What are /r/openhab's favorite Products & Services?

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Yes - all you have to do is go to https://www.openhab.org/download/ and follow the directions for Linux/apt. You'll need to install java (OpenHAB recommends Zulu) to install it, but there are directions for that as well.

Not sure which step you are on so I'll just try to cover all the steps I took to get HomeKit working...

• First, check if you have the HomeKit addon installed (under misc. section in addons).
• Then you will need to configure the HomeKit addon following the instructions here. I think the openHAB bridge shows up automatically after that is done. Do you have that in the HomeKit app?
• You will need to add metadata to each item you want to expose to HomeKit. In textual .items file it will be {homekit="Lighting.OnState"} for an On/Off switch. In OH3 you can add metadata when you click on the item in the WebUI. For other item types just look through the documentation to find the one you want to use. I recommend using the WebUI for the metadata if you are using OH3, it's just a lot more foolproof than the textual configuration.
• After you are done adding metadata to all the items, you may need to restart OH3 - for some reason my items don't update after adding HomeKit metadata. After restarting OH3 all the items appear automatically.
• There's no way to define the Rooms on HomeKit through OH. You need to assign items manually on the HomeKit app. Oh also, if you change something on the item, it may reset back to the default Room...

I hope one of these help you solve your problem.

var Timer myTimer = null

Check the documentation it explains timers.... https://www.openhab.org/docs/configuration/actions.html#timers

this is what I did: https://www.reddit.com/r/openhab/comments/kroc8f/oh3_timer_cancelable/gjpgfbp/

It seems that a good alternative for sharing weather station data is: https://openweathermap.org/stations

I know that OpenHab has a binding for openweathermap, but I don't know if it can share and receive data.

Some Bluetooth devices, for which I guess I would need a generic bluetooth binding. For the RF transmitter, I still have to build it. It will be a GPIO device, but can't be connected to the OH GPIO because that one is too far away.

This is an awesome writeup! I've been looking at automatic shades too, but haven't pulled the trigger just yet.

I'm not sure if you've seen it, but the astro binding does also have its own dusk/dawn trigger channels and night state thing:

• https://community.openhab.org/t/sunrise-sunset-rule/94664/2
• https://www.openhab.org/addons/bindings/astro/#trigger-channels

For GPS looks like there’s a binding to do so: GPSTracker

If your router is supported (like UniFi, but the binding is a mess right now) you can use it to determine whether the phone/watch is connected to home network. That could serve the purpose of location detection.

I have no idea how to get alarms to sync to OH.

I'm the same way as you and didn't want to use various accounts and apps to control my house, I used a Synology diskstation with a Z Wave usb hub plugged into the back, you can get a Zigbee hub if you wanted to run both devices. I like Z wave because newer Z Wave Plus devices have better range and pass signals through each other.

I mostly run GE switches for all my lights, I like the ability to have a smart switch rather than a smart bulb as most bulbs will require your phone to turn on while a switch can always be used by anybody, regardless of who presses it. There are certainly ways to add smart bulbs to Openhab, it just takes a bit of research to check on the protocol and if Openhab has it in their database. A smart bulb is only smart if the dumb switch at the wall is in the on position. This is a great resource from Openhab to check bindings for items, prior to purchase, they also maintain their own list of Z Wave supported devices like the other one posted. Checking the forums is also a great resource for Openhab, if the item is popular enough you can almost always find a post on the forums of people describing their process to add and program their devices.

I use Enbrighten plug in switch controllers to run various lamps and lights on timers, smart outlets work as well.

OpenHAB is something that runs on a PC or the like; Windows, Linux, BSD, macOS etc. and even Pi's. The Android app is a means to view information and interact with said instance.

https://www.openhab.org/docs/installation/

It uses Java, so you want a host with a worthwhile amount of RAM. I have mine running in a small Linux virtual guest (KVM).

I think the key to making this work for you is by using group states. This link group item state shows your options for deriving the state of the group through the members.

