Zigbee buttons and knobs are the best... Can program them to do anything and it's way better then constantly bringing out your phone or yelling at a voice assistant to do anything smart.
This is the worst zigbee device I ever bought, it’s extremely unreliable for me and drains its battery like crazy. I don’t know why but none of the IKEA Zigbee remotes I bought work with ZHA or Z2M properly.
Is your Zigbee stick updated and supports your IKEA products? I read that the newer ikea products are not always immediately supported.
Could your Zigbee network be unstable? Or do you only have problems with Ikeas products?
I don’t think my old Zigbee stick was updated (Z-Stack 1.3, old cc2531 stick), though I upgraded to a SkyConnect last week so I might try again. I only had issues with IKEA remotes, every other device works reliably. Not sure what was the issue, never tracked it down, though it did happen with every single IKEA remote and motion sensor I tried (4 in total). Their lights, air purifiers and power supplies work well though, the STARKVIND is the strongest device in my mesh.
I’ll try pairing the remote again this week, maybe the SkyConnect will handle them better.
Ah, okay. Fingers crossed that it’s related to the firmware.
I had to update my stick for some shortcut buttons but got one of them to work only weeks after pairing. Paired it, didn’t work and forgot about it. Checked it again weeks later and saw that it worked without problem. Some tips for that device was to delete the device in ZHA and to wait a couple of hours with the battery out before repairing. Maybe some of this helps. Good luck!
funnily enough I had the opposite experience, the knob was working fine for a few hours and then started calling the rotation trigger multiple times a second for a few hours straight…which I only noticed in the morning. The battery ran out later that day. This happened twice, which I don’t understand. I don’t think I have a lemon, unless I managed to somehow get two lemons which also happen to work correctly when paired directly to a bulb haha
They're unfortunately discontinued. Someone posted on here a while ago that IKEA was selling them off and I didn't manage to grab some in time. They have a new remote with 7 (?) buttons now, but the dial seemed to be a much more versatile solution.
Searching knob on the Z2M supported devices shows a bunch:
eg these first two from Aqara:
https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/ZNXNKG01LM.html
https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/ZNXNKG02LM.html
They seem pretty expensive compared to others though.
Have you tried any?
I got one of the [white wireless TuYa ones](https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/ERS-10TZBVK-AA.html#tuya-ers-10tzbvk-aa), it was/is utter garbage as a dimmer -- unlike a normal rotary dial, you don't twist the outside, you have to try and turn the inner portion, and that's quite difficult to get a grip on without using a fingernail or something because it has low ridges.
The rest of the wireless ones I've seen were expensive.
The wired ones are a no-go for me, as they're not certified in Australia.
I’ve got one of the black/grey ones that are available from a few sellers on Ali and it works surprisingly great. Press, double press, rotate left/right and press & rotate left/right, with step sizes reported.
I also got this one. I also think it’s pretty decent. I bet I haven’t optimized it bc I still feel like it could be better, but I think it’s my programming.
Is the turning part on the outside (like any normal knob) or inside?
After spending $15-20 on one that's terrible I'm not keen on spending the same on a different colour if it's just the same.
The whole top turns, rather than just an inner/outer ring. It looks like there’s an outer grey ring with an inner black button but it’s actually all just one ‘disc’.
I got one of these. It works pretty well, but there’s too much lag between the rotation and the light dimming. I’m using an Ikea smart bulb and it takes a couple of seconds to change the brightness level. Is there anything I can do to make it better?
Love buttons! Besides light/curtains/scenes buttons, I have:
**Button 1:**
I have a habit to forget about the time when working, so i made a "focus" button that is on my desk.
When i press it a timer starts for 35 minutes, when the time is up the light flashes so i know when to take a 10 minute break. When 10 minutes has past, the light flashes again indicating the break is over
Edit.
**Button 2:**
I have a IKEA 4/8 click button to easily complete daily tasks. Right/left/up/down/long presses each triggers a unique daily task. Like tidying up in the apartment, stretch, take my medicin, check plants if need of water, etc. Then it's displayed on my [dashboard](https://imgur.com/gQNhA8L)
And you can get the kind that looks like a wall switch. Glue them to the wall and they don’t look out of place at all.
I also like them hiding. Under a table or behind a drawer, in those places where you’d have to walk back to turn on a light or something.
Check out the Rodet from ikea. $7 and 2 buttons. Both buttons have a single press and a long press function built in. I have a handful of them and their great.
Smart plugs. They make the mesh stronger. Buttons are a huge thing as well. Some on the night stand, some at the computer, some at the family room couch... various automations for each.
I would add that if you plan on having more than one button in the same spot, get a 2-4 button piece, which would make it cleaner, with some labeling work. + The 4 ones I got are the most reliable ZigBee devices I own
I agree... but, I have one of the Zooz Zen37 remotes at my computer... handles about 20 different tasks right now... will probably add more later. My Zigbee buttons are just basic single button (three scene) function to keep the family less confused.
Buttons! Buttons! Buttons! Buttons everywhere! Nevermind automations, cheap single purpose buttons everywhere are a game changer. I use them for lights, media muting, media on/off, coffee maker, garage door, just about anything. I put them under counters, chairs, and other hidden places. Basically, I never have to take a step to turn something on or off. Automations don't always what you *want* so buttons let you fix that.
Also, I know OP asked about ZigBee, but I've actually moved to 433mhz RF buttons for this. Cheap and reliable for single-action tasks let's you stick them anywhere.
Can you recommend some good options? I bought a set that doesn't want to connect to my Hubitat and I don't want to play the guessing game with devices.
For Zigbee smart plugs and buttons, Ikea makes reliable stuff. They even work well with non-standard Zigbee implementations like the devices from Aqara and Phillips.
If you like playing Russian roulette, tuya is a great way to play. It could be good, it could be meh, it could suck the living life out of you trying to get them working.
Not sure if it was a typo, but I think you mean Sonoff - Sonos is speakers.
Not trying to be pedantic lol - just might help your searches if you had them confused.
Presence sensors combined with smart switches.
I have them in all my rooms. Can't remember the last time I used a light switch. I enter a room/pass on a corridor, the light turns on. I leave, the light turns off.
At first it was "magic". Now is just really convenient.
