Completely new automations are rare in a refined smart home, so my purchases this year are modest. However as I wrote this list, I realized that I've actually been fairly active with improvements in 2023.
Aqara FP2 of course. It has suplimented three existing motion sensors, and now tracks presence in our living room space, so even if one of us activates our goodnight scene, that doesn't shut off the light in the livingroom if anyone in the house is still awake watching TV or reading. Excellent devices and one of the most useful additions this year. Connection is via the HomeKit Device integration in Home Assistant (formerly named HomeKit Controller) and the zone states are synced with Hubitat via Home Assistant Device Bridge.
Better integration of my Delta Voice IQ faucet. Previously I could only activate via Alexa routines. The integration that @tomw and @Sebastien worked on made it so much more useful by eliminating Amazon's cloud server from the mix. I use this every single day, pressing buttons for the amount of water needed to make coffee. Such a welcome change and 100% reliable vs the previous Amazon connection that was down quite frequently.
Added an inexpensive Misol gateway and three soil moisture sensors. This compliments my Oribit B-Hyve water valves and uses the smart watering integration that is possible with a custom Home Assistant integration. Plants were very happy this year and my water bill was lower than last year.
Added three Zigbee Tuya 24G mmW sensors. These are said to be spammy and may be problematic sensors when directly connected Hubitat, but I have mine connected via Z2M and Home Assistant Device Bridge and they do not cause a problem on either platform. They are being used to check for presence and lower our electric heat in rooms that are not occupied. I am saving very significant amounts of money with these inexpensive sensors.
Utilizing the presence capabilities of Nest Protect AC powered units via a Homebridge plug-in. I have two AC powered Nest Protects in our rental space and I'm using the presence capabilities in combination with on Tuya mmW sensor to determine if my tenant is home. If no presence is detected for 30 min, the heat is reduced to a specific level, and on their return it is returned to their desired level which is automatically captured each time absence is detected and the heat is lowered to the set level.
Added two additional Hue outdoor motion sensors for outdoor lighting to assist our tenant. These are such nice sensors and they have helped us too when we arrive home in the dark. They are so sensative that they respond to our vehicle movement as we roll into the driveway and our house lights up as we arrive. The Hue bridge integration via Home Assistant is fantastic and it's allowed me to not have to redo everything that I already have integrated with Hubitat via the Hue Bridge Integration, and yet still use HA with the Hue Bridge to get instant status of lights when I need it, and all the parameters of the Hue motion sensors, despite them being directly joined to the Hue Bridge.
Added one more SwitchBot Contact sensor to turn on lights in our stairwell with its integrated motion sensor, as well as monitor the state of the door that separates our living space from the tenant. Still in love with these handy little sensors, and their connection to HA via a D1 Mini ESP32 and MQTT. Their state is synced with Hubitat via Home Assistant Device Bridge.
I have finally utilized the Emulated Kasa feature of the Sense integration on Home Assistant. This has enable me to more accurately track energy 8 of my electric baseboard heaters that Sense wasn't finding or consistently detecting when in operation. I'm using Sinope Zigbee thermostats with the drivers that @samuel.c.auclair wrote (can be found on HPM), so sharing their power data wasn't difficult. I simply used the HE > HA integration by @jason0x43 for that.
Have been making better use of the middle buttons and hold actions on my many Pico remotes to add convenient scenes and actions. One that is particularly useful is in my garage. I gave up fighting with trying to keep lights on with IR motion sensors. while I'm in there, and while I now realize I could add a single mmW sensor to address the problem, I've instead landed on using the middle button of a Pico in my garage to toggle a virtual switch that deactivates automatically turning off the lights. A color Hue bulb on my bandsaw serves three purposes. When I'm using the saw, it's white so I can see the cut better, and when I hold the Pico middle button to toggle the garage lighting automation, it shows Green when the automation is active, and Red when it's deactivated. If I want to check if the lighting automation is active or inactive, I can just momentarily press the button and the Hue bulb brieflly illuminates the color (green or red) related to the current state of the automation.
Wired an IKEA STYRBAR button to my doorbell button. Previously I was using a Xiaomi button, but it proved unreliable. Connection is Z2M on HA and the state is synced to Hubitat via Home Assistant Device Bridge. The STYRBAR button supports pressed, held and released, so it captures a button press of my doorbell no matter how brief or long the button is held. Notifications are voice via the Hubitat Amazon Echo Skill and mobile via the Hubitat mobile app.
