Home automation with multiple devices - one app to rule them all....

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Home automation with multiple devices - one app to rule them all....

timmmay

20857 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5349

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#282622 2-Mar-2021 09:39

I have four different apps I use for home automation:

Kasa (TP-Link Wifi mains timer automation for our ventilation system - on / off)
Broadlink (heat pump automation - change mode / heat / on / off with complex schedules)
Panasonic Comfort Cloud (ducted heat pump automation - once HRV can get WiFi working, same kind of thing as Broadlink)
Connector (motorised blind automation, when I get around to setting it up, simple schedules)

Is there a practical way to control all of these devices from one app? I'm aware there are standards and such but I don't know enough to get started. I don't have any of the digital assistant type things, Alexa etc.

I don't want to spend days getting this stuff working, so if that's required I'd call it impractical.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

1096 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 273

ID Verified

#2666625 2-Mar-2021 09:48

I'd look into Home Assistant. chances are it will support all those things and while it's not exactly plug and play, it's come a long way in terms of user friendlyness.

Happy to help you through that journey, too.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2638
Inactive user

#2666628 2-Mar-2021 09:52

Home Assistant!!.... with the Node-RED add-on for super simple automations without needing to write YAML.

Come a really long way these days in terms of ease of installation - I used to hate it, now I can't get away from it.

Spin it up on a Raspberry Pi/ODROID, Docker, or a VM with one of their official install methods and its running in 10 minutes and ready to connect devices.

Your first two things have native integrations, Panasonic doesn't at first glance, and I've never heard of "Connector". I would assume you can probably use Broadlink to control the Panasonic heat pump though?

timmmay

20857 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5349

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2666637 2-Mar-2021 10:07

Great! What is "home assistant"? What is "Node Red"? Is there any kind of guide or tutorial?

The ducted Panasonic heat pump doesn't have an IR interface, so can't work with Broadlink. HRV are having trouble getting WiFi working.

dt

1152 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 371
Inactive user

#2666638 2-Mar-2021 10:08

home assistant is good for managing multiple different products under one ecosystem. however, I hope you have ALOT of spare time to read through forums and for the setup

You will need to have some basic programming language understanding as there's a lot of this

a lot of time if you plan to start doing automations

at the end of it all though there is a 'proud' feeling youve been able to get it all going

GL if you go with HA :)

gcorgnet

1096 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 273

ID Verified

#2666643 2-Mar-2021 10:11

timmmay:

Great! What is "home assistant"? What is "Node Red"? Is there any kind of guide or tutorial?

The ducted Panasonic heat pump doesn't have an IR interface, so can't work with Broadlink. HRV are having trouble getting WiFi working.

I'd start there: https://www.home-assistant.io/getting-started/
Have a read, decide if it's for you then decide where you want to run it (Docker, Raspberry Pi, etc..)

Then go for it :-)

PS: NodeRed is something that can run un parrelel and interact with Home Assistant. It gives way a great visual way of setting up automations: https://nodered.org/docs/getting-started/

NotATurkey

18 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 5
Inactive user

#2666644 2-Mar-2021 10:17

+1 for HomeAssistant.

I'm using it to run both Kasa and Panasonic Comfort Cloud from your list.
Shoot me a message down the line if you need any help setting those two up.

HP

Shop now for HP laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

dt

1152 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 371
Inactive user

#2666645 2-Mar-2021 10:17

timmmay:

Great! What is "home assistant"? What is "Node Red"? Is there any kind of guide or tutorial?

There's heaps of setup guides on youtube and a massive community on their forums / reddit.

There are packages and addons you can use within it to simplify the use of it across multiple vendors

node red is something many people use to help simplify the process of creating automations into flow charts rather than having to code it

timmmay

20857 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5349

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2666678 2-Mar-2021 11:13

Thanks all. Is this something that can practically be done in a few hours, or is it more like like dt says that will take ages. I'm very technical, used to be a developer, I still do very technical work, but I'd probably rather use four different apps than waste days on this kind of thing. With kids and work my available time is extremely limited.

dt

1152 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 371
Inactive user

#2666742 2-Mar-2021 11:54

We are similar in respects of work and family, for me at least there was a lot more than a few hours thrown into it.. HA to me is a hobby product.. you'll either get some enjoyment out of playing with it or not.

