@erktrek and @aaiyar are correct about ways to stand up HomeBridge. It does make things slick for getting to/from Homekit.
You can pass states from Homekit to HE by setting up virtual devices in HE to mirror the Homekit ones you want to see in HE. You will have to create the necessary automations in Homekit to pass the Homekit device state through.
If you setup HomeBridge you can connect your MyQ garage door opener by adding a MyQ Bridge. It connects MyQ to Homekit. That's what I've done, and it works well.
You have successfully taken the âgateway drugâ for true home automation.
Most of us here tend to spend WAY more on automation now than we did with Wink, not because we have to, but because of the nearly limitless possibilities and fun you can have.
A few months after I got my Hubitat, I got a Pi and setup Homebridge/HomeKit. Then I set up a PiHole since I already had the Pi... then, anytime I faced a minor annoyance in my house I thought âI bet I could automate that...â and now I have 150 devices.
Hubitat is dangerous, because of how much it empowers you. 1 smart outlet is $30, not too bad... 20 outlets over 2 years adds up, but you wonât realize it till you one day hit a point where youâve automated all the things. And then the system just works. Then you almost start to miss the process of setting up and tinkering with things... getting excited at the rare times when you think of a new application for automation and get a new smart plug, etc.
This is when youâll think back to Wink and realize it was a really great interface for turning on and off things from your phone along with some basic automation. Thatâs when youâll wonder how you got by with just Wink before you had Hubitat
I live alone - my most recent automation is a "deadman switch" - to automatically notify a few people if there's been no sign of life in my house for 12 hours, by virtue of monitoring state changes for things that require human intervention (eg. motion active, getting out of bed, opening/closing doors, raising/lowering toilet seat, turning TVs on/off, opening/closing fridge, using the kitchen garbage can, etc. etc).
I think I'm so locked in the "Wink On/Off" level of automation that I'm struggling with the bigger picture that I know HE can bring. I have some Wyze cams and I'm fine they're in their own app. I have a home security system with it's own app and again, I'm Ok with that. I'm in the What else can I do? phase.
I think I need a "Here's a cool thing I did with HE!" section of the forum!
Make a rule based on motion to turn on lights when you enter a room, and they come on in 0.2ms. Faster than you can reach for a light switch. After a while youâll have your house full of these motion sensors and never touch another switch. Then youâll go on vacation and your spouse will be thoroughly confused as to why the lights in the hotel bathroom donât automatically turn on because of how used to automation youâve become...
Dimming/Brightening lights based on lux.. AND "controlling lights based on lux" jumps out at me. Where's that tutorial!??!
Also the fan bit. I think I'd want a "turn off after being on for 10 mins" or something like that. Is that as simple as getting a wall switch and then watching for On/Off and IF On for 10 min THEN turn Off?
Simulating occupancy when you are away is cool, but who's away much these days. Thanks 'Rona! I should do this tho, I'll be away in April....
"Alerting you to leaks and being able to shut off the water main if necessary" Wait, wut? Turn off the Main automagically??
"Lights turning on when you go into a room then turning off after a period of no motion." I'm going to do this one today, I hope....
I'm curious, you mention Zigbee vs. Z-wave. Do you prefer Zigbee over Z-wave? The motion sensor I bought is z-wave... I've always just figured they were equivalent, are they not? Note: the 20 odd wall switches/dimmers I have are all z-wave so I figured I just keep riding that wave considering the mesh network and all.
For this particular one, you need only the valve - it pairs directly to Hubitat (also worked with Wink!). You don't need their WiFi-zigbee gateway/hub.
There are many z-wave models.
I have a total of ~15 z-wave/zigbee leak sensors in my house. And an automation that notifies me as well as turns the valve off if there's a leak. It is also super-convenient to just tell Alexa to shut the main valve when I need to do any plumbing maintenance.
Let me add a few of my favorite automations to that list:
I have CT bulbs in my nightstand lamp. When I wake up, I gradually increase the level, while simultaneously raising the CT from 2000K to 5000K. It really simulates a sunrise, and I love it. At night, I do the opposite. As the light gets warmer, I start feeling drowsy.
When I wake up, I have my bedroom Sonos speakers play the news with the volume gradually increasing from 0 to 30 over 30 minutes. And this going on while the nightstand lamp is getting "bluer" and the level is rising.
When I go to bed, I have classical piano playing that gradually decreases in volume as the lamp gets "redder", and then turns off completely about 10 minutes after the lamp goes off.
When my TVs come on, I have bias-lighting at 6500K come on automatically, and go off when the TV goes off. At the time, other lights are changed in intensity or turned off. When the TV goes off, all the lights are restored to their previous state, unless the house is already in sleep mode.
When the HVAC comes on, to compensate for the noise of air coming out of the supply registers, the living room sonos sound bar increases in volume and then decreases when the HVAC goes off.
When the door bell rings, my TVs are paused automatically (if they're on), and I get a phone notification.
Lot a little things like that which make life easier!
Depends on the application. Personally I find Zigbee motion sensors respond faster than Zwave.
This might be less of an issue now with the new C-7. The difference for me was 1-2 seconds with a zwave Aeotec multi sensor vs 0.25-0.5s with the Zigbee sensors I linked above.
It could have been just the particular sensors, or my specific setup, that caused the time discrepancy however. I suggest asking others for a broader sample size.
Itâs not the biggest deal in the world but when I walk into a dark room, 1-2 seconds stumbling blindly isnât much fun for me. Having the lights come on virtually instantly is nice.
Itâs like magic. When paired with a leak sensor - the Samsung smart thing sensors work well for me - itâs a life saver. I put one on top of the drain in my basement and caught the drain backing up when the water rose by just a centimeter. Turned off the main, which stopped the sink that was filling up the pipe that needed to be snaked. Saved me a big mess. I now have water sensors under every faucet, next to every drain - the sensors also detect temperature so I can have my heater turn on if Iâm away from home and temps drop too low - I donât want frozen pipes up here in the Midwest.
Yeah I use the EcoNet bulldog which works great too...
For extra fun you can strap a cheap contact sensor on the handle and base and have secondary confirmation that the valve opened or closed. I also have a rule that triggers each month to open/close so the valve won't get stuck.
Simulating occupancy does not necessarily mean while you are away. I like to tell my clients that it is a good idea to set up a basic schedule of lights that happen regardless of whether you are home or not. That way it makes it less obvious when the house is empty. Once you are away different rules can kick in that are more aggressive - more notifications etc. Also maybe toggling additional lights not included in the schedule that you would normally do manually.
I should do this tho, I'll be away in April....
Turn off the Main automagically??
considering the mesh network and all.