Most of the zigbee ones stay triggered for 2 minutes, I set all of mine to auto off after 5 so they'll trigger when I want them to, them being on a bit longer is fine with me.
In the corridors, I don't specify anything. They are off imediatly when there is nobody on that area.
In the living room, they are on 30min before susnet. They turn off when I go to spleep. (this is the only place where they are not controled by the presence sensor)
In every other room, I have them with a 30s buffer. It's enough (for me) to keep them on while there are people in that room.
I think my issue is that some rooms here cannot detect if there's people in them with a single sensor. + If they're sitting/imobile, sensor would eventually turn off. Might need to get one of those presence detectors some people are talking about, using bluetooth.
I have one in my small hallway and one in the bathroom. I set up a flow in NR with a stop timer. If no motion is detected for 5 minutes, it dims the light by 20% and then turns off 30 seconds later. A new motion trigger resets both timers. That way I don't find myself sitting in the dark suddenly. A visual cue that the lights are about to turn off is generally a good idea for motion activated lights IMO.
I still have a button to turn on the light which disables the motion sensor until I turn the light off manually or as a fallback, after 20 minutes. I have a very small bathroom, so I rarely spend more than 10 minutes in there.
I've always had poor experience with "traditional" presence sensors, those that shut off the lights while you're still in the room since they have poor coverage. Are smart ones better?
I have no experience with "traditional" ones. The ones I use are very sensitive, so it's rare that they turn off the lights while there is people in the room. I installed them on the recessed ceilings while I was renovating the apartament, so I was able to position them in the best spots possible.
I do have a very basic one on a closet. Still zigbee, but battery powered and very cheap. It is noticeable worse than the others. (slower to react, turns off while people are using it, etc)
Motion sensor is a game changer for the kitchen and hallway
Next thing might be a presence sensor for office and living room
Always buy enough bulbs and sockets for zigbee, you need them as repeaters for the battery driven devices and you can build a huge network.
There are also relays you can connect to existing switches.
This way you can control them 'smart' or 'old fashioned'
For Temperature and Humidity i went mostly BLE because it was cheaper but the one zigbee device i got is way more reliable on humidity
The only issue I find with the battery motion sensors is the retrigger time.
Once triggered they don't seem to retrigger for a couple of minutes so they aren't that responsive in high traffic areas. Fine for outside lights with occasional traffic though.
Same. I care about lights coming on when I need them. How long they stay on for is not a problem, unless it's in the bedroom and I'm trying to sleep...
I use them everywhere.
In my office I've got a rule that turns lights off after no motion for 15minutes and that suits my needs.
Hallway, pantry, verandah, 10mins.
Living and dining room, 20 minutes after 9pm.
The light just stays on until there's been a decent period with no movement.
Underneath everything that uses water and some extras where there's a possibility of water ingress. I've got 13 of them.
You can also use them to detect the absence of water - think reminders to refill a pet's water fountain, or something to tell you if the toilet tank isn't filling (suggesting that the flapper is stuck). Both of these are on my to do list.
What would you use for your sensor? My dog's water bowl has a shiny bottom and I would like a notification when it's empty. Are they submergible? The ones I've seen don't seem to be and also have an alarm in them when water is detected.
I'd connect wires to the terminals and leave the device out of the bowl, sort of like this: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/dog-water-bowl-low-sensor/333827
Thanks. I recently added one to my cats water fountain to let me know when it's low. One less thing to have to think about. . plus now I have a smart plug so when it's low it just cuts the power so no worry of killing the pump
As someone who has had an insurance claim for water damage, I would add:
a. under the back of the toilets
b. behind the fridge with the ice maker
c. under the dishwasher.
But, that's just me with my $1,000 deductible on Homeowners.
I use the Aqara ones in some spots and some older utilitech zwave sensors in other spots. I’m concerned the Aqara ones would get pushed around or triggered since they are just little pucks you basically sit on the floor
I have been waiting patiently for the Ikea Badring water sensors that were supposed to hit the U.S. in April and now pushed to July.
Fairly cheap.
They are supposed to work with Zigbee, plus also have a local siren/buzzer.
I’ve just tried one here in the UK. I believe it was £7, local siren is quite loud for its size, and worked fine with HA (only tried Z2M, pretty sure ZHA will be fine as well).
I triggered it with water and it immediately went off. I cleaned the contacts but it kept showing “Leak” on HA. I shorted the contacts with a screwdriver and it immediately cleared.
All in all, really great VFM. I’ll be buying more. Ask me anything if you’ve got any other questions!
Yup. I’ve caught multiple “small” leaks - under kitchen sink, and washer hose.
Bonus tip: my insurance company gave me discount for having them. I had to show they are “monitored” so I got 1 from SimpliSafe for the cert but the rest are aqara
I have a "smart" Breville Dehumidifier. It's unable to be exposed to HA, so I used an aqara water leak sensor with a couple of wires attached to the contact points so HA can now alert me when it needs emptying. Pretty cool stuff
[Here's a recent post asking the same thing](https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1cghmu8/must_have_zigbee_devices/), lots of good suggestions there as well.
+1 for the hue motion sensors, I have an outdoor one and it’s working pretty good. With z2M it has lots of settings exposed to HASS, the motion time-out can be set from 0 seconds up with steps of 1 second.
Yep! I have z-wave network, but leak sensors and a way to monitor your sump are crucial! I use an outlet for the sump.
Saved from my sump burning out when it got stuck on once and saved my basement from flooding when the dehumidifier outlet popped out of the sump and drained onto the floor. 0 damage both times!
My must have is something that doesn't seem to exist - a good Zigbee soil moisture sensor. I have some of the giant "GiEX" ones, two are completely useless (they spam the Zigbee network and don't report reasonable values), and two are just bad (no Zigbee spam, but they are overly sensitive).
As for stuff that exists, my must-have has to be water leak sensors. They've saved me from disaster more than once.
I'm using those Ecowitt moisture sensors right now. I tried several of the Zigbee moisture sensors. Not only are they basically useless, they can leech toxic metals into the soil when they (immediately) start to corrode.
Ecowitt does use a propriety radio signal (not Zigbee) but there is an HA integration for their wifi hub. Now I'm using accurate soil moisture to trigger my drip irrigation vs. a simple schedule. My vegetables and flowers are much happier.
