I’m curious how to set up the automation that Rosemary talked about in this episode about turning her lightstrip red when she hits her Aqara button but her door is still unlocked. Can anyone guide me on this?
Thanks Automators. Making HomeKit and Home Assistant accessible by using real world scenarios with someone asking the dumb questions (no dumb questions though) is actually really useful when assessing how far along the spectrum each of us is willing to go to reach our home automation goals. Interesting to hear that David with 3 months of Home Assistant experience, and Rose, well, is like the guru, and can guide David and the rest of us along with him. I had just set up a RaspberryPi with HomeAssistant on the day I listened to this, and I’m wondering if it’s going to be worth it. The friction is real when learning and adapting to use each home automation platform. It’s encouraging to hear others going along the same journey. Keep it up!
LightwaveRF sounds like a great choice of lighting controls. The use of 433 MHz RF should provide the same kind of reliability and stability as Lutron. (Basically, anything that doesn’t use Wi-Fi or BLE should be the starting point for choosing a solution.)
Just want to claify one thing - there is a Lutron Caseta-like system for the UK/Europe. It’s the next level up system from Caseta called “RA2 Select”. Uses the exact same Lutron App as Caseta, but the hardware is different.
Has the same integrations - supports all major platforms like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung Smartthings, and, of course, Apple HomeKit.
It is more expensive as it uses dimming modules that are installed in the ceiling or behind the wall fixtures instead of on the wall dimmers/switches in the UK larger form factor.
Straddles the pricing range between DIY and full professional systems, it does require installation by a Sparky but unlike the higher end systems, can be fully managed and configured by the homeowner/user and is not locked in to a dealer/installer.
I have a few dealer friends in the UK that are Lutron certified and install a lot of these systems, but again, as noted, it is a major investment (but super reliable, just like the US version).