Lessons I learned whilst building my smart home
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Lessons I learned whilst building my smart home
❤️ Found this video useful and want to support the channel? I’d love a donation at
Links:
Smart Home Playlist:
source
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Thanks a lot for this. I now know a bit more about what to look out for.
Okey, the biggest takeaway is: cables and no batteries… Then skip wifi/zigbee and POE and CAT6 EVERYWHERE….
Zigbee FTW
200 W constant power just for the rack, 24/7, that's really a lot, that's 1750 kWh per year. Crazy amount, when a lot of families have total energy usage around 2000 kWh per year.
Comment on fiber vs CAT6 in the house. There is another option. Fish through a fiber backbone in the house, the run whatever CAT you need at the time (I ran CAT 6A). Gives you the best of both worlds. I have fiber going to my main rack in the basement and to the secondary distribution rack in the attic. My system have two runs of fiber for the future, but I am distributing on CAT 6 A in the short term to the APs. Wasn't cheap either, but agree investment is the way to go
Thanks for the summary. I'd assume your observations are just as valid for the US. If anyone has any comments on that people comment.
The most useful comment was to make sure you have power to all of the windows instead of using batteries. I'm planning on building my retirement home and will make sure that is done.
CAT6 is still the standard in my works data center environments. I have not seen any DCs utilize CAT7/8 thus far.
Any chance you can describe in a bit more detail how you set up Daikin with home assistant? From what I found it can’t be done on the later versions of the firmware.
Ouch… 200watts sustained energy use to run the rack/servers. Thats gonna cost a fair bit. I have Proxmox on a Dell micro running 4 VMs and its drawing under 20watts.
How are you getting your Aqara switches to work with Philips Hue lights?
Thanks for this summary. We are really missing such lessons-learned movies, thanks for yours!
The biggest win for me is the "good night" / "good morning" switch which shuts down the entire apartment to the baseline consumption (or wakes it up in the morning).
Also, the automatic light sensors are really awesome since i've installed everywhere the Athom presence paired with hue motion for the tougher spots.
And — what really improved acceptance of the automatic lights was the "30s" dimming time of the light brightness.
Thats a nice little trick to keep your wife's acceptance of smart home 😉
Thanks for the round up, it is nice to see content about withstanding the test of time.
I decided on the aqara light switches after watching your video. My only issue with a few of them is that they don't report their state to Hass. I can control all via Hass my if someone manually turns them off or on, they will not update Hass entity with that. Do you experience the same issue?
Great summation. Thank you for sharing it with us. I am looking forward to seeing you updated zigbee troubleshooting video. Zigbee is great until it isn't and I seem to have a few devices that just love to drop off the network at the most inopportune time.
Joe
Thanks for the video 🙂 looking forward to the next ones
About the zigbee blinds, how long does the batter last? and which ones you bought? I unfortunately bought RF ones so the control isn't the ideal, but the battery lasts around 6 months
I have found an extremely low res thermal camera and raspberry pi to be a good solution to the bed weighing and being on the toilet too long problems. Yeah there's some code writing to do, but it knows when you're still on the loo. It's also able to know how many people are in a given space using low level image processing like blob detection, even with 16×16 resolution. For me, I wasn't comfortable pointing a camera at the toilet/bed so this was definitely the best of both worlds
At this point I'm just really happy if my Phillips v1 dimmer switch turns on and off the light with home assistant. 😂
Hi! Regarding blinds I'm using the same (ZM25RZ01) and I agree with the charging issue. Eventhough I have electrical boxes on top of the shades, they are too small to hide a charger. I bought a few of the Wifi version (ZM25RW01), that goes directly to 220v, this allow me to just connect the cables to the electrical box. However, I wouldn't say I recommend them. They have a few problems: With Local Tuya after a few hours they became unavailable. The tuya cloud integration works, but it fails to report the current status of the shades. So, if you use the remote o tuya app, or sometimes even HA, the position is not updated. Also, using the 'close' / 'open' triggers just invert the current position. The way to use it with automations is to use the Set_position. Wifi signal is also a problem, they don't have good range.
Since I have 30/32mm tubes, those two models are the ones compatible with my house (there are other older models with have like RF-Zigbee bridge, but I don't want to go there)
Now I bought and I'm waiting for the Zigbee 220v alternative (ZM25R1). It is for 38mm tube, but I feel the size of the motor is smaller and it might fit the tube. Then I will just change the Crown and Ring with one made with the 3D printer.
I hope this comment is usefull to someone out there 🙂
8:24 16-channel Emporia Vue might be useful here. But only if you manage to flash ESPhome on it, standard firmware is unusable because it's cloud only.
Those old switches are iconic British designs 🤣Painfully. They remind me for my travels to some communist countries in the 1960's.
Those smart switches are like 96' Testarossa to the 96' Jaguar XJS
Subscribed and you do good work! The toilet item was funny but a real problem. What was your fix for that? I also have the Aqara FP2 and a Linknlink presence sensor and can not get the not present when I am present straighted out even though I am just over six feet away. Also very interested in your upcoming zigbee video! Keep up the good work!
You could use an ir or rf remote hub for your ac that would replace the remotes and wouldn't rely on hacs.
Can we get a collab between you and hibbert using hue and home assistant. Or reviewing each others set ups?
Great video! I have both Zwave and zigbee and Zwave is much more reliable and at least triple the range! Though zigbee sensor battery life much better. My Zwave has been rock solid running every light for about 5 years.