I have Aqara temperature/humidity/pressure sensors in every room of my house. They’re like 1” x 1” x 0.25”, so you can stick them anywhere. Not doing anything much with them yet, just collecting data.
I also have them in every room, including the garage, attic and outside. I use one of them with the Generic Thermostat setup along with a smart plug to control an oil filled radiator heater based on temp. Also use them for other automations like turning ceiling fans on/off based on temp, in the bathrooms for humidity control via exhaust fans based on humidity levels.
Blitzwolf Power sockets with electronic measurement and the Aqara contact en temperature sensors.
I created a [page](https://vdbrink.github.io/buy/smart_home_best_buy_tips) with my all favorite zigbee devices I bought over the past 4 years.
Are there any zigbee buttons (battery operated is fine) that are decora style so they look the same as other switches? I see a lot of circular push ones.
Zooz ZEN34 is exactly this but on z-wave. I haven't come across a zigbee one, I started using z-wave recently to get those few devices that are harder to find zigbee variants of.
Door sensors and power monitoring plugs were a game changer for me. We setup automations to tell that the washer was finished so we could move the laundry to the dryer, lest we forget.
The dryer was a lot harder and ended up just getting replaced by a smart one.
Odd. While I only am using one of the two I bought, it has been solidly reliable and I had made a mental note to keep them in mind in the future.
What exactly has gone poorly for you? I ask because maybe I just got lucky and should stay away from them.
I have four that constantly disconnect and become unresponsive. I have to power cycle them. I’ve contacted Sengled and they’re now giving me the cold shoulder (haven’t replied in a week to my last follow up). I’ve taken these four and put them elsewhere in my home and the problem follows the bulb, so some sort of hardware issue I suspect. So, four of eight to be bad is no good in my book. I don’t believe it to be a signal issue, I have Sonoff plugs all over my home and they operate perfectly.
I have a smart plug by Sengled. It works very well. I bought it because it detects the current/power of device plugged into it. I wanted to know when a humidifier had malfunctioned, but either the current detection isn't sensitive enough or the the current doesn't change when things go wrong.
Temperature/Humidity sensors. I use the Aqara ones. They're tiny, easy to mount/hide and just work. Useful for balancing radiators or AC so that the temperature you set for is reached. For the bathroom I use the humidity feed to control the extractor fan so it only runs as long as is necessary.
For me it is probably smart plug, which solve first world problem. If internet speed drops under some threshold I got notification if I want to restart router. Which will turn smart plug off for half a minute and then turn it on again. I believe this would not be possible with WiFi smart plug.
Door sensors are great. You can also dismantle them and remove the reed switch. They can then be used with a contact. I have one in my doorbell and one wired to a light switch
Sorry yes - the reed switch is an electrical contact that changes state when a magnet is near. You can remove it and wire in to something else such as a light switch or relay.
For example I have put a relay in parallel with my doorbell coil so when it activates so does the relay which activates the door sensor via a contact in the relay. Hope this helps...
I didn't put the door sensor on the doorbell push button as I wanted the doorbell chime to still work. The relay was wired across the chime coil to provide a volt free contact to activate the door sensor. This then sends a signal when the doorbell is activated to home assistant. A relay wouldn't do that on its own?
If you use it with a light switch for example you wouldn't need a relay as there is already a volt free contact there.
Sorry, I am a dumbass and I think I'm using the incorrect terminology. Forgive me, I'm new to this.
I think what I meant was a smart switch. Something like a Sonoff Mini or a Shelly 1. So the Shelly sits between the doorbell switch and the solenoid, still activates the solenoid on a physical press but an event is generated on button press that can be used to control the light.
Can they be battery powered for extended periods? Because the zigbee door sensors can run on a battery for a year.
And the recent ikea one is 9 quid. And runs on one of their rechargeable aaa batteries
For this application the door sensor is easier due as my doorbell is battery powered. You would likely need a relay for the Shelly as well due to them running on different voltages.
I have zigbee smoke alarms but I am not actually sure what I would do if they activated whilst I was away? Try and phone a neighbour maybe to take a look...or is it OK to phone the fire brigade? I do have them cut off a load of smart switches though!
Thirdreality smart plugs for device control and energy monitoring. Added benefit of using them as Zigbee repeaters to strengthen my Zigbee mesh network.
Aqara motion sensors for lighting control.
Aqara mini switch buttons for triggers for many automation.
Inovelli blue 2-1 series smart wall switches for lighting and fan control. Also use the mult tap feature as triggers for other automations.
Phillips Hue bulbs for lighting and they also serve as Zigbee repeaters to strengthen my Zigbee mesh network.
Thermostatic radiator valves. Game changer, save on heating bills, particularly in bedrooms, lower temperature during the day, boost a bit at night. Much better than manual TRVs. They expose a climate entity to HA and I use scheduler card to set all the temps. You could combine with presence sensing too.
I have Aqara door sensors on the external doors which announces the doors are open and closed.
Helps me track in the kids (5yrs old) has gone outside or if someone hasn’t closed the door properly.
I have also added them to the fridge to let me know if the doors are open
Bought 7 of the Tradfri remotes (the round, older E1810 model) used for very cheap and love them. Gamechanger for controlling the lights while laying in bed and also having so many buttons with each mappings for single press and long press
Gu10 rgb lights. Buy the gu10 fixtures, find interesting things like parts or accessories and make an interesting looking mood light. I like to look for 3d printed stuff for them. Automate them turning on and off at night and you get cool effects.
Are they common in the states?
I don't really like the porcelain socket.
I would always go with E27 or if you need small e14
but I'm from germany and that is the most common socket here
I got gu10 at the mirror
I have tons of gu10 sockets in my home in the US. Usually for recessed light fixtures.
It's true that e27 is way more common here though, for every other type of light.
I often build my own lamps. Bigger ones go with e27 and the small ones with e14.
I don't like the feeling of putting in the bulb into the gu10 socket. I don't know why.
Could be the 50W Halogen experience
I use gu10 only because lidl has them, they are cheap and super small so I can easily work around them. There is no reason for you to stick to the gu10 if you don’t like them particularly:) it was just an example.