What are you having trouble with, specifically?

Getting MQTT installed on Raspbian or any Debian based distro is quite easy:

>sudo apt install mosquitto

You'll have to Google how to run mosquitto as a service on your specific Raspbian version. I don't remember the details off the top of my head.

From there, use the openhab docs to learn how to use mqtt with openhab. Essentially, you can bind item commands and states to certain MQTT topics. That should be in the openhab docs too.

https://www.openhab.org/addons/bindings/mqtt/

There are many ways to create rules and once you create one, you can trigger it using any virtual item. Then this item will act like a scene button for you.

How do you have your persistence rules set up? Sounds like you have it setup as "everyChange". You might want to set it up to persist values periodically, something like

Strategies {
everyMinute : "0 * * * * ?"

default = everyChange
}

/*
* Each line in this section defines for which item(s) which strategy(ies) should be applied.
* You can list single items, use "" for all items or "groupitem" for all members of a group
* item (excl. the group item itself).
*/
Items {
// persist all items once a day and on every change and restore them from the db at startup * : strategy = everyUpdate, restoreOnStartup
YourImportantItem: strategy = everyMinute }

Or something like it. See https://www.openhab.org/docs/configuration/persistence.html for more details

I have pi4 , so should I be following as mentioned here? and yeah I have plans for MQTT broker, apache . Can I be able to achieve it? by booting from SD and storing the data on SSD/USB ?

You can also specify the exact sink:

'''

playSound("sonos:PLAY5:kitchen", "doorbell.mp3", new PercentType(25))

say("Hello world!", "voicerss:enUS", "sonos:PLAY5:kitchen", new PercentType(25))

'''

Source: https://www.openhab.org/docs/configuration/multimedia.html

I know there are bindings (plug-ins /integrations) for various AV gear manufacturers. I recommend looking through here https://www.openhab.org/addons (the side bar had a list of all bindings) and see if your equipment is listed. I know some Demon & Yamaha AVRs have bindings along with many TVs, and even some protectors. The page for a given binding will tell you what information openHAB can get, and what parameters it can change. If OH can talk to it, and get the desired information, AVR input for example, you can definitely use it up in a rule to trigger other actions.

Like everyone else has said, DON'T DO THAT! Use myopenhab, until you can get (at the VERY least) follow the directions here. Once you get that going, you should be ok - though ideally, you should access it through a VPN or SSH tunnel.

When you see that error and you can see on the machine that the file /dev/ttyUSB1 does in fact exist the problem is almost always that the openhab user doesn't have permission to read/write to that device. This is usually enabled by adding the openhab user to the dialout or tty group depending on what group owns /dev/ttyUSB1. This is discussed in the Recommended Additional Steps section of the installation instructions.

As for other settings, the binding readme says it's an Ember coordinator and:

> Use baud rate 57600 and software flow control.

To add additional UI go to Paper UI-> Add-ons-> UI. However, not everything can be configured via UI- for example, persistence should be configured using text files. But, from other side, Basic UI or HabPanel are used for daahboards create, where you can control and/or monitor the state of your devices and smart home. The best place to start and to understand how it works and what it does- read this https://www.openhab.org/docs/

Of course it's possible. openHABian is just a bunch of scripts that automatically installs and configures OH and related third party software for you. You can manually install OH (and everything else that openHABian installs and configured that you use) and have basically an identical configuration to openHABian. I_Arman provided the link to the apt installation instructions, which are the exact same steps that openHABian does for you automatically.

Assuming that you have some other service already running on an RPi, you can still use openHABian if that is your hold up. Just follow the manual installation instructions for openHABian which consists of cloning the github repo and running openhabian-config. https://www.openhab.org/docs/installation/openhabian.html#other-linux-systems-add-openhabian-just-like-any-other-software

You do not have to start with a brand new SD card to use openHABian. You can easily install it on top of a running Debian based Linux distro. I myself have installed openHABian on an Ubuntu VM in the past.

