Home Automation - Smartkit

Awesome ! :)

You don't think the B1 is going to be too dim in a bedroom?

I use mine in a lamp for creating a tiny bit of light when watching TV (so not in a full dark room) but I found it fairly dim. I tried it outside my door a well and that works on white light (cold more than warm). The colours are a bit dim
 
Dolby said:
Awesome ! :)

You don't think the B1 is going to be too dim in a bedroom?

I use mine in a lamp for creating a tiny bit of light when watching TV (so not in a full dark room) but I found it fairly dim. I tried it outside my door a well and that works on white light (cold more than warm). The colours are a bit dim
Click to expand...

I was thinking whether to put the 2 B1's together, but we have our bedside lamps which adds in extra brightness if needed.
The lounge is open plan with the dining room and we still have the TV lamp the can be turned up in brightness (500 watt halogen).

The bedroom light one is more for not bumping the toe in the night and other possibilities. :D
 
hehe!

Cool man! Let me know how everything runs!

1 x Basic (Lounge)
1 x Basic (Dining Room)
1 x Basic (Patio)
1 x Basic (Study)
1 x RF (Outside light)
1 x B1 TV lamp
1 x Slampher (Main bathroom)

Then I use two POWs to track my electricity use on a freezer (60kWh!) and was very curious on my AV system (should be about 40kWh at month end). I want to get a water feature / garden fountain and get an RF to that as well in future

Then only 2 Dots for control
 
Dolby said:
hehe!

Cool man! Let me know how everything runs!

1 x Basic (Lounge)
1 x Basic (Dining Room)
1 x Basic (Patio)
1 x Basic (Study)
1 x RF (Outside light)
1 x B1 TV lamp
1 x Slampher (Main bathroom)

Then I use two POWs to track my electricity use on a freezer (60kWh!) and was very curious on my AV system (should be about 40kWh at month end). I want to get a water feature / garden fountain and get an RF to that as well in future

Then only 2 Dots for control
Click to expand...

Looking good!

I set all my units to switch on in case of a power failure. That way if my Internet goes down, it is a simple matter to switch the unit off and then on again to get it switched on and then treat it as a normal manual switch until the Internet issue is resolved.
 
Exactly the same as me :)

Also if a guest comes and flips it off, their natural instinct would be flip it on again and it'll operate as a standard light

[video=youtube;giBpx7xZdzQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giBpx7xZdzQ[/video]
 
Same here. I programmed my Sonoff to switch on by default once power cycled, That way it will operate as a normal switch.

Just ordered a Slampher, your prices are very well priced. thank you.
 
patrick123 said:
I was thinking whether to put the 2 B1's together, but we have our bedside lamps which adds in extra brightness if needed.
The lounge is open plan with the dining room and we still have the TV lamp the can be turned up in brightness (500 watt halogen).

The bedroom light one is more for not bumping the toe in the night and other possibilities. :D
Click to expand...

I would like to work my downlights in conjunction with the B1s - they can add the lumens, and the B1 the atmosphere.
 
phil77 said:
Got same day delivery service, pretty impressed.
Click to expand...

M1nEp7h.gif
 
So I have installed OpenHab on a Raspberry Pi. I set up a Temp/Humidity sensor on it and access the readings via a Python script.

Using the 1.0 Exec Binding for OpenHab, I access the info and expose it to the OpenHab Cloud.
On the Alexa Dot, I added in the OpenHab skill, and searched for devices, so now it is a simple matter of asking Alexa what is the lounge temperature.
The next step is to create an event when the temp reaches a certain level to switch on or off the fan.
I still need to add in a check whether the room is occupied or not as part of the on/off logic.


PiOpenHab.jpg
 
patrick123 said:
So I have installed OpenHab on a Raspberry Pi. I set up a Temp/Humidity sensor on it and access the readings via a Python script.

Using the 1.0 Exec Binding for OpenHab, I access the info and expose it to the OpenHab Cloud.
On the Alexa Dot, I added in the OpenHab skill, and searched for devices, so now it is a simple matter of asking Alexa what is the lounge temperature.
The next step is to create an event when the temp reaches a certain level to switch on or off the fan.
I still need to add in a check whether the room is occupied or not as part of the on/off logic.


View attachment 473454
Click to expand...

Changed the name "Lounge" to "Sitting Room", maybe my accent or just my k@k talking, but now it is simply "Alexa, what is the temperature of the sitting room?"

The Dot is meant to handle the humidity as well, but is is not doing so, will investigate further tomorrow.
The original circuit, drove the unit off 5 volts, but being a bit nervous, I opted for the 3.3v which should work as well. The humidity comes across a bit erratic, possibly because of this voltage. Any knowledgeable persons able to comment?
 
Geez! Very nice!

It seems you can do so much with these things ... and to think you only got into it recently too. I know someone that has the Hum and checks for occupancy using the sound ie no sound , no one there.

But, he couldn't a delay (yet) so in midchat when there was a silence, the lights would go out. I think sound would be pretty good to check occupancy (in conjunction) if there was a delay.
 
patrick123 said:
So I have installed OpenHab on a Raspberry Pi. I set up a Temp/Humidity sensor on it and access the readings via a Python script.