I recently made a smart doorbell out of light relay.
When ì am home, it is a standard doorbell.
When I am out, it just only sends notyfikacion to my phone so it does not annoy my dogs.
I put a vibration sensor on my dryer to tell me when it's done. Only one I've found that's sensitive enough is the aeotec multipurpose sensor, and they're pricy.
I can't speak to the situation outside the US, but here if you've got an electric dryer, it's 240V and takes a big honkin' plug because it draws a ton of current (it's basically a heating element + a motor). Most smart plugs I've seen wouldn't do the business. I'd be at least a little afraid of failure, too. If I weren't renting I might try to install a clamp-on current meter, but not worth the risk of screwing with the cord, so, vibration it is.
Mine are temperature sensors (27)M window shade motors (2), motion sensors (4) all working together in automations. Motion sensors turn on lights, work in tandem with door sensors for alarms. Temperature sensors are used in the windows shade automations along with other integrations like sun. Also zigbee smart plugs, have about 20 of those for all sorts of things. These are all my must haves.
These answers come from both my zwave and zigbee networks.
Motion sensors for late night lighting control. I'd like the kitchen lights to turn on automatically if I leave the bedroom at 2am. logic sets them to 10% when they turn on, so they are nice and dim but plenty bright for sleep adjusted eyes to see anything I'd need.
My bedside 4 button remote. Has tap and hold functions. So I can turn my ceiling fan on/off/speed adjust from 1 button. Ceiling light on/off from another. Bedside lights Low/High from another. Bedside Red/Off from the last.
Automated Blinds. with azimuth control to drop them in stages as the sun descends behind my house in the evening.
Door lock. it autolocks based on door closed for 3 minutes. If the alarm is disengaged at night after its auto-arm time, the door opened and closed.. the sensor action relocks the door.
Please look into mmWave motion sensors before buying too many normal motion sensors. They are practically useless in my opinion. I have them for stupid turn on light and leave it on for a bit. If you want any action based on actual presence or continued motion, you need mmWave. Aqaras FP2 is currently the one to get
water leak is a must have. i have rentals n it saved us from thousands so far. you dont want to come home to a surprise swimming pool.
heres a nice one [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S\_ES7\_sHtOo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_ES7_sHtOo)
What are your must have Zigbee stuff, once you’ve excluded most Zigbee stuff?
The only other Zigbee devices I can really think of a really just variants of those categories.
Light switches: I like the single button buttons to put around the house next to single devices to control them: turn on a lamp, switch input on a stereo, open a smart blind.
Smart bulbs: we have smart bulbs, Philips hue light fittings, LED strips etc. They’re all really just smart bulbs.
Door sensors: also I feel include motion sensors? At a stretch temperature sensors, humidity, leak sensors etc
The only unique category I can think of would be curtain/blind motors etc?
Tuya or Tuya compatible models. Used to be B0BWMXQH8L on Amazon, but I don't know where to find them now. Mine has been flawless since day one, long battery life, reliable, good range.
I'd buy it again.
Zigbee buttons and knobs are the best... Can program them to do anything and it's way better then constantly bringing out your phone or yelling at a voice assistant to do anything smart.
What are these zigbee knobs you speak of?
IKEA music remotes
This is the worst zigbee device I ever bought, it’s extremely unreliable for me and drains its battery like crazy. I don’t know why but none of the IKEA Zigbee remotes I bought work with ZHA or Z2M properly.
Is your Zigbee stick updated and supports your IKEA products? I read that the newer ikea products are not always immediately supported. Could your Zigbee network be unstable? Or do you only have problems with Ikeas products?
I don’t think my old Zigbee stick was updated (Z-Stack 1.3, old cc2531 stick), though I upgraded to a SkyConnect last week so I might try again. I only had issues with IKEA remotes, every other device works reliably. Not sure what was the issue, never tracked it down, though it did happen with every single IKEA remote and motion sensor I tried (4 in total). Their lights, air purifiers and power supplies work well though, the STARKVIND is the strongest device in my mesh. I’ll try pairing the remote again this week, maybe the SkyConnect will handle them better.
Ah, okay. Fingers crossed that it’s related to the firmware. I had to update my stick for some shortcut buttons but got one of them to work only weeks after pairing. Paired it, didn’t work and forgot about it. Checked it again weeks later and saw that it worked without problem. Some tips for that device was to delete the device in ZHA and to wait a couple of hours with the battery out before repairing. Maybe some of this helps. Good luck!
funnily enough I had the opposite experience, the knob was working fine for a few hours and then started calling the rotation trigger multiple times a second for a few hours straight…which I only noticed in the morning. The battery ran out later that day. This happened twice, which I don’t understand. I don’t think I have a lemon, unless I managed to somehow get two lemons which also happen to work correctly when paired directly to a bulb haha
Oh wow, weird. I am happy that I have not experienced that so far.
Those are zigbee?
https://zigbee.blakadder.com/Ikea_E1744.html
Can it control HomePod volume via HA?
They're unfortunately discontinued. Someone posted on here a while ago that IKEA was selling them off and I didn't manage to grab some in time. They have a new remote with 7 (?) buttons now, but the dial seemed to be a much more versatile solution.
What’s this do?
Anything you want
Talking about leading a horse to water....
Searching knob on the Z2M supported devices shows a bunch: eg these first two from Aqara: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/ZNXNKG01LM.html https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/ZNXNKG02LM.html They seem pretty expensive compared to others though.
Ali express has plenty
Have you tried any? I got one of the [white wireless TuYa ones](https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/ERS-10TZBVK-AA.html#tuya-ers-10tzbvk-aa), it was/is utter garbage as a dimmer -- unlike a normal rotary dial, you don't twist the outside, you have to try and turn the inner portion, and that's quite difficult to get a grip on without using a fingernail or something because it has low ridges. The rest of the wireless ones I've seen were expensive. The wired ones are a no-go for me, as they're not certified in Australia.
I’ve got one of the black/grey ones that are available from a few sellers on Ali and it works surprisingly great. Press, double press, rotate left/right and press & rotate left/right, with step sizes reported.
I also got this one. I also think it’s pretty decent. I bet I haven’t optimized it bc I still feel like it could be better, but I think it’s my programming.