I am now using a previously unutilized feature of the KIA/Hyundai integration on HA to remind us via the Hubitat Amazon Echo Skill, that we should plug the car EVSE in if we activate our goodnight scene and our IONIQ 5 has a 30% or less state of charge.
yeah it is pretty lound for the empty cycle. We keep it in the office with one of the fosters so the sound is drowned out by the whining and barking.. Its all sorta relative around here!
I thought I had a nice even list of 10 additions to my smart home, but you reminded me that I'm also using the KIA/Hyundai integration on HA to remind us via the Hubitat Amazon Echo Skill, to plug-in when we activate our goodnight scene if our IONIQ 5 has a 30% or less state of charge.
I started the year with pretty much everything I want to (and my wife would allow) already automated.
I did add several Linptech mmWave motion/presence sensors for use in difficult locations - in bathrooms to see through glass shower walls and shower curtains, and to keep presence in the office when my wife sits very still at her computer. Those have been a great addition.
Each room may contain as many lighting and color groups as desired. The living room is currently the only room with two accent groups. Most of the configs are basic and I still need to add modes for guest and gallery which will be more scene based. The nice thing is I don't have to add any more code to do that -- just add the new Hubitat modes.
The pantry just has a single switch and single bulb. It doesn't currently have a dimmer or smart bulb. I may add a toggle to show/hide the cooldown column. This is used in conjunction with my custom motion zones. They have a third cooldown mode when motion is no longer detected but the zone hasn't timed out yet.
After I implemented Konnected I retired some zigbee contact sensors and decided reuse one on the cat-flap in our back door.
Now when sunset arrives and the locking plate is not installed, the back porch light comes on ... just as an indicator to remind us if the cats might be out back after dark (screened porch, no worries ).
Oh, and this is a work in progress. I am mounting a mm wave presence sensor in a track light housing. This gives me a mains powered sensor that blends in with the room. No ugly box stuck to the wall and no batteries to change.
I forgot I got rid of my Eufy doorbell (it was wifi and sucked) and replaced it with a Reolink POE doorbell. Wow is it fast and clear (and good night vision as well). I integrate it into Hubitat with Camect.
There are lots of standard one circuit track lights. Typically they will have one blade on one side and two on the other (could be one and one). Then you can move to two and three circuit track systems but they aren't as common. On top of that there are some proprietary systems.
Short answer is yes, they probably would work.
These are the lights I use in a simple single circuit track. The listing has a bunch of images that show how the track is configured. Take a look at the drawings and compare it to what you have.
I did have to grind down the shell of the motion sensor so that it would fit inside the light housing. There is a lip inside of it that didn't let the sensor slide all the way in. I did a short post here: Track mounted motion sensors
I normally run 30 RGBW lights on the same track so it is always powered.
I get back home Sunday so I'll finish up the project next week.
What I did this year (a few weeks ago) is to automate my hot water recirculation pump.
No big deal, just plugged the pump under my sink with a smart plug, and I just turn it on every morning (M-F) between 6:30 and 8:00 with the help of a Sonoff motion sensor, and if it is needed at other times of the day, or weekend, I programed a button (Sonoff) to turn it on manually.
The one I bought (evans) has a thermostat included, so when the water reaches the programmed temperature, it turns off automatically, and with the help of my RM rule, it works just when needed.
It just helps me save lots of wasted cold water that used to go down the drain, besides it is amazing how silent it is. It imperceptible.
I "automated" my walkway snow melt system. The system is triggered by a moisture sensor when the temperature is below ~35°F. The system is set to run for an hour after the last moisture is sensed. This wastes a lot of energy when the snow is just flurries.
I added a ZEN17 relay to the system.
The moisture sensor is wired to the relay as a contact sensor. The sensor input is linked to the switch output, so the relay turns on the boiler when the sensor closes without any Hubitat automation.
I added a notification for when the boiler switch turns on. I can then manually turn the boiler off if I want.
Because the relay can also control the boiler switch independent of the sensor I added a safety rule. If the boiler is turned on when the sensor is open the boiler will turn off after 10 minutes.
I think they are a great fit visually and having an “out of band” 433mhz remote to control them outside of zwave LR (zigbee and thread are also options) is an extra bonus. They are also VERY quiet and surprisingly easy to install, they are an excellent choice.
You might even further optimize it by pulling weather information to see if the temperature is supposed to fall below 33 for more than a few hours and avoid turning it on if it's just cold rain.
Auto- fill/empty swimming pool water to maintain level. When the pool overfills due to excess rain, water is pumped out into a drain; When the the pool water level gets too low due to evaporation, water is pumped in. Used a float switch and contact sensor in the skimmers for the signal and a Zen-16 relay and two sprinkler valves to move the water. Working to improve moisture/vapor issues.
).