Using the 1.0 Exec Binding for OpenHab, I access the info and expose it to the OpenHab Cloud.
On the Alexa Dot, I added in the OpenHab skill, and searched for devices, so now it is a simple matter of asking Alexa what is the lounge temperature.
The next step is to create an event when the temp reaches a certain level to switch on or off the fan.
I still need to add in a check whether the room is occupied or not as part of the on/off logic.


View attachment 473454
Click to expand...

Keeping yourself busy! Hopefully I'll have some time in the future ;-)

How are you finding OpenHab Cloud?
 
Dolby said:
Geez! Very nice!

It seems you can do so much with these things ... and to think you only got into it recently too. I know someone that has the Hum and checks for occupancy using the sound ie no sound , no one there.

But, he couldn't a delay (yet) so in midchat when there was a silence, the lights would go out. I think sound would be pretty good to check occupancy (in conjunction) if there was a delay.
Click to expand...

Scanning for blue tooth devices could also possibly be the answer, though that means blue tooth would need to be on. Still a lot of experimentation to take place.
 
phaktza said:
Keeping yourself busy! Hopefully I'll have some time in the future ;-)

How are you finding OpenHab Cloud?
Click to expand...

I found this cusp section between version 1.x and 2.x of OpenHab has left a lot of holes in the documentation, not to mention the changes that have taken place to expose the devices to the cloud.
A nice feature is the ability to link straight into your system with whichever user interface you choose. I'm still fairly new at it and will still do a bit more research before committing to anything.

My feeling is that the OpenHab - Alexa skill still leaves a lot to be desired and instead of relying entirely on one or the other, we need to concentrate on allowing them to compliment each other.

Now of course with each provider (Home assistant, Bixby, Amazon, Siri, etc.) wanting a slice of the pie, they seem to be making their systems as hostile towards each other as legally possible. This now forces us end users to standardize on a single option, or next best is to get an interpreter (OpenHab in this case) to allow an awkward truce so that us end users are able to get extra value out of our gadgets.
 
patrick123 said:
I found this cusp section between version 1.x and 2.x of OpenHab has left a lot of holes in the documentation, not to mention the changes that have taken place to expose the devices to the cloud.
A nice feature is the ability to link straight into your system with whichever user interface you choose. I'm still fairly new at it and will still do a bit more research before committing to anything.

My feeling is that the OpenHab - Alexa skill still leaves a lot to be desired and instead of relying entirely on one or the other, we need to concentrate on allowing them to compliment each other.

Now of course with each provider (Home assistant, Bixby, Amazon, Siri, etc.) wanting a slice of the pie, they seem to be making their systems as hostile towards each other as legally possible. This now forces us end users to standardize on a single option, or next best is to get an interpreter (OpenHab in this case) to allow an awkward truce so that us end users are able to get extra value out of our gadgets.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update. We've got inquiries about assisting with 3rd party firmware and software for Sonoff, and I might just pick your brain if I come short ;-)
 
phaktza said:
Thanks for the update. We've got inquiries about assisting with 3rd party firmware and software for Sonoff, and I might just pick your brain if I come short ;-)
Click to expand...

No problem, you're welcome to give me a shout.
OpenHab cannot access Sonoff directly, and would most likely have to be flashed with the Tasmota for the MQTT control.
I don't know if Alexa would still be able to access it via the eWeLink.
Very likely you would define it as items and expose it to the OpenHab cloud for Alexa to see. These items would need to be tagged via the Homekit tagging options:

  • Lighting
  • Switchable
  • CurrentTemperature
  • CurrentHumidity
  • Thermostat - Has child tags

At this stage the CurrentHumidity does not seem to be recognised.
Switchable, allows items to be switched on and off, but is also seems to be able to be used to recognise the state of an item, could be used to indicate is the door is open or closed, still a lot of experimenting to take place.

Exposing to the OH2 cloud, works differently compared to version 1, you need to specify each one individually and not just simply the group that it belonged to.

Interesting times. :D
 
patrick123 said:
No problem, you're welcome to give me a shout.
OpenHab cannot access Sonoff directly, and would most likely have to be flashed with the Tasmota for the MQTT control.
I don't know if Alexa would still be able to access it via the eWeLink.
Very likely you would define it as items and expose it to the OpenHab cloud for Alexa to see. These items would need to be tagged via the Homekit tagging options:

  • Lighting
  • Switchable
  • CurrentTemperature
  • CurrentHumidity
  • Thermostat - Has child tags

At this stage the CurrentHumidity does not seem to be recognised.
Switchable, allows items to be switched on and off, but is also seems to be able to be used to recognise the state of an item, could be used to indicate is the door is open or closed, still a lot of experimenting to take place.

Exposing to the OH2 cloud, works differently compared to version 1, you need to specify each one individually and not just simply the group that it belonged to.

Interesting times. :D
Click to expand...

Hi Patrick

Thanks, yes we would be flashing with Tasmota - but as you mentioned there is a plethora of home automation software, each trying to do their own thing. OpenHab sounds like some good middle ground to start with. We originally considered Home Assistant because of the Qwikswitch compatibility - but I'm not sold.
 
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