I have two Xiaomi Yeelights, a Dafang 1080P, a Xiaofang and recently pulled the trigger on the Roborock s50. The two yeelights are connected to the google assistant on my phone, one of which I have on a schedule.
I have read comments on this site of OZbargainers having 20-30 devices. I am curious on how such gidding home automation heights were reached? :)
Please share ideas on how you use these devices/appliances.
Also, how do you guys juggle Xiaomi servers to keep all those devices running.
How big is your cave?
2 - the kids
Altered from my post in another thread,
A harmony hub for controlling my Television, Projector and Amplifier, also 2 chromecasts.
"Turn on the TV", turns on the tv (HDMI port 2), amplifier (TV input) and foxtel. Then changes the channel to ABC for the morning news.
"Turn on the footy", does the same. Except the foxtel channel is 504.
LIFX Globes are currently in 5 areas around my home, specifically the bedroom lamp, outside, entrance light, dining room and living room.
Entry lights turn on at sunset each day.
Bedroom lights turn on each morning at 6:30am and gradually get brighter until 7am as a morning wake up tool.
Logitech POP's for still maintaining the option of a manual switch.
And then I have 2 Google Home's and 1 Google Home mini scattered around the house, and a Mobvoi TicHome Mini (a portable small smart speaker) for the bathroom/bedroom.
So about 10+
1 the wife, however I am considering getting another one
Make sure you get a discount on the new one, otherwise you will lose your bargain status
An additional, or a replacement?
Dont go for a smart one
They are cheaper if imported from Asia.
How'd I get it all? Pretty much 1 at a time and just built up.
Things I do:
All my Xiaomi stuff is installed on China mainland server.
Nice one. For voice control as far as I know, yeelights need to be on the Singapore server. Highly annoying as you can either voice-control them or via sensors, depending which server they are under.
All my Google Home voice control is controlling the devices in Home Assistant, so it doesn't matter what Xiaomi regional server they are installed on.
Ok but isn't Home Assistant able to do that because you linked it to the Yeelight app? And isn't it a requirement to have your yeelights under the Singapore server in your Mi Home app to be able to use (import them into) the Yeelight app, if you're still following? At least that's how I understand it. Happy to be told otherwise.
I should add to this that again as far as I know the Gateway (needed for sensors etc) only works in the Mi Home app under the China Mainland server. And hence your lights need to be under that server as well -> and don’t import into the Yeelight app.
@End3vour: Not quite as you say, no. Home Assistant talks directly to the lights via the local IP network. So when I tell Google Home to 'turn on the dining room lights', it understands that those are devices that it knows about through my Home Assistant server, so Google Home sends a command to the Home Asssistant to turn those lights on and Home Assistant talks to each of them individually via their local IP addresses, not through the Xiaomi Mi Home service.
The devices are initially registered through the Xiaomi Mi Home but Home Assistant doesn't control them through that.
@adam: I think I’m confusing two things, Home Assistant and Google Assistant. What you’re doing is a bit more sophisticated. I have a raspberry pi as well, going to be my next project to do smth similar to what you’re doing.
Not any more. China server now supports google home - you can find a new entry “mi home” in the Home Control section of Google Assistant.
However, I did find it a bit buggy in terms of what functions worked but at least it’s now all on one server which enables automation across all devices.
Thanks for this information
That should solve my problem then, thank you! Gonna give this a try.
Works with Yi Lights. China server.
No support for Xiaomi Philips Zhirui downlight.
Thanks
@Niroshansira:
Yeah, I’m hoping more devices will gradually be supported. Just having google home integration is a big step forward. Makes me hold off on going down the HA route for a while longer :)
Wow!Can you please elaborate how you acheived this?
- Lights dim into a 'bedtime' mode when we indicate we are going to bed, bedroom lights come on, electric blankets come on, peaceful
sounds play through bedroom speaker. 30m later all lights in house (except bedroom) are turned off- Lights turn on super dim room to room as you walk through the house in middle of night
1) I have an input_select control called "House Mode" that can be one of four values, Daytime, Evening, Bedtime, Sleep. The modes are set via automations: daytime comes on at a particular time of day; evening comes on 15 minutes before sunset; bedtime comes on when we push the button to select it; sleep comes on 30 minutes after bedtime. Whenever a mode becomes active an automation runs a script that puts the lights, devices, etcinto the appropriate mode for that time of day. Multiple other automation scripts check the status of the input_select value when they run to determine what they should do, e.g. lights don't come on when motion is detected during the day, but do come on during 'Sleep' mode.
2) An automation script fires when the motion detection is triggered, these automations have a condition that it must be in 'Sleep' mode and provided this condition is met it turns on the light in that room with a minimum brightness level. This same script turns on another automation script which is detecting the absence of motion in the sensors for 2 minutes and once that occurs, turns the light off and turns itself off (i.e. turns off the off-automation script).
