Has Anyone Used Mercator Ikuu Zigbee Switches with Home Assistant

Opaquer on 24/01/2023 - 17:55
Last edited 24/01/2023 - 17:56

Hi everyone

So, I was thinking of smartening up the house and starting with the lights, and then went through the fun process of trying to toss everything up and figure out what's best.

I found the Mercator Ikuu range of zigbee switches here and like the look of them, but had some questions. Obviously Mercator sells their own zigbee hub, which I don't want. I'm using home assistant and want to link everything there locally if possible. I also don't have any zigbee devices or coordinators at the moment, so am not sure whether to go zha or zigbee2mqtt. That said, I don't know for sure if these switches work with HA and just wanted to see if anyone out there uses them, and how?

As I said, I'm open to using either zha or z2mqtt. I had a look at blakadder's list and unfortunately it has the single and quad switch, but not the double and triple, which is what I'm after the most :-P. I'm also very new to all this and though I've heard I can make my own external converter or something, I don't want to spend money getting an electrician and devices only to have to go through all that myself in case I do something wrong. I did see a single post from 2021 saying they got it working, but no extra details were given, and I don't want to risk it on 18 month old info

Also, if you haven't used this range but do have some smart stuff going on, let me know! I'm open to alternatives - at this stage my next alternative is some Shelly relays, but I'd prefer the Ikuu range if possible.

Looking forward to hopefully hearing from people who've been in a similar situation!

Electrical & Electronics Home Automation

Comments

  • brazen00 on 24/01/2023 - 18:48
    +1

    I have used them with an external coordinator. Mine is from tubesZB, but you can also use a conbee II or similar. I'm using ZHA, and I have single and double power points; ceiling fan switches; single, double and triple light switches. All work fine, the one oddity is that after the fan controllers pair with my coordinator, they lose the ability to switch to "medium" speed on the switch itself. You can still do it via HA though.

    • Opaquer on 24/01/2023 - 19:13

      That's good to know! Did you have to do anything else to get it work like flashing it or anything? Or does it just work out the box?

      Edit: also, do you ever get the ability to set the fan speed to medium? Or does it not work at all once connected? Seems like an odd thing to happen!

      • brazen00 on 24/01/2023 - 19:42
        +1

        Just works out of the box. With the fan, you can set it to medium via HA, but the hardware switch just toggles between high and low.

      • brazen00 on 24/01/2023 - 19:48
        +1

        Just to clarify, I don't have the double light switch. But I see no reason that it wouldn't work since the single and triple both work fine.

        • Opaquer on 24/01/2023 - 19:59

          Very very weird though about the fan switch. I wonder if it's something that be fixed? It might mean that I don't necessarily get a fan switch from them since we have 3 fans, and 2 of them we like to run on medium :P.

          And the triple light switch isn't listed by Blakadder, so the fact that it works is probably a good sign - I guess it's probably a good sign then that the 2 gang switch will probably work out the box then?

    • train on 25/10/2023 - 01:05

      Jumping on an old post - any update on how the ikuu switches are holding up? Would you recommend them?

      I have been on the search for smart switches / power points for a new build and it seems the "simple" options are a little limited. Ikuu & Zimi are two of the solutions I've come across. Ikuu much cheaper but difficult to find decent reviews of either

      • bleugh on 25/10/2023 - 07:31

        the Ikuu switches are working great with Home Assistant.
        the problem I have with them is none of them are routers also, so you frustratingly end up with having to throw around handfuls of smart bulbs or smart plugs to act as zigbee repeaters.

        if I decide to re-do things, I'd likley use normal light switches and install behind them a zigbee or wifi relay.
        Price will be similar enough.

        The reason I'd do this..
        you can program the zigbee or wifi relay to just change it's output based on a change of state of the light switch.

        with the IKUU switches, the relay is tied to the switch, if the switch is 'off', the mains is cut and any smart lamps you have won't work
        with a seperate wifi relay, you toggle the switch, which cuts power to a seperate relay, which cuts power to smart lamps…
        BUT….you can still add the seperate relay to a group, so it changes state along with any smart lamps you have.

        in more complex houses, where you have multi-way switches which can control bulbs from multiple locations, the IKUU switches aren't a great idea…
        when you add seperate relays, you can decouple the switch input from the relay output, so a single switch can control multiple relays in multiple locations,
        but importantly, NOT the relay it's connected to - so any local lights still stay on…

        hope that makes sense?

        Basically, smart switches don't mix well if you also have smart downlights……

        and finally, the IKUU smart downlights are great, except the app doesn't seem to expose the 'power on state' setting,
        which means, if you turn them off with the app, they don't turn back on with the conventional switch,
        Home assistant does expose those settings

        • train on 25/10/2023 - 08:01

          Thanks for the reply & that does make sense! I am aware of the smart light limitation - I went smart globes instead of switches in my current home and it's been a pain in the ass if visitors are over or the wall switches are off / globes obviously are then always off.

          The reason I am focusing on smart switches now is because I want to switch to dumb lights/globes. I think this may also be a necessity pending the light fittings chosen, as obviously some lighting choices don't come with globes or smart options.

