Home Automation - 75+ devices - From Domoticz to Home Assistant

superczar

Skilled
So I finally migrated my Home automation core from Domoticz to Home assistant !
1 week calendar time, 20+ hours of dedicated work and moving 80 odd devices later, I am feeling rather smug about it !


I decided to upload my config and other assorted details on github for my own records as well as in the hope it will help someone on this hobby!
I guess as far as hobbies go, this is only second to Hifi reproduction in terms of being a timesink/ rabbithole - although it's certainly a cheaper quest :)

homekit.jpg


More screenshots:

porch.jpg proxmox.jpg sensors.jpeg kitchen.jpeg study.jpg Living.jpeg BR.jpg

Full story and code:
(Just scroll down 1 page if you want only the story! :) )
 
Wow man. 80 devices. My first attempt itself has run into issues. I was using a Sonoff Smart Wall Touch Switch - https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-t1.html. This was connected to a magnetic contactor which then runs my 1.5HP water pump. Idea was that since a smart switch is usually not available for motor type loads, I would use the contactor for the main current load and the Smart Switch to switch on/off the contactor. However, on many occasions it has happened that the device goes offline after I switch on the pump and then I have to run to the water room to manually switch off the pump otherwise my loft tank would overflow filling my house with water. It has happened on so many occasions that I have now lost all faith and gone back to control the pump manually. I think the device trips when the voltage drops on turning on the pump and then by the time it comes back online my house would be full of water.
 
Wow man. 80 devices. My first attempt itself has run into issues. I was using a Sonoff Smart Wall Touch Switch - https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-t1.html. This was connected to a magnetic contactor which then runs my 1.5HP water pump. Idea was that since a smart switch is usually not available for motor type loads, I would use the contactor for the main current load and the Smart Switch to switch on/off the contactor. However, on many occasions it has happened that the device goes offline after I switch on the pump and then I have to run to the water room to manually switch off the pump otherwise my loft tank would overflow filling my house with water. It has happened on so many occasions that I have now lost all faith and gone back to control the pump manually. I think the device trips when the voltage drops on turning on the pump and then by the time it comes back online my house would be full of water.
That’s odd..
Not that I havent had mishaps..
The worst one probably being a drunk friend asking Alexa to Switch on all lights at 3AM when all he wanted was lights in the guest room.. needless to say that was a disaster!
But by and large the setup is 99.9% reliable

Having said that, an automation core that operates on the LAN with cloud intervention required only when needed is a key element for reliability
 
@superczar Thanks for posting your notes on github. My setup is based on openhab, and shares some of the devices which you use. I feed time stamp data into grafana and zabbix. For bulbs i have Sonoff Slampher, Yeelight, Sonoff B1 and AiLight. Recently I flashed the 12 W Wipro bulb with Tasmota and is quite bright. How does Solimo compare with the bulbs you have?
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@superczar Thanks for posting your notes on github. My setup is based on openhab, and shares some of the devices which you use. I feed time stamp data into grafana and zabbix. For bulbs i have Sonoff Slampher, Yeelight, Sonoff B1 and AiLight. Recently I flashed the 12 W Wipro bulb with Tasmota and is quite bright. How does Solimo compare with the bulbs you have?
Post automatically merged:
I’d say that the 12W Solimo flashed to tasmota is the best VFM option at the moment..
It’s certainly brighter than my Hues and just a tad less than my LIFXs (which cost 5x and are unreliable)

However with RGBCCT bulbs like solimo, you need to make sure you get the template right and the white blend calibration right else the brightness and white balance will act weird/ brighness will be lower
I had generated a manually created template for SOLIMO a short while ago that I had shared on the tasmota portal
Let me know if you need any help with that
 
I’d say that the 12W Solimo flashed to tasmota is the best VFM option at the moment..
It’s certainly brighter than my Hues and just a tad less than my LIFXs (which cost 5x and are unreliable)

However with RGBCCT bulbs like solimo, you need to make sure you get the template right and the white blend calibration right else the brightness and white balance will act weird/ brighness will be lower
I had generated a manually created template for SOLIMO a short while ago that I had shared on the tasmota portal
Let me know if you need any help with that
Your Solimo template may come in handy. Can you post it here?
 
@superczar saw post on teambhp as well. Excellent writeup!

I wanted to ask about network security for iot. How do you manage device's exposure to internet? How does openvpn to a aws instance helps? Camera app works through nvr locally or via manufacturer app?
 
