In my seemingly long history of (late night) open questions...
I remember when I started out absorbing opinions around approaches to home automation I quickly locked on to one advocating cross-platform support for devices, e.g. selecting devices in the Philips Hue line based on support from Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple, as well as those like Home Assistant, Hubitat, Homey, etc. I would suggest this more general advice to anyone, particularly those starting out, for the reason offered, being that selecting devices that have a broad level of support allow people to transition between platforms more easily if required.
There are also topics offering info about other automation systems like NodeRED (which I use).
So I thought it would be useful for other to understand the breadth of the options people have chosen to augment their HE setup, along with the reasons why.
I first got into home automation using Roku bulbs (because they were dirt cheap on sale and I knew nothing) as a way to automate some lights on a schedule for my sick father because he couldn't walk to the light switch. Then after a little time I needed to automate a humidifier for him based on the humidity in a room so I got into Aqara by buying an M2 hub, humidity sensor, and smart plug.
Then you could say I was hooked and kept getting the ideas of "what if I could do this". So the next step was Echo Show 8s, two of them. I was thinking I will use their zigbee radios, voice commands, etc. I soon found it hard to keep zigbee or matter over thread devices hard to remain connected. Also, the Internet went out well we know how well that worked out.
So I started investigating local control by watching videos of Home Assistant, Homey, and Hubitat on YouTube. There was just something that drew me to Hubitat. I bought my first C8-Pro.
To keep this long story as short as possible that has grew into addiction to tinkering, "improving" as my wife likes to call it", and more wondering if I can do this. I didn't get rid of anything except Roku so now between my home, buildings, and mailboxes I use Alexa, Hubitat (3 hubs, don't need just like to tinker), Aqara M2 hub, Unifi, and Home Assistant with zigbee, z-wave, and matter devices. Everything feeding into one Hubitat C8 Pro as the brains of the operation.
So, my first experience was using using Smart Things. That was the game back then and I wanted local control for reliability and independence and automation as a contingency for if I (single male now 77) were temporarily disabled. I left Smart Things when they stopped supported Groovy. Came to Hubitat (v5 hub) and have been here ever since.
One big advantage is that I am kept busy developing wifi device drivers supporting my home devices and some even used by others.
When I think of my progression to HE...
ISmartAlarm
IRIS
Smartthings
Hubitat with Alexa (No longer using), Google Home, Apple Home, and some playing around with python programs on an old Windows PC.
1 - Started with SmartThings, Hue Bridge and a couple of bulbs and outlets
2 - Discovered the SmartThings portal thingy, Z-Wave, and added some Fibaro modules to open/close curtains
3 - Heard about the plans to shutdown the SmartThings portal thingy. Read hundreds of reviews/comparisons of different hubs and plumped for Hubitat C-7. Threw Hue Bridge in a box and migrated all of my lights to Z-Wave dimmers.
4 - Added a Pi4 and used node-red, mqtt, Homebridge to allow integration with my existing alarm devices and sensors. Over the next few years automated everything and created rules for everything.
5 - Currently about to start moving lights back to Hue for a few reasons. The main 3 reasons for that are firstly that Hue would be easier for someone to manage/support in my absence if there was an issue; secondly it would be easier to go from Hue back to manual control from a wiring perspective (separating a couple of wires across a switch as opposed to removing all of the dimmer modules); thirdly dimming performance of Hue is vastly superior to any Z-Wave dimmer/LED lamp combination.
I have two Hubitats and one node of Home assistant:
Hubitat C8 - All local controlled devices, Z-Wave, Zigbee, Matter, and all automation rules Hubitat C7 - Any device that requires cloud or external API, The original Ecobee thermostat drivers, NWS Alerting, Echo Speaks, HA Device Bridge etc. These devices are then sent to the C8 using Hub Mesh Home Assistant VM - Matter / Thread Border Router (Zibgee Radio) for some door sensors to Hubitat Matter and local control of Ecobee thermostat though HA Device Bridge.
The longer I go with things, the more I want to simplify my setup. As such, I’ve really started to embrace Matter devices to complement my setup. Besides the C-8 Pro serving as the brains of my home, I’ve got:
Philips Hue - almost all lights are Hue. Each Room/Zone has a Hue Tap Dial assigned to it for control that happens outside of Hubitat. Motion sensors are Hue and I’m slowly replacing my inherited contact sensors with Hue versions. It’s a great setup that makes things easy for my wife and kids.
Lutron - this covers the rest of the lighting
Matter - I’ve got several ThirdReality nightlights that serve both practical and help support house Lux. I’m also adding Inovelli White series (Matter via Thread) to control Hue bulbs in places where I want the color changing ambiance.
Those three categories feed into Hubitat (automation), Apple Home (dashboard, presence), and Google Home (voice control, presence). It allows for a very simplified setup that the family can also control.