It's just a bunch of scripts that save you a lot of work and helps you avoid some potential mistakes. I really see no compelling reason not to use it that I can think of. But if that is what you want to do, there are plenty of other options available to you. For my production system I run OH in Docker.

I have the same controller. It took me a while to figure out what I needed to do. What OS is OH installed on? If it's linux or Docker you have some extra set-up steps before adding the coordinator. The Zigbee binding page has a lot of good information. https://www.openhab.org/addons/bindings/zigbee/ I didn't have all the set up done when I added the Zigbee binding to openhab, and couldn't get it to connect, even after I had wanted extra_java_opts, until I removed the binding as re-added it.

Webbe's explained it pretty well. The {channel:binging:Id} at the end is ultimately what matches your paperui discovered thing to your user defined one. To test this, if you turn a user defined switch on, you'll see the paperui one activate identically. My sitemaps and rules all use the user defined things and items, I haven't branched into habmin or the node options yet, so I don't have an opinion to offer. My suggestion would be to pick a naming standard, like a ud_ prefix for your text defined things so you can remember all this when you come back to augment something in 6 months. You never see this in a map as the labels are all user friendly. There are scripts to copy content from the dB so you can manage things without the clutter, I haven't used this so I can't tell you how well it works. The items/ things/ rules/ and sitemaps/ will all have a file in them. These files have to have the associated. Extension for ohab to read them. The tutorial here does (I think) a good job of a more thorough worked example. https://www.openhab.org/docs/tutorial/

Yup. The paper ui is convenient for seeing things are set and discovered. For everything else I've used the rules/items/sideways files. The openhab tutorial https://www.openhab.org/docs/tutorial/ is the best place to show presence detection over wifi. After this there are group patterns you can test with to show if more people are home. Alexa integration is literally 20 mins or less if you have a hue light to plug in.

https://www.openhab.org/docs/tutorial/logs.html

​

This is a start, indeed learning curve is steep. The doc's assume you have basic knowledge of linux. Try to google how to enable ssh on your system (raspbian I assume?). Connect with putty or similar and then enter commands

tail -f /var/log/openhab2/openhab.log -f /var/log/openhab2/events.log

Check out the ecobee bindings docs. Lots of good info: https://www.openhab.org/addons/bindings/ecobee1/

1: Yes, look for the following line in the docs for a sample rule to specify the setpoint:

ecobeeSetHold("123456789012", desiredCoolTemp, desiredHeatTemp, null, null, null, null, null)

2: Yes, the docs have info on getting remote sensor data... but not a whole lot of readings available

Number remoteSensors_Kitchen_capability_temperature "Kitchen temp. [%.1f °F]" (gRemoteSensors) { ecobee="<[123456789012#remoteSensors(Kitchen).capability(temperature).value]" } Switch remoteSensors_Bedroom_capability_occupancy "Bedroom occu. [%s]" (gRemoteSensors) { ecobee="<[123456789012#remoteSensors(Bedroom).capability(occupancy).value]" }

3: OpenHAB talks to the Ecobee cloud to get the values of your remote sensors

4: Unsure, I only have a single base and 4 remotes

5: I had the choice, I went with the 3 because the 4 didn't have enough compelling features to justify the cost. I do not regret it. Granted my ecobee itself "runs" the AC and OH really just monitors it in one place and for manual override of the programmed setpoints

6: No clue

7: No clue how those changes will impact you

I had Ubuntu running before I needed a new usb drive, with the new drive I switched to openhabian. I've got the pi for openhab exclusively and a full linux install was overkill, this has been working great. I also use the configuration tool regularly, I set up automatic backups and when needed the updating function works well.
My original full ubuntu install worked well too, but this works better for openhab specifically.

