integration for switches on that API if you're feeling technical. Aaiyar's link is good, too!
There's somewhat of a support for this ... You can install their different firmware for RTSP support and add those to a dashboard for browsers supporting it. Not sure if others have done more.
I went ahead and installed the Markus drivers because the documentation seemed so good but now I'm kind of stuck. I posted on that thread asking for help. The device installed but I only get the parent, no child devices. The thread linked earlier in this thread lists these settings, but I have no idea where to put them. Are these done on the HE or on the device web page?
Console: reset 5
WebGUi: Configure->Configure Module->Module Type=Tuya MCU (54)
Console: TuyaMCU 21,2
Console: TuyaMCU 11,1
Console: DimmerRange 10,1000
WebGUI: Configure->Configure Other->Friendly Name set
Power Cycle
I thought the price was a bit high but when I looked at the bonus of not using the net to go out and then back to the device and not having to pay wink $5 for each of my hubs in a year the extra cost vs wink hub price is worth it to me. My garage/Man cave is 150 feet from the house and is metal so the devices in the building are not seen so I needed a second hub. Now I have to figure how to link the 2 hubs to be seen as one network.