I also have Nest cams and doorbells that use Starling for Apple Home and Virtual Devices for Hubitat. I’m looking to replace some of them as they start to fail (oldest cams are 7 years old), but it would need to meet my requirements. I’m hoping they make it until the Matter Camera specs get released and I can implement them that way.
This is what I aspire to. I'd like to move primarily to Hue for lighting but still do the automation via Hubitat. That way if the Hubitat falls over, Hue is still controllable via it's own app and any remotes.
After some small dabbling with X-10 back in the day, my first real platform was Lutron. Started with Select, then graduated to RA2, then hauled my butt up to PA for the classes to become a Level 2 installer.
Looking for something to better automate the whole-house Lutron system, I somehow stumbled across Hubitat, and it's been my go-to for 6+ years now.
Along the line, I've added Kasa cameras and Yolink sensors (mailbox, pool, hot tub).
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Wink. I Started there in 2016, it was the perfect gateway drug; simple to set up, well designed app, ZigBee and Z-wave. In the early days it was stable, then financial difficulties created instability. Most importantly, no backup and restore. It was time to move on. (Even before Will-I-Am)
In early 2019, Hubitat and Home Assistant seemed like the only DIY local control options. Smart Things was a nonstarter, Even though I've always had a bunch of pc's to play with Hubitat seemed like the simpler entry point. My system was pretty simple. A handful of smart switches, smart bulbs and motion sensors. A day of fiddling and I was up and running.
Today:
C-7 for a few "Does not play well with others devices" and the extensive Ecobee Suite to get the single attribute of the thermostat temperature sensor which the built-in Ecobee app does not support. Built-in Ecobee app lives on the C-8.
C-8 for everything else. A couple hundred ZigBee, Z-wave, local wi-fi devices, endless virtual devices, rules and integrations.
Lutron Smart Bridge Pro 2 hub for 3 fan controls and ten Picos. No Lutron switches. Picos may be my favorite home automation device. The perfect button controller for a variety of lamps and lights as well as blinds.
Hue Hub. After messing with endless smart bulbs, We bit the bullet and paid the Hue tax several years ago and not a single drop out or bulb failure since. I'm still trying to give away a box of 11 Sengleds, all working and reset for the cost of shipping.
Alexa as a voice remote to trigger a few scenes, specific announcements and easily integrate Blink cameras as motion sensors.
It's been a great journey and I've been fortunate not to have created an "unrecoverable application error" on the Hubitat leg of it.
Started with X10 in a mid 90th. Transitioned to Insteon as soon as it appeared. After moving permanently to Florida 6 years ago built my new apartment automations based on HE C5 (thanks it is local control). Current system is C8 Pro plus C7 and Home Assistant. The HA is used exactly as Assistant for adding a devices not directly supported by HE, Bluetooth specifically. Virtually zero cloud-based services. All automations are RM Rules running on C8 Pro. Everything is sensor-driven and near 100% hands free operations.
Ha! You are not the problem, my friend. I really like the HA dashboards and the fact I can control and monitor much through it. Their cloud service is not reliable, though. I really need to set up a VPN server on my router but just too many other projects at the moment.
At least Hubitat's investment in this space could / should be seen as some form of optimism... Albeit likely lagging behind HA in this space.
As much as I want to contribute more in this space I feel that the larger advances are likely to come from built-in changes, given the recent momentum.
The best I can ask / suggest is to keep HE in your setup so you can stay connected with the benefits HE brings as the dev's move the platform forward, including Community dev's
The My Subaru app and HACS addon. That is literally the only thing that keeps me in Home Assistant. Assume this is a major undertaking however. The HA integration requires frequent updates as Subaru changes their app every so often. Additionally, it is a cloud integration. So, not something I would ever expect Hubitat to put a priority on.
The other platforms I use: Home Assistant
I do have Google and Alexa. But, IMHO, those are not really hubs (okay... Alexa sort of is, but Google is just a voice remote with Macros at best)
In the past, I got started with a simple (hardwired) garage door sensor on IoBridge via a gateway. Wound up moving to Smartthings to integrate more and left them for Hubitat when they deprecated Groovy and my V1 Hub.
Home Assistant - I bring a few of my Hubitat light switches and dimmers into HA. I then use Emulated Hue so I can control them with my Logitech Harmony remotes.
Amazon Alexa - for voice control and announcements via various Echo Dot and Show devices.
Philips Hue - I have one hub for use with a couple hue bulbs and play bars.
Apple Home/Homekit/Homebridge - I bring my Hubitat devices into Apple home via Homebridge. I prefer using the Apple Home app on my iPhone and iPad.
UniFi Protect - I use UniFi cameras. I bring them into Apple Home using Scrypted. I also use the Hubitat integration to play an announcement when my someone rings my UniFi G4 doorbell.