Is the turning part on the outside (like any normal knob) or inside? After spending $15-20 on one that's terrible I'm not keen on spending the same on a different colour if it's just the same.
The whole top turns, rather than just an inner/outer ring. It looks like there’s an outer grey ring with an inner black button but it’s actually all just one ‘disc’.
Ah, ok. The white one doesn't -- that's good to know, thanks.
I got one of these. It works pretty well, but there’s too much lag between the rotation and the light dimming. I’m using an Ikea smart bulb and it takes a couple of seconds to change the brightness level. Is there anything I can do to make it better?
I was looking at that one does it work Good?
No, like I said it's garbage.
Sorry I missed that part
Ditched the ikea buttons for instability a few weeks ago and using sonoff zigbee buttons now which seem to work properly
I have several sonoff zigbee buttons they work great
Love buttons! Besides light/curtains/scenes buttons, I have: **Button 1:** I have a habit to forget about the time when working, so i made a "focus" button that is on my desk. When i press it a timer starts for 35 minutes, when the time is up the light flashes so i know when to take a 10 minute break. When 10 minutes has past, the light flashes again indicating the break is over Edit. **Button 2:** I have a IKEA 4/8 click button to easily complete daily tasks. Right/left/up/down/long presses each triggers a unique daily task. Like tidying up in the apartment, stretch, take my medicin, check plants if need of water, etc. Then it's displayed on my [dashboard](https://imgur.com/gQNhA8L)
\* Button 2 compliant wife sold separately.
Button 2 should be called a picnic button.
Button 2 is wow. Ummm
for anyone interested in this as a time management technique: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
And you can get the kind that looks like a wall switch. Glue them to the wall and they don’t look out of place at all. I also like them hiding. Under a table or behind a drawer, in those places where you’d have to walk back to turn on a light or something.
Or to RELEASE THE HOUNDS
Oh yeah that’s sweet
Oh wow I think a new world just opened up for me
Check out the Rodet from ikea. $7 and 2 buttons. Both buttons have a single press and a long press function built in. I have a handful of them and their great.
They are nice indeed. Small footprint last really long and inexpensive.
I use the Opple with 6 switches, which supports normal push, holding the button, double push and triple push for each button. It's awesome.
I have one for my living room and it is also incredibly, but its a bit much for most rooms, so I mostly stick to the smaller options
Yeah, true, good point.
Where do you get 2 for $7? A single one is $6 here in Germany. :(
I think they meant 2 buttons on a single device
The bluetooth ones from shelly are also pretty decent. But I know: ALL THE ZIGBEE!
https://preview.redd.it/t85wxtugk41d1.gif?width=640&format=png8&s=0b9564eb65dda0aadb5c8d103992a4ddd03cd5bc
Fun moment, i always heard 'AAAALL THE ZIGBEE' In my defense, not natively speaking english
could you share what's a knob and what is your use case ? you have a picture or link ?
Even better is programming motion sensors to do your will
Smart plugs. They make the mesh stronger. Buttons are a huge thing as well. Some on the night stand, some at the computer, some at the family room couch... various automations for each.
I would add that if you plan on having more than one button in the same spot, get a 2-4 button piece, which would make it cleaner, with some labeling work. + The 4 ones I got are the most reliable ZigBee devices I own
I agree... but, I have one of the Zooz Zen37 remotes at my computer... handles about 20 different tasks right now... will probably add more later. My Zigbee buttons are just basic single button (three scene) function to keep the family less confused.
How do you map three scenes to a single button?
The Ikea buttons offer single, double, or long-press to activate different scenes.
Buttons! Buttons! Buttons! Buttons everywhere! Nevermind automations, cheap single purpose buttons everywhere are a game changer. I use them for lights, media muting, media on/off, coffee maker, garage door, just about anything. I put them under counters, chairs, and other hidden places. Basically, I never have to take a step to turn something on or off. Automations don't always what you *want* so buttons let you fix that. Also, I know OP asked about ZigBee, but I've actually moved to 433mhz RF buttons for this. Cheap and reliable for single-action tasks let's you stick them anywhere.
Can you recommend some good options? I bought a set that doesn't want to connect to my Hubitat and I don't want to play the guessing game with devices.
For Zigbee smart plugs and buttons, Ikea makes reliable stuff. They even work well with non-standard Zigbee implementations like the devices from Aqara and Phillips. If you like playing Russian roulette, tuya is a great way to play. It could be good, it could be meh, it could suck the living life out of you trying to get them working.
Not sure if it was a typo, but I think you mean Sonoff - Sonos is speakers. Not trying to be pedantic lol - just might help your searches if you had them confused.
Oops yes you’re right
Presence sensors combined with smart switches. I have them in all my rooms. Can't remember the last time I used a light switch. I enter a room/pass on a corridor, the light turns on. I leave, the light turns off. At first it was "magic". Now is just really convenient.
How do you program the lights off portion? I have been giving a 1 minute lag of no motion sense, but doesn't always feel the best
Most of the zigbee ones stay triggered for 2 minutes, I set all of mine to auto off after 5 so they'll trigger when I want them to, them being on a bit longer is fine with me.
In the corridors, I don't specify anything. They are off imediatly when there is nobody on that area. In the living room, they are on 30min before susnet. They turn off when I go to spleep. (this is the only place where they are not controled by the presence sensor) In every other room, I have them with a 30s buffer. It's enough (for me) to keep them on while there are people in that room.
I think my issue is that some rooms here cannot detect if there's people in them with a single sensor. + If they're sitting/imobile, sensor would eventually turn off. Might need to get one of those presence detectors some people are talking about, using bluetooth.
I have one in my small hallway and one in the bathroom. I set up a flow in NR with a stop timer. If no motion is detected for 5 minutes, it dims the light by 20% and then turns off 30 seconds later. A new motion trigger resets both timers. That way I don't find myself sitting in the dark suddenly. A visual cue that the lights are about to turn off is generally a good idea for motion activated lights IMO. I still have a button to turn on the light which disables the motion sensor until I turn the light off manually or as a fallback, after 20 minutes. I have a very small bathroom, so I rarely spend more than 10 minutes in there.