Hope this makes sense, let me know if you want me to elaborate more.
So all this requires a PC with wifi connection to work? I only want the motion sensor lights when entering a room / exiting and dimming options at night.
Could see potential for annoyance when you are sitting still (ie watching TV, then grab the remote - lights back on?? etc
@tunzafun001: You could control it using the Xiaomi Gateway, but it is all in Chinese & not as configurable as Home Assistant. With Home Assistant I can mix and match different brands of devices & it just doesn't care.
So you need something to run Home Assistant on… a Raspberry Pi would do but I run it in a VM on a server I have.
Yes there could be annoyances like lights switching on when you don't want it, but that but there are ways around it: e.g. You could configure it to watch your Apple TV, your Chromecast, or your TV if it has an IP connection (and is supported) and not take actions whilst media is playing. In my case I don't use a motion sensor in my media/lounge room so its not a problem for me.
hey @adam
the 'Xiaomi Temperature / Humidity Sensors' - Can they connect to a Smart gateway (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/product/xiaomi-mi-smart-gateway), or does it have to be a Gateway/Lamp things?
Works on any xiaomi gateway
are you sure??
@ds4:
Sorry I’m referring to the small sensors without any display which are zigbee powered. I’ve got 2 aqara ones (Square shaped) which connect to the gateway. Xiaomi also has their own branded ones (round shape) which I believe work the same.
The ones without a display can connect through the smart gateway. The ones with a display need to have the lamp things. (forget to mention that I have the also have a temperature sensor with the display and a couple of lamp).
crap..i need for fork out $42USD to buy the lamp thing…
good news - its on sale https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/385739
what did you use for garage sensor and notification?
This is done through automation in Home Assistant. Automation in there senses when door is open for 30 minutes & then sends a notification to connected iPhones as well as playing a sound on the Xiaomi Gateway.
How do you do the garage left open thing? My xiaomi sensor doesn’t work on Metal :(
It doesn't work on metal correct. I've used tape and cardboard to build a small box that moves the sensors away from the metal sufficiently far to work.
That’s really smart. I may try that
My sensors are working on aluminium metal doors, just avoid steel I think is the key. For me it is WeMo Maker with reed switch and HomeBridge for garage door with a XiaoFang camera with FangHacks, all integrated with Apple HomeKit.
Hi Adam,
How did you manage to get all of them work on China server? I installed gateway and other security-related stuff on China server however, I could not install Roborock. It always asks me to select region. I tried to resetting the Roborock to manufacture settings but still no luck. Thanks. I suspect there is something relating firmware but I am not sure.
I have:
Google home and Google home mini (2x)
A range of Xiaomi stuff:
5 out of 6 lights are voice controlled, in combination with the Mi Home app, Yeelight app and IFTTT ('hey google, let's eat' -> dining table light switches on and google wishes me bon appetit)
6th light switches (using door sensor) on when my wife opens her shoe cabinet in the hallway :)
Have linked Netflix and Spotify with Google Assistant (took my 3-yo very little time to work out he can now play his favourite series whenever he wants)
I control the robot vacuum on the machine itself, mostly. As far as I know it's not possible to voice control this (I don't have an android phone where apparently it is possible) - open to suggestions
Humidity sensors are great as we have a humidity/moist problem in winter time. I can monitor humidity and switch on dehumidifier (by hand) when needed.
The Google Home is in the living room (great speaker as well), mini's are in the kitchen (music and timer) and bathroom (music)
Cool! So you use a Xiaomi Door sensor to turn a Yeelight on for the shoe Cabinet? How do you then turn it off?
By closing the door. :) It's quite easy, all done in the Mi Home app (add automation).
You can now control the robot using voice commands to Google Home. Assuming you’ve got the robot set up on he China server, just add the new device “mi home” to Home Control section of Google Home app.
Then you can say things like “turn xxx on” or “return xxx to the dock”, where xxx is the name you’ve given to the robot.
I run a raspberry pi 2 B as my main "server", rolled my own API, web socket server and interface. The API provide single point of control for devices like broadlink rm pro+ (python-broadlink), 8-module relay, etc. Break down:
All of these is controllable via google assistant with IFTTT.
Todo:
Hey would you mind giving me the homeassistant codes for this light socket: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/292245324574
I have one exactly the same except the remote has 4 buttons and any of them will toggle the light but if I had specific on and off codes it might be more reliable.
Thanks!
I don't have homeassistant, only the broadlink rm pro+. If you had one I'll pm you the codes.
I have the RM pro, send them through :) Thanks!
The outside lights have a movement sensor and only come on if it's dark. Does that count?
A little old school but Yes! :)
I actively avoid all this. I like to be able to turn off the router when we go away. Every smart device is a security and privacy risk.
