Ways to integrate Google Home-compatible wifi lights and plugs into C-8?

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Hi, just got my first Hubitat (C-8), and I am looking for a way to control (at least "on/off"-level control) of my current Smart Home wifi lights and plugs.

They are all the same brand (Deltaco, seems to be an EU Tuya-derivative) and currently controlled with Deltaco's own phone app. All the lights and plugs/outlets are officially "Google Home compatible".

If I had known "back then" what I know now, I would have gone with a Philips Hue Zigbee-setup. From a technical viewpoint I could fairly easily replace everything with Zigbee units and get an improved system with core Hubitat integration, but considering the number of lights and plugs/outlets that is a fairly big investment (many times the cost of a Hubitat C-8).

I am reasonably competent around code, drivers, flashing, netwroking etc. and I did know what I was getting into. With one big misunderstanding: I thought that if I cannot get my wifi stuff directly into Hubitat I could just buy a Google Home unit, link the Deltaco stuff to that and the Google Home unit to Hubitat, and control the lights and outlets that way (since the Deltaco stuff is Google Home compatible). It was when I was browsing for "how to" do that for real (with the C-8 up and running) that I found out such control only works the other way.

There are no Deltaco drivers available for Hubitat (not a surprise), but after spending a few hours on the forum looking for solutions there seems to be a community Google Home app for Hubitat that potentially could work. However, I just can't seem to find it (in order to test it). The internet has also thrown up a few other potential curveball solutions, but with little actual substance (on the actual "how to").

I don't necessarily need to control hues and intensity and I don't need meter readings from the plugs/outlets (a few of them have that feature), so all I really need to get them integrated into my new Hubitat-driven smart home system would be a way to turn them on/off. Or in other words being able to control them using their built-in (or "flashed-in") wifi control system from within Hubitat.

My own logical "first step" would be to install the [community] Google Home app on my C-8, in order to be able to check if the Deltaco stuff shows up (and can be controlled), but for that I need the link (I stupidly can not seem to find). Any and all suggestions would be very much appreciated. I draw the line at writing my own new driver(s), since even if I would be so inclined I simply do not have the time.

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The majority of your google devices will have to stay on home kit. They will not be z-wave or zigbee. If any are wifi based, look at the official compatibility list to see if an integration is available. For the devices remaining on home kit, you can do some control with virtual switches.

After your hubitat is set up, install the google integration app. Understand this is only 1-WAY. Only devices connected to hubitat can be brought into google. google devices cannot be brought directly into hubitat.

Now you can create virtual switches on hubitat and expose those to google. Then when google sees those virtual switches do something,google will do something. For most things that works well.

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Ok.

So the easiest and best solution would be to buy a Google Home control unit (which I currently do not have, I only use the brand-specific phone app) and link that to Hubitat (using the official driver) and then use virtual switches.

I know how to do all that. What about installing the community app and trying to use that instead of buying a Google Home unit?

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Honestly I would start transitioning out of the wifi stuff. Most of it is cloud based. That alone would prevent me from using it.

Again, the google integration is only one way. Hubitat devices to google. Not google to hubitat.

Any google speaker should do as a google hub. But like I said, avoid all cloud based devices if you can. With cloud based stuff you are at the mercy in both terms of data and of functionality to both the manufacturer and your isp, whereas Hubitat runs 100% locally.

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Yep, I am aware of that (and I agree). "Going local" and being in "full control" are two main reasons why I chose Hubitat.

Ok. Big thanks (!) for the quick response. Full Zigbee/Z-wave is the end goal, but I would rather put money into buying new (and interesting) zigbee/z-wave stuff than into simply replacing existing wifi bulbs, plugs and outlets.

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If your bulbs are truly Tuya based, see if you can pair them with the "Smart Life" or "Tuya" apps. If you can, then you can use this community integration to bring them into HE: [BETA] Tuya Cloud Driver (Limited device support)
For example, I have a LampLux (I think) LED strip, it has its own app that looks almost the same as the Smart Life app. I was able to reset it and pair it to the Smart Life app instead of the branded app and am using that integration so I can turn it on/off from HE.

Adding a Google Home device would NOT be of much benefit to getting them into HE.

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No, I would really like to avoid that extra layer & hassle. Thanks for the tip, I will test that tonight when I get home.