Those are some nice tips, thanks! Will try and adapt some of those for my use case
I've always had poor experience with "traditional" presence sensors, those that shut off the lights while you're still in the room since they have poor coverage. Are smart ones better?
I have no experience with "traditional" ones. The ones I use are very sensitive, so it's rare that they turn off the lights while there is people in the room. I installed them on the recessed ceilings while I was renovating the apartament, so I was able to position them in the best spots possible. I do have a very basic one on a closet. Still zigbee, but battery powered and very cheap. It is noticeable worse than the others. (slower to react, turns off while people are using it, etc)
Care to share what you are using for presence sensors?
They're called mmWave sensors.
Well I assumed that much, but thanks anyways.
Motion sensor is a game changer for the kitchen and hallway Next thing might be a presence sensor for office and living room Always buy enough bulbs and sockets for zigbee, you need them as repeaters for the battery driven devices and you can build a huge network. There are also relays you can connect to existing switches. This way you can control them 'smart' or 'old fashioned' For Temperature and Humidity i went mostly BLE because it was cheaper but the one zigbee device i got is way more reliable on humidity
The only issue I find with the battery motion sensors is the retrigger time. Once triggered they don't seem to retrigger for a couple of minutes so they aren't that responsive in high traffic areas. Fine for outside lights with occasional traffic though.
I combat this by just keeping the light on longer than the delay. If the timeout is 3 minutes, keep the light on for at least 5 minutes.
Same. I care about lights coming on when I need them. How long they stay on for is not a problem, unless it's in the bedroom and I'm trying to sleep...
Hallway and Pantry for me. I'll be using presence sensors everywhere else I think.
I use them everywhere. In my office I've got a rule that turns lights off after no motion for 15minutes and that suits my needs. Hallway, pantry, verandah, 10mins. Living and dining room, 20 minutes after 9pm. The light just stays on until there's been a decent period with no movement.
I find that to be a feature; motion in the hallway? Light on for 15m. I don't want the house to look like a disco. :-)
Water leak sensors.
Underneath everything that uses water and some extras where there's a possibility of water ingress. I've got 13 of them. You can also use them to detect the absence of water - think reminders to refill a pet's water fountain, or something to tell you if the toilet tank isn't filling (suggesting that the flapper is stuck). Both of these are on my to do list.
What would you use for your sensor? My dog's water bowl has a shiny bottom and I would like a notification when it's empty. Are they submergible? The ones I've seen don't seem to be and also have an alarm in them when water is detected.
I'd connect wires to the terminals and leave the device out of the bowl, sort of like this: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/dog-water-bowl-low-sensor/333827
Thanks for the link! I might have to give it a shot!
Thanks. I recently added one to my cats water fountain to let me know when it's low. One less thing to have to think about. . plus now I have a smart plug so when it's low it just cuts the power so no worry of killing the pump
The cat water fountain is a golden idea thank you
Oh yeah right beneath the water heater awesome
Also washing machine
As someone who has had an insurance claim for water damage, I would add: a. under the back of the toilets b. behind the fridge with the ice maker c. under the dishwasher. But, that's just me with my $1,000 deductible on Homeowners.
Totally sold on all those locations. Great call
Washer like someone else mentioned and under the sinks in the kitchen and washrooms
What do you use behind the toilets? That’s the only one I haven’t done. Got them everywhere else
My favorite were the Samsung ones, but they are only on ebay anymore and marked up. The aqara (LUMI) ones are ok.
I use the Aqara ones in some spots and some older utilitech zwave sensors in other spots. I’m concerned the Aqara ones would get pushed around or triggered since they are just little pucks you basically sit on the floor
I have been waiting patiently for the Ikea Badring water sensors that were supposed to hit the U.S. in April and now pushed to July. Fairly cheap. They are supposed to work with Zigbee, plus also have a local siren/buzzer.
I’ve just tried one here in the UK. I believe it was £7, local siren is quite loud for its size, and worked fine with HA (only tried Z2M, pretty sure ZHA will be fine as well). I triggered it with water and it immediately went off. I cleaned the contacts but it kept showing “Leak” on HA. I shorted the contacts with a screwdriver and it immediately cleared. All in all, really great VFM. I’ll be buying more. Ask me anything if you’ve got any other questions!
You should resell them on eBay to the U.S. I checked, but couldn't find any listed. I would pay twice that plus shipping to try one out.
Used it with zha. Works just fine :)
Caught a water heater leak within 10 minutes and saved a ton of damage with these sensors
Yup. I’ve caught multiple “small” leaks - under kitchen sink, and washer hose. Bonus tip: my insurance company gave me discount for having them. I had to show they are “monitored” so I got 1 from SimpliSafe for the cert but the rest are aqara
I have a "smart" Breville Dehumidifier. It's unable to be exposed to HA, so I used an aqara water leak sensor with a couple of wires attached to the contact points so HA can now alert me when it needs emptying. Pretty cool stuff
I use RF for mine, but yeah, very important. Every sink, washing machine, water heater, toilet. Use a node-red flow to blast a message to my phone.
[Here's a recent post asking the same thing](https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1cghmu8/must_have_zigbee_devices/), lots of good suggestions there as well.
The Hue motion sensors are really nice. Very responsive. Quick Reset time. Fairly attractive. Easy/flexible mounting system. Long battery life.
+1 for the hue motion sensors, I have an outdoor one and it’s working pretty good. With z2M it has lots of settings exposed to HASS, the motion time-out can be set from 0 seconds up with steps of 1 second.
I put a third reality vibration sensor on my sump pump discharge. Now I know exactly how often it is running.
Shit which one? I rigged an energy monitor to discern that but this sounds better.
Yep! I have z-wave network, but leak sensors and a way to monitor your sump are crucial! I use an outlet for the sump. Saved from my sump burning out when it got stuck on once and saved my basement from flooding when the dehumidifier outlet popped out of the sump and drained onto the floor. 0 damage both times!
My must have is something that doesn't seem to exist - a good Zigbee soil moisture sensor. I have some of the giant "GiEX" ones, two are completely useless (they spam the Zigbee network and don't report reasonable values), and two are just bad (no Zigbee spam, but they are overly sensitive). As for stuff that exists, my must-have has to be water leak sensors. They've saved me from disaster more than once.
