Administrator StereoNET Posted January 31, 2017 Administrator Posted January 31, 2017 Anyone here have any experience with Z Wave and automation? I've just picked up a hub and a heap of switches and relays to start some integration with existing smart devices and IFTTT. Steep learning curve!
Guest Sime Posted January 31, 2017 Posted January 31, 2017 Can't be any steeper than running a hi-fi show for the first time
Guest Posted January 31, 2017 Posted January 31, 2017 Fair point! That was easy though really. Just very time consuming to ensure everything was as organised as possible. Anyone could do it really. This on the other hand, requires intelligence and patience. Not sure which, if either, of those I have!
Guest Sime Posted January 31, 2017 Posted January 31, 2017 @Marc anyone? get ready for Sime's Canberran Inter-Suburban hi-fi swap meet-ish thingy.
Guest rmpfyf Posted January 31, 2017 Posted January 31, 2017 Yeah. Done a few homes with Z-Wave. The kit isn't cheap and you'll want to deploy a decent amount of it to maintain range. I've found Aeon Labs makes some really nice stuff (http://aeotec.com/) and that I wanted to turn every Fibaro gateway I'd tried into a frisbee.
Guest Posted January 31, 2017 Posted January 31, 2017 Oh I have a few Fibaro switches. I only went with the Vera3 control to have a dabble with it to start with. I'll check out Aeon Labs, thanks for the advice.
Guest rmpfyf Posted February 1, 2017 Posted February 1, 2017 The Fibaro gateway looked really nice - aesthetically it's a great unit. Didn't seem to like brick walls though, which was an issue in one particular home where what the client wanted controlled was a good ways away from where he wanted the gateway. A Zigbee implementation made the distance with ease, though the Aeon Labs Smart Switch 6 won him over - it's a really nice product, and when you check out the range they've some awesome kit.
Guest Posted February 2, 2017 Posted February 2, 2017 Yeo, VeraEdge is not for me. Classifieds here I come.
Guest Posted February 2, 2017 Posted February 2, 2017 I take that back, got it all working. Behind the wall switches I have now installed ZWave relays. I've now set up automatic scheduling for our outdoor and porch lights (before sunset to 11PM) and 1.5hrs before sunrise until 30 mins after sunrise). I've also integrated the security cameras and other smart devices. The good thing about this is to the unsuspecting better half, all the lights and switches work as normal. Next to tackle irrigation and more lighting control.
Guest Posted February 7, 2017 Posted February 7, 2017 On 01/02/2017 at 0:39 PM, rmpfyf said: The Fibaro gateway looked really nice - aesthetically it's a great unit. Didn't seem to like brick walls though, which was an issue in one particular home where what the client wanted controlled was a good ways away from where he wanted the gateway. A Zigbee implementation made the distance with ease, though the Aeon Labs Smart Switch 6 won him over - it's a really nice product, and when you check out the range they've some awesome kit. I'm up and running with some simple outdoor lights running on a schedule. I'm happy enough to invest further. Should I be sticking with and investing in Zwave, or any reason I should be looking at Zigbee instead?
Guest rmpfyf Posted February 7, 2017 Posted February 7, 2017 Either will do - and technically you've already got Zigbee in your smart meter (assuming you've got one). Despite the technical differences you're safe to treat them as separate ecosystems. Unless there's a super killer application you really really need that's only Zigbee, you're safe to proceed with Zwave IMHO. Some manufacturers are going a different route again on Bluetooth low energy (BTLE). Clipsal for one. Don't you just wish they'd all just get along
1224 Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 There's a bit of a home automation revolution in progress. Unfortunately they are spread over quiet a few different formats and systems. From zwave and zigbee, to apple home kit and wemo philips hue etc. And not all of them work together... I have got a fibaro home center 2 which is fantastic. Realitivly easy to use, looks nice and has a fantastic GUI. Think of it like an apple product, it just works.(bit of a diss to Fibaro there as it allows a fair bit more fiddling than apple would, but not as much as the community based Vera plugins (like android)) I have almost every room with dimmers controlling led down lights. Door sensors, electric shutter control, motion sensors, temp sensors, flood sensors and plug in power monitor/switch (the aeon tech one is fantastic gives wattage use volts and current). Unusally the fibaro sensors are a bit harder to pair I found , than the aeon labs stuff which is just great stuff. It is expensive but I love the fact that that I can set up scenes or control my hue bulbs or fibaro lights thru Alexa or my phone or my key ring or automatically .... 2
Guest Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 I'm going to dump my VeraEdge controller. It's faulty and seems too hard to get anything done via warranty. Do you know if I can control LIFX with Fibaro / Alexa?