Do you have a guide for the Daikin Oneceta hacks addon/integration?
Looking to get mine working with HASS.
PS for the SONOFF NS panels, you have similar panels that run STOCK android. which would be better than the NS panels
Ok, ok, ok. I have to say it. I love the self-own, re-reading your own blog. Can't wait for that video. I love the censored bit, because… well, we all know what happens and can only imagine why those mats move. And, the cameo! Awkward. LOL! This is what I look forward to. Entertainment.
Very useful, looking forward to your ZigBee experience.
Ahaha, I love that you are "stuck" on the same point for the FSR bed sensor as I do. I also bought all the parts, put it all together but the resistor value calculation struck me the most. Funnily enough, the recommended value that was mentioned on the forum worked fine for me (can't remember it now, sorry). It worked perfectly as a proof of concept also with LED and PIR sensor that I included in the ESPHome but I never installed it on the bed itself. I'm also considering of using VL53LOX Time-Of-Flight Sensor instead of the PIR but I'd have to do some more testing on that.
Would love to see your take on it as well.
Here is what I used when it comes to the ESPhome. Of course, make sure to adjust the entity names 🙂
# LED – WS2812B
light:
– platform: neopixelbus
type: GRB
variant: WS2812
pin: GPIO23
num_leds: 50
name: "LED strip light"
# PIR Sensor
binary_sensor:
– platform: gpio
pin: 19
name: "PIR Sensor"
device_class: motion
# Pressure / Occupancy sensor (FSR)
– platform: template
name: "Bed occupied"
id: bed_state_test
device_class: occupancy
icon: mdi:bed-outline
lambda: |-
if (id(bed_sensor_test).state < id(trigger_level_test).state) {
return true;
} else {
return false;
}
number:
# Pressure / Occupancy sensor (FSR)
– platform: template
name: "Michal bed Trigger Level"
id: "trigger_level_test"
mode: box
optimistic: true
min_value: 0
restore_value: true
unit_of_measurement: "V"
device_class: voltage
max_value: 3.3
step: 0.01
icon: mdi:chart-sankey
sensor:
# Pressure / Occupancy sensor (FSR)
– platform: adc
pin: GPIO36
attenuation: 11db
accuracy_decimals: 3
device_class: voltage
name: "Bed sensor"
id: "bed_sensor_test"
icon: mdi:arrow-collapse-vertical
update_interval: 0.2s
filters:
– exponential_moving_average:
alpha: 0.1
send_every: 1
– or:
– throttle: 180s
– delta: 0.02
Curious on the blind motors. I too do not have power there, but looked at solar powered options. Would you recommend a particular solar powered version of the motor tubes?
That Zigbee troubleshooting video will definitely help me on my automation journey. Thanx for all the great content!
Great video as always. I have the exact same regret with ethernet cables and just like yourself it’s too late for me to change them. How are you monitoring the power of your rack?
Nice video, looking forward to the zigbee learning video (even if I don't use zigbee), I have the same OCD as you with regards to the position of a lightswitch, still using Shelly but converted to pushbutton, instead of flip switch, and my OCD is now fine. I really like network products like Shelly
For light switches in a new house we are doing we are using fancy nickel plated (normal) switches from a leading brand but specced them with momentary mechanisms so you click them to turn on or off and they spring back out) very similar to a aqara switch. We then have a shelly relay behind them which smartifies them. It works great. It took me ages to work it out (I made a test rig to try to work out what was best) but the shelly relay has an option in the settings to work with these switches and once I found that we were away. This is the best choice for us because we can have absolutely any light switch and still be smart. Becasue we were gutting teh house we changed to deeper back boxes to allow room but witht the latest shellys (the mini) they are tiny and would most likely fit in any back box. My only change is i am currently testing zigbee tuya versions of the relay as I dont like that shelly only offer wifi or zwave. TBH the wifi would be fine. In my other place I have shelly wifi switches doing all sorts and they have been faultless
When I added CAT 6 cables I didn’t have to rip up my walls. Mind you, the electrician that did it could do it from under the house. Is that not an option for you? I’ve had a great experience with my Withings Sleep Mat too
Can't wait for the Zigbee video tbh, my network is mostly reliable but I have a few specific sensors that often go offline. One is a Sonoff ZBMINIL2 and that requires the lighting ring turning off and on again before it'll re-pair. It's also VERY clicky with Off being a horrible 'twang' sound. Like Paul Hibbert I love the channel 🙂
I think you’re making a mistake by not going KNX, which is a reliable industrial strength and supportable solution for the next owner when you move out of the house, yes it’s expensive but 100% reliable; mine is now 14 years old and has never given a problem.
Great video, I’m sure a left a comment on your new home video to run cables to everything. I don’t like to say I told you so but I’ve learnt a lot over 15 years designing C4/Lutron based systems but I know it’s easier said than done 😀 I use zigbee/battery devices in my own home!
Another great video. Thank you for this.
How many zigbee power monitoring plugs did you have before they became too chatty on the the network? Did it get to the point of causing slowdowns in communication among zigbee endpoints or did you switch to wifi plugs before it got to that point?
they dont need to make a different solar panel for each model if the solar panel is just providing a usb female connection the one solar panel should work for all versions of their blinds if it is a window adhesive based mounting
Looking forward to your ZigBee troubleshooting vid. Was going to point you to another vid I have bookmarked but it's your own vid 😂. Being able to "allow join" on only the closest device was a game changer.
This is an awesome idea! I need to do this too. Great video!