The locksmith is trying to persuade me to purchase the BE-TECH K35 touchscreen lock with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, claiming it's better than the Yale Assure Lock 2. What are your thoughts on this? Which one would you recommend?
Here is the link to the Chinese brand BE-TECH: BE-TECH Smart Deadbolt K3S.
The other smart lock I am considering is the Schlage Encode Plus.
Thank you!
Hey,
I’m curating a list of smart home automation ideas, and here are 15+ ones (and still counting).
What do you think?
smart home automation ideas.png
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The smart home trend is dramatically evolving with at least 69% households in US owing at least one smart device.
So how could they ease your work and life?
I gathered and asked 15+ smart home professionals a same question:
“What’s your most favorite automation (ideas) for smart homes that is improving your life?”
Let’s check their ideas:
(source: https//www.leadsrating.com/security-cameras/smart-home-automation-ideas/)
Routine Checking Smart Curtain and Blinds Smart Interaction Smart LED String Lights Turn Outdoor Water On/Off Automation NFC Tags Automation Remote Control and Scenes Smart Interoperability Reducing Your Home Cleaning Job Light Control Automation Smart Blinds Light Management Adjusting Natural Light Automation Seamless Connectivity Simple Switch Bot Changing My Overall Everyday Process
The promise of "all available devices will be supported" gave me hope for including more Zigbee devices into to my home as Vera was not a good option for Zigbee devices.
Despite the support for new devices is extremely slow, the implementation of Zigbee has a lot to wish for and it seems a low priority at Ezlo I managed to include 22 of my 23 Zigbee devices as generic. But after 2 years of devices still missing attributes and randomly/every controller reboot loosing connection to the controller and had to be power cycled to connect again, and some even dropping off the network completely without any reason, I decided to give up.
The positive outcome of all this:
I bought a Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus and installed Zigbee2MQTT and never been happier.
Suddenly the pairing were no pain and took a few seconds per device, all my devices were recognized, all capabilities of the devices were exposed and it never misses a signal to/from a device ever.
I'm surprised how stable and configurable my new setup is. I can set device parameters, offsets, send messages handled by the bulbs them self like effects, broadcast for groups, transition time for power on/off. I can handle debounce for MQTT messages, do OTA firmware update on devices and much more! Most of this is probably standard for the common branded hubs like Hue etc but I never had one so this is new to me.
A big plus for me is the MQTT part of Zigbee2MQTT as I'm migrating as much as possible to MQTT.
My Ezlo Plus is now serving as a modified WiFi access point to my network and only have the VistaCam 1203 Doorbell still connected for evaluation. Time will tell if I ever move my Z-wave devices to it.
Conclusion:
I could really recommend both the Sonoff 3.0 USB Dongle Plus and Zigbee2MQTT to anyone going the same path!
So cool to find the forum of all the banned vera gurus!
I've had a Vera Plus for about 6 years now, and have had a fairly problem free time with it compared to many other stories. The last years have however been lacking in progression in many fields i'd like to explore, so now i'm looking closely at Openluup.
Other systems have been tested as well, but i find that the community and plugins made for vera is kind of special, and something i'd like to contribute to as well. (getting older and not wanting to change to new stuff probably plays a part too!)
So, my stab at opeluup starts with an HP Chromebox 1 i got for free. Its a fairly powerfull thing, but as google wants to sell new ones, its now EOL.
I wiped it clean and installed debian, as it seems to be the closest thing to raspberry which many use for openluup.
Openluup installed fine, and i got the vera bridge working fairly well by bothering ppl at the vera forum with questions. Its now running OK, but there seems to be an issue with Icons?
f0e29622-0397-4b84-819c-f1b632daab41-image.png
Also at the devices tab:
2892faff-a3ee-4f21-9db8-2a03f604fc74-image.png
I did the "GetFiles", and I see the /icons/ is populated, but no icons. In the luup log says that its trying to GET the icon, but returns no packages.