Peta Posted June 10, 2017 Posted June 10, 2017 On 07/06/2017 at 11:11 PM, Marc said: I'm going to dump my VeraEdge controller. It's faulty and seems too hard to get anything done via warranty. Do you know if I can control LIFX with Fibaro / Alexa? Wise move. From my own experience Fibaro and Vera controllers are not up to the job. Integrating sensors is a classic pain in the ... By comparison the Homekit ecosystem works together and does what it should without ridiculous techo stuff required. Australia's different power and plugs mean that there is a delay getting Homekit gear here but it definitely looks a brighter future. Downside ... you need to dedicate an iPad or Apple TV to run Homekit. It uses the Zigbee protocols and gateways like the Hue deliver their excellent lighting through Homekit. My thoughts anyway
Guest rmpfyf Posted June 24, 2017 Posted June 24, 2017 (edited) On 2017-6-7 at 11:11 PM, Marc said: I'm going to dump my VeraEdge controller. It's faulty and seems too hard to get anything done via warranty. Do you know if I can control LIFX with Fibaro / Alexa? Fibaro, yes, if you can program Lua https://community.lifx.com/t/fibaro-home-center-integration/644/19 On 2017-6-10 at 2:37 PM, Peta said: Wise move. From my own experience Fibaro and Vera controllers are not up to the job. Integrating sensors is a classic pain in the ... By comparison the Homekit ecosystem works together and does what it should without ridiculous techo stuff required. It's really just software - either someone's written a script to get it integrated, or you need to do it yourself... which isn't friendly for most people. It'll get better though On 2017-6-10 at 2:37 PM, Peta said: Australia's different power and plugs mean that there is a delay getting Homekit gear here but it definitely looks a brighter future. HomeKit is just a software protocol with some basic hardware requirements. If you have the first and meet the second, anything can be run from HomeKit - which is in anything with iOS 8 or later. On 2017-6-10 at 2:37 PM, Peta said: It uses the Zigbee protocols and gateways like the Hue deliver their excellent lighting through Homekit. Don't think this is true. HomeKit is not based on Zigbee, it doesn't require Zigbee either. Apple requires specific chip-based security on HomeKit-compatible hardware (that whole made-for-iPhone certification), so whilst that's not Zigbee or ZWave or BTLE compliant, there's scope for products that effectively serve as a gateway to Zigbee/ZWave devices from a HomeKit network - check out the Mixtile hub, for example: https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/06/focalcrest-announces-mixtile-hub-to-bridge-existing-zigbee-and-z-wave-smart-home-products-into-homekit-siri-control/ Edited June 24, 2017 by rmpfyf
Peta Posted July 2, 2017 Posted July 2, 2017 On 24/06/2017 at 9:07 PM, rmpfyf said: Don't think this is true. HomeKit is not based on Zigbee, it doesn't require Zigbee either. Apple requires specific chip-based security on HomeKit-compatible hardware (that whole made-for-iPhone certification), so whilst that's not Zigbee or ZWave or BTLE compliant, there's scope for products that effectively serve as a gateway to Zigbee/ZWave devices from a HomeKit network - check out the Mixtile hub, for example: https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/06/focalcrest-announces-mixtile-hub-to-bridge-existing-zigbee-and-z-wave-smart-home-products-into-homekit-siri-control/ Sorry to be confusing. I was talking about Hue using zigbee and a gateway controller to link into the Homekit protocols. Poor sentence construction.
Guest rmpfyf Posted July 2, 2017 Posted July 2, 2017 1 hour ago, Peta said: Sorry to be confusing. I was talking about Hue using zigbee and a gateway controller to link into the Homekit protocols. Poor sentence construction. Cheers. What one can do with Homekit/Zigbee as in Hue (with a MFI-certified gateway in between) you could do with just about any other protocol (Zigbee, ZWave, GreenPHY, BTLE, WiFi etc)
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