          I was considering as a more involved solution what you've suggestioned: push button mechanisms (e.g., something like the clipsal iconic) + a Shelly behind it. Just was trying to avoid it as I feel the sparkies might have issues with it… might have to get a mate to wire up it all for me.

          Final question - do you have the ikuu power points? If so, have you had the issue if the zigbee hub goes down the power turns off? If this is still an issue, it's a dealbreaker for me as it's pretty key to keep the devices on if the zigbee drops for a few seconds.

          • bleugh on 25/10/2023 - 09:18

            @train: I don't have the indoor power points, mainly as people have reported they're quirky.
            I DO have an outdoor mains power point, but not through home assistant as I use the IKUU app to control it when i'm away from home.
            I don't know if it works as a router
            I do know that they only measure current as a total for BOTH plugs, not individually.

            it's all re-branded TUYA Zigbee anyway

        • butter on 06/03/2024 - 16:14
          +1

          just fyi, for the six gang ssw06g, its acts as a router!!

          i can see it clearly in my z2mqtt install.

          granted, it wasnt supported out of the box but I got it working (check whirlpool thread here: https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/3xkkrq89?p=33#r660)

  • Kail on 24/01/2023 - 19:58
    +1

    Any particular reason you are going Zigbee instead of WiFi?
    You don't need a Zigbee hub with the WiFi version of the switches.

    • Opaquer on 24/01/2023 - 20:02

      True, but I'm not finding any info on how well WiFi Ikuu stuff can be integrated with HA without using the app. I'm also not sure if it'll be locally controlled or cloud controlled, which could mean the difference between not being able to use it if our network is down. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the WiFi range is probably Tuya, which would mean it would probably be cloud controlled through HA, though I could be wrong - I'm still very new to all of this and might not have the completely correct info

      • Kail on 24/01/2023 - 20:14

        The Mercator app is required to setup the Ikuu wifi, but if you have a home assistant (never used HA personally but I assume it's like the others), once you have it set up with that then it just works with that. So you don't need to keep opening the Mercator app or anything. You just need it for the initial setup.

        Unsure about network down. If your wifi is super flaky then yeah, you may want to go with Zigbee. I'm not that familiar with Zigbee so can't comment further about it sorry.

        • Opaquer on 24/01/2023 - 20:35
          +1

          All good! Home Assistant is basically a giant hub for all your smart products, so you can use one app to control Hue stuff, WiFi products, Sonos speakers, android TVs, most brands of sensors and more all under one roof. It also allows for complex automations using any of those - so in theory I could turn on a Hue bulb if my outdoor Eufy camera detect motion, and have it tell my Amazon Echo that there's motion outside, while also sending a notification to my iPhone with a stream of the video. The issue is it's not perfect, so it doesn't have everything, but it does have a lot of stuff. That said, some things specific to smaller markets might not be as tested, which is why there's not too much documentation on the Ikuu range.

          That said, for the wifi range, the Ikuu range is based off a popular platform called Tuya, which a lot of wifi smart stuff here is based off. It means that you have to connect the range up to their server, and then you control it from your phone through that, which means if your wifi is down, those devices can't communicate to the servers, though they can still be controlled manually. Setting up Zigbee how I'm setting it up won't have this issue, so even if wifi is down, I can still turn things on and off from my phone. It's not a huge thing, but it's one of the requirements that I've been trying to get with all the smart stuff we've been looking at for the house

    • Jimmhead on 24/01/2023 - 20:57
      +1

      ZigBee is almost always better than wifi. The more WiFi devices you have, the more congested and slow the network becomes. With ZigBee each mains powered device becomes a node in the mesh, strengthening and extending the ZigBee network.

      On top of that you can guarantee ZigBee is locally controlled, which is faster and doesn't rely on a server somewhere.

      • Sojourner99 on 09/05/2023 - 15:02

        Zigbee doesnt require a neutral wire with most Ikuu gear. Wifi does.

  • Jimmhead on 24/01/2023 - 20:50
    +1

    I have the triple switch set up with home assistant through ZigBee2mqtt and it works great (can also confirm it worked with deconz).

    Below is the device is setup up under, Mercator ikuu are just white label tuya devices:
    https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/TS0013.html#tuya-ts0013

    • Opaquer on 24/01/2023 - 20:56

      That's amazing to know! And sorry but I'm still new at this - deconz is an alternative to zigbee2mqtt or zha, right? Also out of curiosity, what controller are you using for zigbee2mqtt? I don't know if I should go zha to zigbee2mqtt, and what devices to get with them :-P

      Also the ikuu devices being listed under tuya explains a lot as to why I couldn't find them the other day! Thanks for that!

      • Jimmhead on 24/01/2023 - 21:06
        +1

        Yeah deconz is another of the ZigBee coordinators, I wouldn't recommend it though, ZHA or ZigBee2mqtt are the way to go.

        I haven't tried ZHA but I probably would have gone with that if I didn't have a few devices that aren't supported in ZHA. ZigBee2mqtt has the most supported devices and was pretty easy to say up for me, but I hear ZHA is a bit more user friendly with almost as much device support.