I personally took the cbf attitude towards it in the end.

gcorgnet

1096 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 273

ID Verified

#2666750 2-Mar-2021 12:12

timmmay:

Thanks all. Is this something that can practically be done in a few hours, or is it more like like dt says that will take ages. I'm very technical, used to be a developer, I still do very technical work, but I'd probably rather use four different apps than waste days on this kind of thing. With kids and work my available time is extremely limited.

Yeah, unfortunately, it will be likely be more than a few hours. Someone with experience could probably set this up in 2-3h (provided the integrations for your devices exist already)

Are you still based in Wellington?

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2638
Inactive user

#2666767 2-Mar-2021 13:15

I discounted Home Assistant for a long time because the only way to make stuff happen was by building the YAML templates, and coding automations manually. I tired it again about a month ago, and now it is a whole lot more mature and, so far, the only actual "code" (not actual code, but just YAML) I've had to write is for some home made sensor modules.

But initially, I had Hass.io deployed on a VM, and all my Shelly modules linked up and working on a dashboard in about an hour - it was reeeeeealy simple.

I linked the installation page and and integrations in my post above which tell you pretty much everything you need to know.

You'll only want Node-RED if you want to do some automations, and not have to actually code them yourself (i.e. "when the TV is on, govern the fan speed down on the heat pump"). Node-RED is an insanely powerful "automation platform" (for want of a better term) that can hook in to literally any API, service, device, etc, and get them all talking to each other - all within in a super simple graphical flow chart interface. Home Assistant has made it even easier to integrate with Node-RED by installing it as an add-on and just running it as a service within the HA server as well as embedding the node-red interface within the HA config dashboard.

At the end of the day, if you want four hardware vendors (especially the heat pump crowd...) to all talk to each other, there is going to be a small amount of work involved. But I would suggest that someone moderately competent with software/servers/networks will get HA going really quick these days.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

timmmay

20857 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5349

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2666773 2-Mar-2021 13:40

Yep, I'm in Wellington. Sounds like it might be something I could tackle as a winter project, once I get my current projects finished. I just want a simple way to turn things on and off without using four different apps.

Thanks all, I have a direction now, I just need to find the time and get around to it :) I'll probably revive the thread in 3 months or 3 years when I get around to it and have problems :)

gcorgnet

1096 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 273

ID Verified

#2666785 2-Mar-2021 14:16

timmmay:

Yep, I'm in Wellington. Sounds like it might be something I could tackle as a winter project, once I get my current projects finished. I just want a simple way to turn things on and off without using four different apps.

Thanks all, I have a direction now, I just need to find the time and get around to it :) I'll probably revive the thread in 3 months or 3 years when I get around to it and have problems :)

Yeah, sounds like it would be worth investing the time, especially for someone technical like yourself.
HA will give you a nice UI that's very customizable and lets you control all the things.
I'm at the point where I will make sure that anything I buy for the house can integrate with HA to keep things simple so HA is the only app I need. I probably have devices from a dozen companies (Google Home, Wyze, Arlo, Konnected, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, etc..) and never have to worry about their often sub-par app implementations.

timmmay

20857 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5349

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2685757 2-Apr-2021 13:34

davidcole: I find device support about the same- would probably give the edge to home assistant. OpenHAB is harder to upgrade and I’d say hard to programme automations. They are more code like (java-ish). Personally I prefer that.

Home assistant I think has a lower barrier to entry and with the fortnightly updates and I think there are more users of it in gz, I think you’d have a better time of it. It also seems to get new devices quicker.

They both run on a pi, and if you’re using docker on an installed rasbian rather than the system on a card solutions then you could try both. But again for ease of starting home assistant on a dedicated pi (hassio I believe it is) is probably the easiest

@davidcole I'll continue that conversation in this thread I had a while ago about home assistant. I'll give Home Assistant a go I think.

Any advice from anyone how to get started? Obviously I'll go to their website for the basic install (trying that now), but beyond that how might I consider integrating:

A Broadlink RM Pro controlling a Daikin heat pump
A Panasonic ducted heat pump currently using Comfort Cloud
Aqura water sensors (via their hub I guess?)
Shade Connector app (roman blind control)
Kasa timers (controlling a fan heater and a basic on / off for a ventilation system)

timmmay

20857 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5349

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2685759 2-Apr-2021 14:00

That's annoying, the spare R.PIs I have laying around are all R.Pi 2 which seems too old to run home assistant without hassle :( I guess I'll find a Pi 4 or even a Pi 3B+ and give it a go some time.

Maybe I'll have a play with the Windows version on my PC to see if it generally works with my devices.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4