Home Automation Devices
Plugs 5
Plug Zigbee 4
Cameras 3
Swithches 8
Door Sensors 12
Body Sensor BS. 2
Aqara Body Sensors ABS. 4
Temp/Humid Sensors TS. 2
Temp/Humid Indic 1
Cube Controller 1
Repeater 3
Gateways 2
Ceilings Lights. 3
Yi Lights 6
Yi Light Strip YLS 1
Downlight 7
Yi Light New 2
66 total
4 Xiaomi smart plugs
1 Xiaomi smart extension
1 Xiaomi gateway
3 Xiaomi motion sensors
1 Xiaomi/Aqara Door/window sensor
2 Xiaomi buttons
1 Xiaomi/Aqara cube
2 Yeelights
1 Google Home Mini
1 nVidia Shield TV
1 Google Chromecast
Every light is a Philips Hue.
Google home mini in every room.
All TVs and speakers are Chromecast enabled.
Sensibo on all split systems.
Botvac Connected.
Wemo switches for anything to do with toasting/heating.
All external doors are biometric.
Upcoming projects - raspberry pi auto planter box.
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Waste of money ins't it when most of the automoted stuff is a function/activity you can do yourself ?
Cool post! This is my setup:
4x Amazon Echos in various rooms for voice activation of everything below
5x Smart Light Switches controlling about 40 dumb downlights
1x Smart relay to control ducted Aircon on/off (a bit of a hack)
1x Garage door controller
1x Xaiomi robot vacuum
1x Temp/Light sensor
1x Smart plug for misc things such as lamp
I also use the ImperiHome app on my phone to control the above when I'm too far to scream at the Echo or i'm not home.
Planning more stuff but pretty happy with setup so far.
Started with wanting to know if my garage door was left open and began with WeMo Maker; added reed switch sensor and have ended up with:
2 x Mi Gateways
4 x Mi Door window sensors
3 x Mi Motion sensors
2 x Mi XiaoFang cameras (XiaoFang Hack)
2 x Mi Buttons (1 x Aqara)
2 x Mi SmartPlugs
1 x Mi Temp & humidity sensor (Aqara)
1 x Arlo Pro base station
4 x Arlo Pro cams
1 x Raspberry Pi 2 running Homebridge
1 x Apple TV (HomeKit hub)
1 x SmartThings hub (Z-Wave disabled, currently turned off)
1 x Hue hub (no lights yet)
2 x Hue Dimmer switches (wife friendly controls LIFX lamps)
1 x Broadlink RM Mini
1 x Logi Circle 2 cam
4 x ChromeCast (mix of original to Ultra)
1 x Google Home
2 x Google Home Mini
1 x Amazon Echo Dot (currently turned off)
1 x LIFX strip
3 x LIFX lamps
1 x Raspberry Pi 3 running HomeAssistant (currently turned off)
IFTT and Stringify
wow, thats a lot :)
looks like you've changed over from Echo to Google Home for voice automation? Could i ask why? I've been considering doing the same (using Echo now) although Echo seems to have a much greater ecosystem of supported devices.
Started with Google Home and experimented with Echo but found some features I wanted only supported US English.
I’m running pretty much the same setup, but with Hue and Alexa’s in every room. All my lights are Hue or Lightify (just cheaper Hue), and limitless LED/magic home strips I have Xiaomi sensors in every room for temp/humidity. Have a Xiaomi vacuum and air purifier, cameras, switches, all running through home assistant. I have a Wemo maker wired up to a solanoide to control my sprinkler system, I have a Kēvo 2 lock, I have external cctv hooked up to a Synology NAS which feeds into my home assistant. My climate control is also link to home assistant via a Daikin SKYFi unit in the roof. Pretty much everything is automated, apart except my Velux windows, which I need to link to the home assistant via a KLF200 box. I bought one in the UK, but it turns out Australia uses different frequencies, so it’s sitting collecting dust, having never been used. I can’t bring myself to drop $600 on one here, seeing as I have one that doesn’t work already.
Oh I also have motion sensors and door sensors etc. I use them to create and alarm system but also automate lighting when you go into the toilet late at Night etc
I was also thinking of getting KLF200 from the UK (A$180 vs A$550!). I've read all the online material I can find and thought that the device was dual frequency, ie: 868MHz within Europe and 2.4GHz in most countries outside Europe (inc Australia). What model Velux skylight are you trying to control and what model remote are you currently using?
I’ve got Australian windows running on 2.4ghz, and my KLF200 is 868mhz. It’s useless to me. I should put it on
eBay.
@[Deactivated]: Interesting. At least some of the current model appear to be dual frequency. I've asked to UK retailer to confirm the frequency(ios) before I buy. Although I'm happy to pay a reasonable markup to support local retailers, triple the price is ridiculous.
not much compared to most guys here.
Alexa, Chamberlain, Ecobee, Arlo Pro, Smartthings, Roomba & Sensibo.
For the Sensibo, I read here that it can actually help reduce power bill? but we're $25 more for this month. Somebody know what I'm missing in my Sensibo?
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