        I'm using the SONOFF ZigBee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (the plus is important), got it for $40 with the latest firmware pre-installed from eBay

        • Opaquer on 24/01/2023 - 21:15

          Yeah, I've heard zha is easier but zigbee2mqtt has more support. Hard to say that's better honestly.

          Also out of curiosity do you only have the triple switch, or do you have other devices?

          • Jimmhead on 25/01/2023 - 00:09
            +1

            @Opaquer: I also have the oyster light and a few of the RGB-CCT LED Globes (GU10). Both connected easily and work great in terms of connection/reliability, but the globes have pretty crap lighting functionality, when set to warm/cool white they are still bright at the lowest brightness, and when using RGB they are very dim

            • Opaquer on 25/01/2023 - 00:23

              @Jimmhead: Fair enough - I was hoping to see if you had a fan wall switch to see if it worked or had any issues like the above commenter. But we were just going to stick with the wall switches for now I think, and have some dumb bulbs in them

    • trowlz on 24/01/2023 - 21:25

      Question can you control the backlight through HA? Blacklights are the death of me at night.

      • Jimmhead on 25/01/2023 - 00:08
        +1

        You can't turn off the blue led backlight while the switch is on, but there's no led when the switch is off, and even when on with dim lights it's pretty subtle.

        I've seen complaints of these being too bright, so there might be different models with brighter/dinner backlights.

  • Chandler on 25/01/2023 - 09:26
    +1

    In case you haven't seen it already, there's a good thread on Australian Hardware on the community forums, and they specifically talk about the Ikuu products in some sections. There's also some other posts on the Ikuu products.

    • Opaquer on 25/01/2023 - 19:09

      Sweet, I'll check it out, thanks!

  • The Hobo on 11/03/2023 - 00:50

    Are these physical buttons or touch sensitive?

    • Opaquer on 11/03/2023 - 12:13

      As far as I can tell, I believe they are touch sensitive switches

  • welchy on 31/03/2023 - 11:18

    Just got 2 Ikuu zigbee switches (4 gang, and a fan controller/light switch) - I am using Conbee II / Deconz and homebridge but I can't seem to get them to pair properly. The Fan Controller/Light switch pairs but only as a light (so I can control the light but not the fan) and the 4gang switch won't pair at all. They both work fine for local control - ie. the switches work well.

    Anyone had any experience / got any tips on getting these to pair.

    • lgacb08 on 01/04/2023 - 14:06

      Probably time to ditch deconz and make the switch to zha or mqqt. I've been using deconz since the beginning but I find it starting to fall apart, the switch segment is the most problematic one and various brands is having issues, from hue, ikea, smartthings to the crapy non-compliant aqara. It is getting worse to the point that I have to rely using event listener to get more accurate response.

      • welchy on 12/04/2023 - 13:47

        Thanks - I have ditched deconz and gone to mqtt - all works fine now. Was using Homebridge to bridge to homekit but had a few quirks that I couldn't get to work (fan control etc) - so have now gone to home assistant and all working fine
        Loving the ikuu switches so far - will be getting more

  • bleugh on 18/05/2023 - 07:25

    I've a whole bunch of the walter downlights, and a handful of switches also…
    i'm using the IKUU app to do the switches and will use home assistant to do the downlights
    starting slowly and doing small bedrooms at a time

  • TimU on 10/01/2024 - 10:13
    +1

    I wrote a guide to get the Mercator Ikuu Zigbee Pro Hub SGW003 working as a Zigbee gateway via Home Assistant, using a fork of the LocalTuya project.

    The setup below will give you BOTH local control and Cloud connectivity at the same time with the standard hardware.
    This gives full local control AND cloud control of your devices at the same time.
    No device hacks, firmware flashes or 3rd party Zigbee controllers needed.

    https://community.home-assistant.io/t/local-control-tuya-zig…

    • bleugh on 10/01/2024 - 10:39

      Awesome work..
      Can this work with the Mercator app AND home assistant simultaneously? - that would be superb if so
      how do you manage with the Tuya dev account constantly expiring?

      • TimU on 10/01/2024 - 12:37
        +1

        Can this work with the Mercator app AND home assistant simultaneously? - that would be superb if so

        Yep, working fine for me for the last week or so since I set it up.

        how do you manage with the Tuya dev account constantly expiring?
        I have not had to renew the account since I created it early-ish last year.

        But… I have not really been actively been using the IoT Dev account since it was created, until this Christmas holidays when I pulled my finger out and got the whole thing working.

        Tuya recently released a new Tuya IOT "Smart Home Basic" Service API.
        This is added to your account by default for free. It appears to be a free replacement for the IOT Core service.
        Service: https://iot.tuya.com/cloud/products/detail/?abilityId=166704…
        Docs: https://developer.tuya.com/en/docs/cloud/smart-home-basic-se…

        It's possible that most of the basic device APIs are now included in the free Smart Home Basic tier.

        We shall see what happens in 6 months time :)

        • bleugh on 10/01/2024 - 13:11

          Thankyou!

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