I'm using esp8266's for a lot of my setup, with MQTT as the communication method which works quite well. You could use the multi switch option and each switch item would connect to a different MQTT channel;

Switch FanSpeed1 {mqtt=">[mybroker:myhouse/speed1:command:ON:1],>[mybroker:myhouse/speed1:command:OFF:0]"}

I've been having fun getting my dashboards developed.

Originally, I did my motion sensors and contact sensors like you, in a bar graph as a sort of a timeline. Here's a trick I learned: set the axis limits as min:0.1 and max:0.2, and you won't see the tops or bottoms - it will just look like a vertical line. You can mess with the gradients to make a cool effect if you like.

Then, I played around a bit more and found the Statusmap plugin for Grafana: https://grafana.com/grafana/plugins/flant-statusmap-panel

I can't easily upload a screenshot, but I like it. You can map different values to colors, so I decided to create numerical proxy items for all my sensors. In my scheme, no motion = 0, motion =1, closed = 3, and open = 4. That way I can have motion and contacts on the same map and display different colors for each.

If I already had them connected to the smart life app then shouldn't they already be connected. Link to the LED strip lights I bought

https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Z-Stick-Z-Wave-create-gateway/dp/B00X0AWA6E

This is the one I have... It seemed to be the most recommended and you only need one to handle all your z-wave z-wave+ devices.

I don't have a recommendation for a door sensor (I've only used TILT sensors so far, but on amazon "z-wave door sensor" will yield a lot.

But, that you said its supposed to be a cheap project, a $50 z-wave gateway may be overkill.

If the setup is close enough to the door, you COULD look at wiring a typical security sensor to the Pi GPio ports somehow... How to hook that into openhab is a bit beyond me thought. That would be really cheap to do though.

Use an Android 7 or lower and try this app; https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.greyshirts.sslcapture

Reason why 7 or lower, is in 8+ it made it difficult to do this without root due to new restrictions around user certs. Android 7 and below don't suffer this and apps will accept them.

I used this to reverse engineer my TV remote and Tuya bulbs.

Insteon have a no-neutral switch and dimmer. I have one, works with no issues. Works with the Insteon binding. I haven’t had any problems with LED bulbs, but YMMV.

https://www.amazon.ca/Insteon-2474DWH-Switchlinc-2-Wire-Control/dp/B008B2CNL8

It seems to have good reviews on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/eufy-Security-Battery-Powered-Detection-Self-Installation/dp/B081C4JN51/

Is the camera something you can see from within openhab? I've never thought of such a thing before to be honest. You have me thinking now... Dang, this project will never be done...

I have worked on this quite a bit, I have several led lighting strips controlled by OH.

The aeon led strip has Zwave built in, but is very hard to use. I don’t recommend it (I have one, but gave up on it).

For a simple RGBW led strip controller I recommend the Fibaro . It’s easy to use, monitors power consumption, supports RGB and W, works with any voltage up to 6A, plus it’s very small. They are pricey, but they are worth it.

You can then buy any RGB/RGBW strip you like (12V is the most common) from Amazon, and it will work. I also use them with my deck lights.

I have three of them, and they really work well with OH. They are directly supported by the ZWave binding.

Seems like a reasonable controller. Don’t know about z-wave, I use an aeon z-stick gen 5. This door sensor is good. I’ve had mine on a door that sees a lot of use for over 1 year now, never changed the battery. It’s nice and small.

I have some more expensive ones, aeon hidden door sensor, (battery lasts about 6 months), and Sensative strip (can’t change the battery, but it’s been installed on the front door for 3 years and is reporting 25% battery right now) - I’m thinking I may have to replace it in about 6 months.

There are a bunch of power meters you could use. A hall effect sensor if you can get access to a single wire. If it's on an outlet you can get a meter for the outlet. I have no idea how compatible it is, but i assume all this stuff can be made to work.

I had no idea. I use this : https://github.com/davorf/BlackBeanControl

And I have 3 of them doing various things that work perfectly. I am using this one : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FK2SDOC/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1