2020-09-15 17:04:30.818 openLuup.server:: GET /cmh/skins/default/img/devices/device_states/dimmable_light_off.png HTTP/1.1 tcp{client}: 0x55eca8d90cb8 2020-09-15 17:04:30.819 openLuup.server:: request completed (0 bytes, 0 chunks, 0 ms) tcp{client}: 0x55eca8d90cb8I do have a UZB stick on the way, but before i go down that road i'd like to be sure that the installation is stable and sound.. Do I have all the nessecary packages/background processes? I did install cjson which helped on some things..
Also fairly new at linux in general, so bear with me. 😉
Roadmap:
Get the openluup/AltUI running smoothly
Transfer Z-wave devices
Transfer 433 devices (RFXtrx plugin)
Transfer Zigbee devices (Vera or mabye ezlo plus? zigbee stick?)
more questions will follow!
In a quest to further stabilize my Vera before I'll move to Z-Way+openLuup or something else later this year (I'm tempted to go the Home Assistant route, since all my friends are here, apparently), I've spent a couple of days removing HTTP calls from the system and I'm now fully using the UDP sender @akbooer has written in the past, to push all variables (and custom events/request as well) to my MQTT broker, then to some code doing the actual work.
Responsiveness seems to be at its maximum now, and stability has improved. There's still a lot of code locally on my Vera, but it's mainly doing variables comparison/scenes, while all notifications and heavy logic are now running in my linux box.
So, maybe, not insisting on the sockets and just use the same UDP server is the way to go for me.
My Home Automation Journey
Well here we go. A slow, considered migration from Vera to something (I hope) more reliable.
Hopefully we'll end up with a decent documented process for people as right now I'm still not quite clear 🙂
Starting point:
I have a 'mature' Mios set up running on an extrooted Vera Plus with roughly 100 devices, both physical and virtual
Integration with Alexa both voice control and TTS
iPhones for Geolocation
Volumio devices for music playing around the house.
I have no user defined scenes, all automation is run from Reactor.
My impetus is final dissatisfaction with the quality of UI7 software delivery and operational rigour (for full disclosure I am a senior IT Operations leader with circa 20 years experience delivering properly stable systems, so I probably have un-realistic expectations 😄 )
So initial steps:
Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (I think this is my 5, and 6th Pi in total. I may have a problem) Raspbian OpenLuup VerabridgeThat I think is stage 1
C
...but I now only have house mode scenes left on Vera. All other automation is by Reactor and Switchboard / Alexa routines.
WAF may be low tomorrow if it doesn't work 😄
C
I am a Electrician. I installed hundreds of smart devices for others prior to having my own home automation. In 2013 I bought a new house and decided to make it smart. I did some homework and settled on Z-wave and VeraPlus.
My installation comprises of
25 Z-wave dimmer/switch inserts
3 Z-wave door sensors
10 sonoff devices(basics,TH16 and Mini) ,
4 Tuya(lamps and RGB strips) ,
6 shellys(connected to motion sensors and 2 controlling dead DIY bolts )
3 Amazon Dots(gen2)
2 Broadlink (RMPro's)
4 DIY RF Venetian Blinds
2 Multi button DIY remotes
1 NVR
1 Network drive/Media server/ftp server.
1 smart thermostat heating and hot water
4 wired 240v/battery Aico smoke and heat detectors (connect to zwave via Relays)
1 robot hover.
1 Siren
Node-red server running on android.
Testing openluup on android.
Automate App running on andorid Boxes/phones.
All tv's are connected to android boxes.
No windows PC.
Debian running on android box.
Plugins Reactor, AlexaTTS, Switchboard and Virtual HTTP Switch.
I can control all of my devices from anyone of these platforms Vera/OpenLuup, Node-red, Automate(phone/tv box) or Alexa.
All devices have a standard/manual switch for anyone to control, and can be controlled even if my VeraPlus stopped working or internet out. My system is stable and may get a luup reload every couple of weeks.
None of my sonoff's or tuya have been flashed. I found Shelly very late into game and will be using these more now i found them, as they offer local control.
I have some coding knowledge from the 90's, but have never worked in the industry.
Well, if I see further, it's because I stand of the shoulders of giants. I've got where I got because of the experts here. I started about 15 years ago with some really basic X10 stuff. When we moved in 2011 for some reason it simply would not work in the new house, so z-wave was the thing. Vera lite then Vera Plus.
