Just tested to tap the neutral line from water heater switch, the water heater ELCB will trip. I believe the water heater ELCB detected the current leakage as the wall switch use some current to operate. No problem when I connect the neutral line for the air-cond switch.

Hi Adam, i am new to home automation, so far tried sonoff products but not really happy with the solution, and recently looking into Tuya, can you share what Tuya products you using and what is the good and bad, especially on this few products if you are using
- https://shopee.com.my/%E2%8C%82%E2%8C%82-Wi...1852.7758382807
- https://shopee.com.my/-Smart-Life-app-PIR-M...7179.6310362551
- https://shopee.com.my/-Smart-Life-App-Tuya-...7179.9347977881
- https://shopee.com.my/Tuya-Smart-Home-Unive...1560.2402432786
- https://shopee.com.my/Tuya-Wifi-Light-Senso...5739.9738188571

Hi guys, would like to seek your guidance on setting up some smart lights.

I just received the keys to my Condo and now I am planning to have some smart lights.

My requirements for the smart lights is Brightness and Temperature control, and able to control with Apple Homekit (Because I have an iPhone and iPad)

I am still unsure whether I need Smart Switches. My understanding is Smart Switches can allow us to switch on/off non smart lights via automation. In my case, I am only using the Smart Lights for Brightness and Temperature control, and I can do this with a "dumb" light switch, correct?

Next are the lights themselves.

I plan to have 2 ceiling lights in the master bedroom, like this model: (Have to use protruding ceiling light because the ceiling is concrete)

https://shopee.com.my/Xiaomi-Yeelight-Mi-Mi...95082.382433784

4 to 6 downlights in the living room and kitchen, like this model: (Living room and Kitchen has plaster ceiling so I want to install downlights as it is aesthetically pleasing)

https://shopee.com.my/WiZ-LED-4-inch-Smart-...6980.4058155271

2 to 3 LED strips:

https://shopee.com.my/Yeelight-LED-Lightstr...7580.5176266568

And maybe 2 to 3 E27 bulbs:

https://shopee.com.my/Xiaomi-Yeelight-Mi-Mi...5082.1256595637

Now this is a total of 10 to 14 Smart lights, and my understanding is that this will be a huge load on my router, so a hub is recommended.

Also, there are two different brands here, Yeelight and WiZ, because I couldn't find a Yeelight downlight that looks like the WiZ.

Which hub should I get that is compatible with these lights, and Apple HomeKit? Can you guys recommend? I am unfamiliar on hub selection, from what I see all these lights are WiFI compatible, so I should get a WiFi compatible hub?

I am also open to other light brands, this are just the first few that I found that I think is suitable to my needs.

Thanks in advance!

Didn't read this post for a long time. May I know what is the recommended brand to build a smart home nowadays?
1 year ago, I did tried xiaomi and sonoff, xiaomi I feel their server quite unstable, slow response when using app control. While sonoff quite good, and a lot of stuff can play and customize.

Any other recommended brand that have a lot of stuff that can be customized to build a fully smart home?

There’s tuya addon/local tuya for home assistant
Probably some of the lesser known smart product not fully  supported yet like tuya’s robot lawnmower

You are wrong, Xiaomi and sonoff automation are not really done in cloud, automation is run locally, just the setup and devices are managed from cloud.

My xiaomi and sonoff lights turn on in less than 1 second when motion/door sensor detected activity.

HA is good but not for everyone, you should try Zigbee before simply saying about the latency. Do you know in 2020 already you can turn off your internet and as long as the Zigbee gateway is on local lan the sensors/switches etc all still can work? Automations too.

You are complicating matters here for the layman. We are talking about Zigbee from a single brand. No need internet/cloud for automations once you have it up & running initially with internet/cloud. You still want to argue about cloud and latency for what?

Didn't read this post for a long time. May I know what is the recommended brand to build a smart home nowadays?
1 year ago, I did tried xiaomi and sonoff, xiaomi I feel their server quite unstable, slow response when using app control. While sonoff quite good, and a lot of stuff can play and customize.