Your Solimo template may come in handy. Can you post it here?
{"NAME":"Solimo RGBCCT 12","GPIO":[0,0,0,0,37,41,0,0,38,40,39,0,0],"FLAG":0,"BASE":18}
Do remember to correct the whiteblend mode from the console after setting the template

@superczar saw post on teambhp as well. Excellent writeup!

I wanted to ask about network security for iot. How do you manage device's exposure to internet? How does openvpn to a aws instance helps? Camera app works through nvr locally or via manufacturer app?

Simple rule of thumb - Anything from a non trustworthy manufacturer, just block it from Internet access altogether at the router/ firewall.. e.g. Samsung (smartthings), Philips (Hue), Apple , google, amazon etc are allowed access while Hikvision/ tuya/ foscam etc etc aren't
Cameras are accessed either through the Core (HA) or via the hikvision app with traffic routed to it indirectly


Now openvpn to aws is a special case scenario for me because my primary ISP uses CGNAT (i.e. gives me a private IP instead of a global IP)
Now let's say i need access to port 123 on HA (or could be domoticz or anything) server 192.168.0.100
So I would access my aws server port 123 (or can be 456 or anything) which in turn will route the traffic on port 456 to the ovpn client (within my LAN) which in turn will route it to 192.168.0.100:123

If you get a public IP, you do not necessarily need this..
 
{"NAME":"Solimo RGBCCT 12","GPIO":[0,0,0,0,37,41,0,0,38,40,39,0,0],"FLAG":0,"BASE":18}
Do remember to correct the whiteblend mode from the console after setting the template

This looks quite similar to the Wipro bulb except PWM4 and PWM5 are swapped. Can you elaborate on the whiteblend mode?
 
This looks quite similar to the Wipro bulb except PWM4 and PWM5 are swapped. Can you elaborate on the whiteblend mode?
For whiteblend details - https://tasmota.github.io/docs/White-Blend-Mode/
The template creation is also pretty straighforward, you basically set tasmota as a generic device with all assignable GPIOs as relays
This way you can switch each one on and off to check what GPIOs are used and for which channel
Once you know that, you can set the right GPIO channels for the CCTs

@superczar saw post on teambhp as well. Excellent writeup!

I wanted to ask about network security for iot. How do you manage device's exposure to internet? How does openvpn to a aws instance helps? Camera app works through nvr locally or via manufacturer app?
Actually that’s not really a writeup :p
That’s the github README markdown but got a PM asking me to add details so I pasted it in the thread
 
For whiteblend details - https://tasmota.github.io/docs/White-Blend-Mode/
The template creation is also pretty straighforward, you basically set tasmota as a generic device with all assignable GPIOs as relays
This way you can switch each one on and off to check what GPIOs are used and for which channel
Once you know that, you can set the right GPIO channels for the CCTs

Thanks, i am pretty familiar with GPIOs setup in tasmota. The white-blend thing was however new to me. Any recommendation for the RGBWWTable level for the Solimo bulb?
 
Thanks, i am pretty familiar with GPIOs setup in tasmota. The white-blend thing was however new to me. Any recommendation for the RGBWWTable level for the Solimo bulb?
I can’t recollect what I had set it to , probably at very near the max of 255.
The effect of the command is rather visible once you try it though
 
So I finally migrated my Home automation core from Domoticz to Home assistant !
1 week calendar time, 20+ hours of dedicated work and moving 80 odd devices later, I am feeling rather smug about it !


I decided to upload my config and other assorted details on github for my own records as well as in the hope it will help someone on this hobby!
I guess as far as hobbies go, this is only second to Hifi reproduction in terms of being a timesink/ rabbithole - although it's certainly a cheaper quest :)

Full story and code:
(Just scroll down 1 page if you want only the story! :) )

Impressive project & scale, @superczar . Thanks a lot for your notes. Very helpful!
 
Let me blow my bugle a bit :p
Looks like this project of mine got featured on hackaday too
Thanks for sharing, your github project mentions a lot of details and I've bookmarked it to get started on my journey. Any other guides you'd suggest for someone getting started with HomeAssistant + Alexa + Xiaomi Vaccum Integrations?
 
Thanks for sharing, your github project mentions a lot of details and I've bookmarked it to get started on my journey. Any other guides you'd suggest for someone getting started with HomeAssistant + Alexa + Xiaomi Vaccum Integrations?
The mi vacuum is relatively straightforward.
I too received it last week and was able to integrate it.
It does need a custom component though which is available here
 
Does it allow you to send the vacuum to certain rooms via alexa?
Yes - but it isn’t plug & play
you will need to write a small script for each room to define the cleaning area.

I too have that on my mind but haven't yet got around to doing it
 
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