I'm a child of the 70s. I want the car on the drive to be KITT and my lounge a cross between the bridge of the enterprise and the Lars farm on Tattoine.
Not there yet, but with about 250 devices (virtual and real) things are fun (when they work!)
The absolute killer app for me is Alexa bi directional speech. To the extent that I've walked into hotel rooms and said 'Alexa turn the lights on....'
I'm within a spit of never buying another control and doing everything via Alexa and Reactor (had to drop that in)
So that's pretty much me.
C
Let start maybe something useful for others. Maybe it will give you some idea!
Here's a summary of my setup!
I'm having :
VM#1 that runs openLuup VM#2 that runs Zway 1x raspberry that I use to connect the RaZberry board using socat/ser2net to send "raw data" to the VM#2, this setup allow me to have all my stuff in the data center in the basement while having my zwave antenna on the first floor and send back the data! A couple of pine64 and raspberry around the house, most of the pine64 are use for "smart display" around the house that show data from various source (will post picture later). I have also a raspberry that I used for openSprinkler in the "Shed" Each room in the house + Garage + on the patio is having a SONOS speaker that I use for music of course but that I use with the TTS to send some notification around the house based on the presence!For example, I can welcome people on the front door based on motion detection + IP camera motion!
I decided a long time ago that all "sensors" will be handle by the DSC alarm. Currently I'm having over 40 sensors in/out divided in 5 partition (main/2nd floor, basement, office and shed and a partition for non-alarm sensor)I connected my DSC using the DSC plugin from Vera to handle all that traffic that of course is send to openLuup!
On the zwave network, I would say that I'm having every room in/out done!
I'm using also this setup to welcome kids in the morning based on motion detection in each room and I have some time-based reminder using TTS mostly for the kids.
We also "named/called" our Home, SARAH, based on the TV Show Eureka that means "Self Actuated Residential Automated Habitat".
** openLuup handle ALL the logic, I have no scene and logic in Vera and Smarthome/Zway
More to come...
That's our main screen in the center of the house!
IMG_20200428_110740.jpg
Inside the main screen, I'm having a bunch of stuff, like 2 Veraplus, and a RaZberry and of course a pine64 for the screen!
IMG_20200428_110755.jpg
That's an uncomplete setup in the kitchen for screen #2, need to finish the "wood" part!
IMG_20200428_110846.jpg
That's the touch screen monitor in the basement, so kids can use the Sonos app to play some music in the basement! The wood part is done, need to finish some "paint"!
IMG_20200428_110824.jpg
Finally gave up on my Ezlo Plus
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With regret, my three Vera controllers (VeraSecure and VeraPlus) are now in a cupboard. It's been such a shame to see the support for vera drop to impossible from being able to get someone on the phone straight away over the years. A firmware update (official) killed one of them and support didnt replace it. EZLO secure never came to the UK.
I've been with vera since vera3 and had a LOT of automations in PLEG and Reactor on that platform.
Updates were few, and the hugely contributing people on the forums telling Vera/Ezlo support how to fix things often got banned when they raised concerns.They had so much good potential and reasonably decent hardware in itself. I moved everything (60 z wave devices) and my alarm panel and weather station all into HA. It's been a pain, but with MSR at least I have some familiarity and less MASSIVE pains including devices like you get with over 50 or less on the Vera. At least in ZwaveJS when something goes wrong, its easy to check logs and reinterview/delete entities that aren't valid and sort it, without the exclude/include everytime (sometimes many times per device) on the other platform.
z stick on Pi with HA has less range and more tedious backup methods, and not as tidy package on the shelf, but at least its progressive.
And i'm able to update the z wave devices OTA without excluding and including into a different network to do it as a bonus. -
I still have the "prototype" Ezlo plus in a box somewhere, any chance of "nuking" it like the Vera Plus? Zigbee and Z-wave 700 chip could be useful..
@toggledbits, the only reason I use Z-wave JS UI into HASS is that i use the HASS visualization on phones and UI panels, that would have to be replaced by helpers/virtuals if I were to take it into MSR instead?