Also got a tip about a fairly new Zigbee "bulb" brand (from the Netherlands): INNR. All their lights/bulbs are Zigbee 3.0/ZLL-driven/-compliant, and should work fully with Hubitat even if there aren't specific drivers officially approved for each and every product. And they are sold on Amazon (which translates to "hassle-free acquisition), and 25-50% cheaper than "premium brands" like Philips.

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I cannot speak to those bulbs but I know I have seen other people mention the INNR brand with good regards. Also just because it says it is Zigbee 3.0 does not mean they actually chose to follow all the standards. But I think with that brand you will have better luck than say something from AliExpress.

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Although I haven't used Innr bulbs, I do use quite a few of their ZB3.0 plugs and they've all been solid performers (and repeaters) for me on my C8.

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Innr has been around a while and works well with HE...

A lot of us run multiple things with Hubitat at the head. For instance, I use Lutron Caseta switches/dimmers exclusively. Direct integration for local control with hubitat with the pro2 hub. Why? They're tanks and they just don't die and just work. I have a hue bridge for some strip lights and my Hue Go's. Again, directly integrates for full local control with Hubitat. I use Hompod's for music around the house so they have homekit, so hubitat is integrated into home kit and as homepod's are border routers, they onboard matter devices for Hubitat for direct local control. A lot of people use multiple things and have Hubitat at the head. Some people even integrate HA just for the dashboard (also mqtt)

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Many do in fact. Not because it's an easier to use platform or has better automation. It does not.
I personally don't use dashboards at all. I'm an Apple Home user and it's the best kind of "dashboard" if you will, for the whole family. I use Home Assistant as a bridge device, as do many others, to bring in those device types that are not compatible with Hubitat, but may in fact be compatible with Home Assistant. However HA automation is no where near as capable as Hubitat Rule Machine without getting into some very complex YAML code. Whereas HE Rule Machine is pretty easy to learn and use.

There used to be an integration called Google Home Assistant Relay, but I've not run it in a long time. No need anymore, and my understanding is that most that have tried to get the newer versions of it working have not been successful. It's essentially another layer, which you mentioned you don't want. It's pretty dumb that Google never allowed you to trigger a virtual device from Hubitat to run a routine (which is possible with Alexa). So Google Home Assistant Relay was an answer to that.

You might consider running HA on a Raspberry Pi, in a VM or a Docker just for the bridging capability. It's a nice tool to have available, and there's a community integration called Home Assistant Device Bridge that can bring those devices from HA into HE where you can automate them and have realtime status as if they were on any other compatible bridge, such as Hue for example.

Another possible option is to just buy an Alexa device. There's a Deltaco skill available. That would allow you to create routines that you can trigger from Hubitat. It's not ideal because you need two routines for turn the light off and turn the light on, but it would do the job. More difficult to get status via that method and possible to get out of sync. Not an ideal scenario, but workable.

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It seems the Deltaco stuff is Tuya-produced, but the firnware is brand-specific and it will not connect or "obey" Tuya-drivers. There was a report about flashing Tasmota (and even getting it to work, though not tested in Hubitat), but that was over two years old and the link to the new firmware was dead.

However, Aliexpress currently works quite well when ordering from Sweden (they now even pre-apply the VAT, allowing direct shipping-to-address without the hassle of customs/VAT declarations & pre-payments), so I'll order a testbatch of presumable Zigbee 3.0/ZLL-compatible lights & stuff. If most will work as intended I can easily order more, and even if the quality might be lower it'll work as a fairly cheap stopgap switch-over to zigbee/z-wave.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice, I appreciate it. It reminds me of how the internet was a much better place pre-"social media"... :grinning:

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I actually have a currently unused Raspberry lying around, and even have an Aeotec Z-wave stick. So that is a brilliant and easily implemented idea. I'll check it out.

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As far as Deltaco branded Tuya devices are concerned, you might be out of luck for flashing since you've had it connected to your app. Seems you've come to that conclusion already. However, the Google Home Assistant Relay concept is alive and well in the form of Google Assistant SDK on Home Assistant. So that's an option. In that instance, you wouldn't need a Google device because it would be directly connecting to Google Assistant via the clould. However, it wouldn't give you the ability to have the bulbs come over to Hubitat via HADB. In that instance, it would be a similar scenario to using an Alexa device as the middle man.

What you would do to trigger Google Assistant SDK, would be to use the opposite integration, which is HE > HA to share Hubitat virtual switches with Home Assistant. Then create very simple HA automations (i.e. Hubitat virtual switch turns ON > Send text command to Google Assistant SDK [Turn OFF bedroom light] )