Any other recommended brand that have a lot of stuff that can be customized to build a fully smart home?

Hi Sifu.

I'm planning to renovate my house, so still planning stage. So what I'm looking for is probably 4"/6" LED downlight or eyeball downlight. but only need to be able to change the color tempreture throughout the day.

So something like 6500k in the morning and 4000k in the evening. Any ideas where I might start looking?

Hi All,

I will be renovating my new place soon and I'm planning to install some smart home devices.  The manufacturers I'm looking at are; Aqara, Tuya and Sonoff. From my understanding each manufacturer are independent and not compatible with the other manufacturer(s).

Unfortunately I'm not able to buy some devices and experiment with it first, unlike during my bachelor days. Therefore, I need advice and comments from sifus and users that has experience with the products.

To confirm my selection on the manufacturer, I've categorise it into 3 main categories.

1. Ecosystem:
Range of products and devices
Tuya and Sonoff seems to have have more products in their range.

2. Usability + Reliability:
Application UI and UX, devices working as intended (e.g. adding device, response rate), usability and durability after 1 year

Saw one review video, the user had to change the aqara smart plugs after 6 months due to issues

3. Security:
Is there any major security concerns for each manufacturer?
Aqara works with Apple Homekit (Apple has a certain standards when it comes to security)

Sonoff and Tuya
https://www.cnx-software.com/2021/05/20/son...pted-passwords/

Thank you all in advance.

hi all, been testing Home Assistant automation for a week now. I realize the automation sometimes are not triggered, for example: turn on the lights & fan when the door sensor is open; turn off when motion sensor detected no motion for 5min; but a few times I noticed the devices doesn't get triggered. Is there a way for me to check what went wrong?

More info about my setup, using moes zigbee switches, tuya door sensor on second floor, zigbee gateway in ground floor

just ventured into HA.
tried running in VM (debian + HA) on my laptop.. just for venturing in HA 1st.. see how to use, programmed it, integrate smart switches.
manage to run it basically.

looking for Raspberry Pi 4 to run it.. minimal power usage for 24/7.
but problem is to get the Pi... if available, the price is also dem on high side.. 

Pro tip, once restocked, buy extra.
I ordered 4 pcie version last year when in stock for free shipping and sold the other 2. Kinda regret now haha since i need to add frigate on more devices

Ridiculous how everything out of stock now, last year it was just the usb coral limited edition

im very new to this smarthome set up

so far i have  bought random light bulbs and lights:

1. TP link Tapo Bulbs 530E x 6
2. Yeelight Arwen ceiling light x 1
3. some random tuya E14 bulb
4. some TP link wifi sockets

these devices specifically say 'no need hub/bridge' so it connects directly to wifi.

im afraid of wifi interference with my other devices like TV stick / laptop if there are too many devices connected to the 2.4GHz band.

question: is there a hub that i can use? if i use hub, meaning those smart stuff connects to the hub, then the hub (1 device) connect to wifi right?

To monitor the autogate's opening or closing status, I built a circuit and monitored the voltage sent to the motors.

The chip is then flashed using ESPhome to output gate status to HA so it can act accordingly.

Before this, I thought of using contact sensors, but the gap between the two gate tips after closing is quite wide (e.g., 5 to 10mm). This, coupled with outdoor heat and humidity, may cause the sensor to randomly send out a false signal or not send it when we expect it to do so.

I think your suggestion will work for an indoor door or gate, but not for an outdoor gate that is subject to strong wind, thunder, and shocking waves.

I’m also using a contact sensor for my gate, also using larger magnets. The aqara sensor still ok, after 2 years usage, pretty remarkable power utilization from aqara.

I was also looking at AAA/LR03 battery zigbee sensors, but i read on reddit that those die out faster than button cell ones. The nice thing about the button cell ones is that they are way smaller in size