I could offcourse feed both MSR and HASS from JS UI, but that seems like a bit of a waste of bandwidth? dunno.. -
@perh UI stuff is big on my mind these days...
Author of Multi-system Reactor and Reactor, DelayLight, Switchboard, and about a dozen other plugins that run on Vera and openLuup.
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@perh said in Finally gave up on my Ezlo Plus:
I still have the "prototype" Ezlo plus in a box somewhere, any chance of "nuking" it like the Vera Plus? Zigbee and Z-wave 700 chip could be useful..
...same for me. Never plugged it in, but interested in possibilities. I recall, though, that the hardware is bottom of the range, so perhaps not worth the hassle? I do still have an unused Vera Edge as a backup if necessary.
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It's about equivalent to an RPi 4, but with only 512MB RAM. That's more limiting than anything. I've run Reactor on it. It works. Not something you'd really want to do, but doable. I wonder if ZWave-JS would run on it and see the chip... I haven't tried that yet...
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@toggledbits wow!
UI/Dashboard by Patrik is going to be great! And no longer have to depend on the limited HE and Apple Home to set my dashboards.
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Any time Patrick sets out to do something, count me in! I still have my bucket of unused Vera/Ezlozerz controllers (some retired, some never used) sitting in a distant corner, while I thrive on Hubitat. Is every HA company run by a Melih-type? I'm starting to think so. All about "control" if you catch my drift.
Always grateful to have the company of titans like you guys, and glad we all escaped our old dungeon intact. Surprised as anyone that V/E is still in business; their products must have reached whatever sufficiently "okay" status needed to serve the CEO's mansion.
I won't be a party pooper by mentioning my current favorite (by far) Dashboard app, nor is this the place for me to publish/share my spreadsheet of HA Dashboards currently competing in that space. For mulit-hub use, none surpasses MSR!!!
Let me know if you'd be interested in me posting that database up somewhere on the SmartHome forum, and I'll happily do so.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!
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@librasun said in Finally gave up on my Ezlo Plus:
I won't be a party pooper by mentioning my current favorite (by far) Dashboard app
Do it! That certainly won't offend me! While I have plans for the (much ignored) Reactor Dashboard, I don't think it will ever be a match for some of the amazing alternatives out there, for at least two reasons: first, I'm never going to make myself an Apple or Android (or Tesla phone?) developer and have apps for those platforms; second, the core of the product for me is the logic engine, not the dashboard, and that will always be true and it will always be where I put the lion's-share of my thinking and effort. Just like Home Assistant has its Lovelace, I want to get Reactor's Dashboard to the point where some plurality of users is fine with it; the rest can choose to go bigger if they wish.
So please, if you have favorites, it doesn't kill my joy to have you promote them here!
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I would honestly rather @toggledbits kept his focus on the logic engine - there's plenty of ways out there already to do "pretty", not as many doing such a great job at the "smart".
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Also, I want to add: some of you may know that on Vera, I added support for some of my plugins (e.g. AVT) for the now-defunct ImperiHome, which had its own "lingua franca" query API by which it could request information from a foreign system. I thought that was extremely clever and useful to incorporate (they called it ISS). It made it possible for me to make the effort of integration, rather than hoping/asking them to do it. If there are other existing dashboards that can do this, I'd be happy to look at providing the necessary endpoints in Reactor to make it work. For dashboards that don't do this, encourage them to do it!
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My home setup is minimal and because WAF only depends on Alexa listening and Hubitat executing, a dashboard really doesn't factor into my daily driving.
But for now, having scoured the forums for details on every extant DB app out there, and compiled a comprehensive tally of their features, my current "favorite" (read: for beta testing purposes) is definitely hubiVue from the Australian developer Grant Slender.
He is taking it in all the right directions, IMHO, and his upcoming releases promise to achieve feature completeness and mass appeal.
Highly recommend kicking the tires. I may even invite him to join SHC so he doesn't risk pissing off HE staff as traffic to his user app thread increases. They love declaring upstarts as "competitors" and then banishing them from the community, which is mighty regrettable. Sound familiar?