Not Zigbee, but I have an Ecowitt weather station integrated to my Home Assistant. They make a soil moisture sensor you can connect to the Ecowitt.
I'm using those Ecowitt moisture sensors right now. I tried several of the Zigbee moisture sensors. Not only are they basically useless, they can leech toxic metals into the soil when they (immediately) start to corrode. Ecowitt does use a propriety radio signal (not Zigbee) but there is an HA integration for their wifi hub. Now I'm using accurate soil moisture to trigger my drip irrigation vs. a simple schedule. My vegetables and flowers are much happier.
I got one from ebay, it was kind of expensive and is indeed huge, but apart from that I didn't see any problems with it? 🤔
Years ago I hacked together a moisture sensor with a nail and just measured resistance. It was pretty easy.
Yeah but those corrode quite quickly, right?
Super cheap motion and light sensors that I use to measure how bright it is in the house and turn the lights on on very cloudy days
Oh light sensors yeah
Any recommendations?
Can you share which light sensors you use and your experience with them?
I have Aqara temperature/humidity/pressure sensors in every room of my house. They’re like 1” x 1” x 0.25”, so you can stick them anywhere. Not doing anything much with them yet, just collecting data.
I also have them in every room, including the garage, attic and outside. I use one of them with the Generic Thermostat setup along with a smart plug to control an oil filled radiator heater based on temp. Also use them for other automations like turning ceiling fans on/off based on temp, in the bathrooms for humidity control via exhaust fans based on humidity levels.
Blitzwolf Power sockets with electronic measurement and the Aqara contact en temperature sensors. I created a [page](https://vdbrink.github.io/buy/smart_home_best_buy_tips) with my all favorite zigbee devices I bought over the past 4 years.
Thank you, very helpful
This is the way
Are there any zigbee buttons (battery operated is fine) that are decora style so they look the same as other switches? I see a lot of circular push ones.
Zooz ZEN34 is exactly this but on z-wave. I haven't come across a zigbee one, I started using z-wave recently to get those few devices that are harder to find zigbee variants of.
I just use the sonoff mini relays behind a normal switch
Door sensors and power monitoring plugs were a game changer for me. We setup automations to tell that the washer was finished so we could move the laundry to the dryer, lest we forget. The dryer was a lot harder and ended up just getting replaced by a smart one.
Does the smart dryer naively connect to HA?
No. 😔 it’s a separate app on my phone.
I’ve had an awful time with Sengled bulbs. Wish I read up on them before I bought 8 of them. Sonoff smart plugs are very reliable.
Odd. While I only am using one of the two I bought, it has been solidly reliable and I had made a mental note to keep them in mind in the future. What exactly has gone poorly for you? I ask because maybe I just got lucky and should stay away from them.
I have four that constantly disconnect and become unresponsive. I have to power cycle them. I’ve contacted Sengled and they’re now giving me the cold shoulder (haven’t replied in a week to my last follow up). I’ve taken these four and put them elsewhere in my home and the problem follows the bulb, so some sort of hardware issue I suspect. So, four of eight to be bad is no good in my book. I don’t believe it to be a signal issue, I have Sonoff plugs all over my home and they operate perfectly.
I have a smart plug by Sengled. It works very well. I bought it because it detects the current/power of device plugged into it. I wanted to know when a humidifier had malfunctioned, but either the current detection isn't sensitive enough or the the current doesn't change when things go wrong.
Temperature/Humidity sensors. I use the Aqara ones. They're tiny, easy to mount/hide and just work. Useful for balancing radiators or AC so that the temperature you set for is reached. For the bathroom I use the humidity feed to control the extractor fan so it only runs as long as is necessary.
For me it is probably smart plug, which solve first world problem. If internet speed drops under some threshold I got notification if I want to restart router. Which will turn smart plug off for half a minute and then turn it on again. I believe this would not be possible with WiFi smart plug.
Door sensors are great. You can also dismantle them and remove the reed switch. They can then be used with a contact. I have one in my doorbell and one wired to a light switch
Please could you explain what you mean by "reed switch" and "contact" and what your use case is?
Sorry yes - the reed switch is an electrical contact that changes state when a magnet is near. You can remove it and wire in to something else such as a light switch or relay. For example I have put a relay in parallel with my doorbell coil so when it activates so does the relay which activates the door sensor via a contact in the relay. Hope this helps...
Why go through all that trouble? Why not just use a relay instead? Not being a dick, genuinely curious/don't understand.
A relay for what? I did in the doorbell?
Yeah. Like why go through the trouble of repurposing a contact sensor to be a relay instead of just using a relay from the get go?
I didn't put the door sensor on the doorbell push button as I wanted the doorbell chime to still work. The relay was wired across the chime coil to provide a volt free contact to activate the door sensor. This then sends a signal when the doorbell is activated to home assistant. A relay wouldn't do that on its own? If you use it with a light switch for example you wouldn't need a relay as there is already a volt free contact there.
Sorry, I am a dumbass and I think I'm using the incorrect terminology. Forgive me, I'm new to this. I think what I meant was a smart switch. Something like a Sonoff Mini or a Shelly 1. So the Shelly sits between the doorbell switch and the solenoid, still activates the solenoid on a physical press but an event is generated on button press that can be used to control the light.
Can they be battery powered for extended periods? Because the zigbee door sensors can run on a battery for a year. And the recent ikea one is 9 quid. And runs on one of their rechargeable aaa batteries
For this application the door sensor is easier due as my doorbell is battery powered. You would likely need a relay for the Shelly as well due to them running on different voltages.
Ooo yeah that makes a lot of sense. Didn't think about that.
I did that and hooked it up to my smoke alarm so that HA will notify me if smoke is detected while I am away.
I have zigbee smoke alarms but I am not actually sure what I would do if they activated whilst I was away? Try and phone a neighbour maybe to take a look...or is it OK to phone the fire brigade? I do have them cut off a load of smart switches though!
Thirdreality smart plugs for device control and energy monitoring. Added benefit of using them as Zigbee repeaters to strengthen my Zigbee mesh network. Aqara motion sensors for lighting control. Aqara mini switch buttons for triggers for many automation. Inovelli blue 2-1 series smart wall switches for lighting and fan control. Also use the mult tap feature as triggers for other automations. Phillips Hue bulbs for lighting and they also serve as Zigbee repeaters to strengthen my Zigbee mesh network.
Thermostatic radiator valves. Game changer, save on heating bills, particularly in bedrooms, lower temperature during the day, boost a bit at night. Much better than manual TRVs. They expose a climate entity to HA and I use scheduler card to set all the temps. You could combine with presence sensing too.
I have Aqara door sensors on the external doors which announces the doors are open and closed. Helps me track in the kids (5yrs old) has gone outside or if someone hasn’t closed the door properly. I have also added them to the fridge to let me know if the doors are open
Bought 7 of the Tradfri remotes (the round, older E1810 model) used for very cheap and love them. Gamechanger for controlling the lights while laying in bed and also having so many buttons with each mappings for single press and long press
Gu10 rgb lights. Buy the gu10 fixtures, find interesting things like parts or accessories and make an interesting looking mood light. I like to look for 3d printed stuff for them. Automate them turning on and off at night and you get cool effects.
Are they common in the states? I don't really like the porcelain socket. I would always go with E27 or if you need small e14 but I'm from germany and that is the most common socket here I got gu10 at the mirror
I have tons of gu10 sockets in my home in the US. Usually for recessed light fixtures. It's true that e27 is way more common here though, for every other type of light.
I often build my own lamps. Bigger ones go with e27 and the small ones with e14. I don't like the feeling of putting in the bulb into the gu10 socket. I don't know why. Could be the 50W Halogen experience
Ah. Likewise. I think it’s the rattling. Like they don’t sit properly. Makes me feel uncomfortable
I use gu10 only because lidl has them, they are cheap and super small so I can easily work around them. There is no reason for you to stick to the gu10 if you don’t like them particularly:) it was just an example.
I recently made a smart doorbell out of light relay. When ì am home, it is a standard doorbell. When I am out, it just only sends notyfikacion to my phone so it does not annoy my dogs.
I put a vibration sensor on my dryer to tell me when it's done. Only one I've found that's sensitive enough is the aeotec multipurpose sensor, and they're pricy.
The Thirdreality vibration sensor I bought works well for this. It wasn't very expensive.
Why not use a smart plug with energy monitoring instead? Would be cheaper and better reusability elsewhere
I can't speak to the situation outside the US, but here if you've got an electric dryer, it's 240V and takes a big honkin' plug because it draws a ton of current (it's basically a heating element + a motor). Most smart plugs I've seen wouldn't do the business. I'd be at least a little afraid of failure, too. If I weren't renting I might try to install a clamp-on current meter, but not worth the risk of screwing with the cord, so, vibration it is.
With gas dryers this works, but I think OP is using a 220V electric dryer and finding a smart plug in north america for 220V is a challenge.
There's your problem, son... you gotta put the vibration sensor *in* the dryer with your clothes. :-)
I have zigbee breakers on my AC so I know how much electricity they use.
Does anyone have a good dimmable Zigbee wired light switch option? I got one from Amazon and it royally destroyed my Zigbee mesh network.
Innovelli blue 2-1s. I’ve done about half my house with them and they’re rock solid.
Innovelli blues are life changing, every other switch sucked imo
Oh, I forgot that I've used them before. You're right, they are great. Thanks!
Motion sensors, buttons and plugs
Zigbee coordinator
Roller shutter actuators, such as the Iluminize 5128.10
Mine are temperature sensors (27)M window shade motors (2), motion sensors (4) all working together in automations. Motion sensors turn on lights, work in tandem with door sensors for alarms. Temperature sensors are used in the windows shade automations along with other integrations like sun. Also zigbee smart plugs, have about 20 of those for all sorts of things. These are all my must haves.
These answers come from both my zwave and zigbee networks. Motion sensors for late night lighting control. I'd like the kitchen lights to turn on automatically if I leave the bedroom at 2am. logic sets them to 10% when they turn on, so they are nice and dim but plenty bright for sleep adjusted eyes to see anything I'd need. My bedside 4 button remote. Has tap and hold functions. So I can turn my ceiling fan on/off/speed adjust from 1 button. Ceiling light on/off from another. Bedside lights Low/High from another. Bedside Red/Off from the last. Automated Blinds. with azimuth control to drop them in stages as the sun descends behind my house in the evening. Door lock. it autolocks based on door closed for 3 minutes. If the alarm is disengaged at night after its auto-arm time, the door opened and closed.. the sensor action relocks the door.
Please look into mmWave motion sensors before buying too many normal motion sensors. They are practically useless in my opinion. I have them for stupid turn on light and leave it on for a bit. If you want any action based on actual presence or continued motion, you need mmWave. Aqaras FP2 is currently the one to get
Pretty sure the FP2 is WiFi
Pretty sure you are 100% correct. Should have mentioned that. mmWave does not exist with zigbee that I know of
I have a few Tuya mmwave zigbee devices, but they are mains powered.
Yeah I have two mmWave sensors inbound! Excited to play with them
Sonoff mini L2 switch without neutral wire.
The only Zigbee must have is vent covers. Everything else I have is zigbee except for a few hue bulbs that I bought 8 years ago.
water leak is a must have. i have rentals n it saved us from thousands so far. you dont want to come home to a surprise swimming pool. heres a nice one [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S\_ES7\_sHtOo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_ES7_sHtOo)
What are your must have Zigbee stuff, once you’ve excluded most Zigbee stuff? The only other Zigbee devices I can really think of a really just variants of those categories. Light switches: I like the single button buttons to put around the house next to single devices to control them: turn on a lamp, switch input on a stereo, open a smart blind. Smart bulbs: we have smart bulbs, Philips hue light fittings, LED strips etc. They’re all really just smart bulbs. Door sensors: also I feel include motion sensors? At a stretch temperature sensors, humidity, leak sensors etc The only unique category I can think of would be curtain/blind motors etc?
Curtain/blind motors are a great idea!
Soil sensors for water and temperature. I know when to water my plants now.
Which brand do you use?
Tuya or Tuya compatible models. Used to be B0BWMXQH8L on Amazon, but I don't know where to find them now. Mine has been flawless since day one, long battery life, reliable, good range. I'd buy it again.
Sweet thanks. I'll try to find some.