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Thanks, looking to replace hive bulbs I have. They're good but don't offer temperature control or RGB.
Home Assistant beginners
- Thread starter katie279
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Soldato
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Well that was a surprise .... the HA integration in n8n is really naff but I wasn't aware that as of 2025.2 HA is bundled with an MCP endpoint
Anyone else using it ? Before you ask I just used Gemini for a quick test, will be using a local LLM in future
Anyone else using it ? Before you ask I just used Gemini for a quick test, will be using a local LLM in future
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Bin off the Hue hub and roll your own Zigbee coordinator. The Hue bulbs are absolutely superb.
Soldato
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Would like to get a switch for my hue Lightstrip.
Between the below what would be best, I want a simple on/off switch and to be able to dim/brighten. I can get a small discount on the Philips range so want to stick to Philips hue.
I might add a few more lights at a later date as well, so unsure if one may be better over the other.
www.philips-hue.com
www.philips-hue.com
Between the below what would be best, I want a simple on/off switch and to be able to dim/brighten. I can get a small discount on the Philips range so want to stick to Philips hue.
I might add a few more lights at a later date as well, so unsure if one may be better over the other.
Hue Dimmer Switch – Smart Remote Control – Latest Model | Philips Hue UK
Dim or brighten the room, or get the best light based on the time of day with the Hue dimmer switch. Use it as a remote control anywhere in your home.
Hue Tap Dial Switch White - Smart Remote Control | Philips Hue UK
Control up to three Rooms or a Zone with each individual button of the Hue Tap dial switch in white. Turn the dial to dim and brighten the lights.
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Finally got around to adding TRVs. I went with the Sonoff as I have had good experience with the brand.
Installation was a breeze. All connected perfectly to home assist. I used Better Thermostat integration which is working well. The Lovelace dashboard is great.
I've had a couple of disconnects. Not sure why. I'm hoping it's just a teething issue.
Interested to find out heating usage vs old thermostat.
Installation was a breeze. All connected perfectly to home assist. I used Better Thermostat integration which is working well. The Lovelace dashboard is great.
I've had a couple of disconnects. Not sure why. I'm hoping it's just a teething issue.
Interested to find out heating usage vs old thermostat.
Soldato
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Has anyone got any experience migrating from ZHA to Zigbee2MQTT?
When I set up my HA system a few years ago, I went with ZHA because it was so simple and for the most part it works very well but I'm contemplating changing to Z2MQTT, largely because I'd like to be able to use some Ikea devices (motions sensors, buttons etc and they just don't seem to want to play nicely with ZHA. Some people seem to get them working without any trouble but I've also seen lots of posts of people struggling with devices that HA will recognise but then not display any entities, or they will get stuck during the setup process etc etc. Reading up a good number of people have got them working with Z2MQTT and it has got me thinking about transitioning over to it but it feels like it'll be quite the chore, having to remove all my devices (ok I don't have a huge amount but still...) and then reset them all up and then update any automations etc with the new entities.
Has anyone done this and what were your experiences?
When I set up my HA system a few years ago, I went with ZHA because it was so simple and for the most part it works very well but I'm contemplating changing to Z2MQTT, largely because I'd like to be able to use some Ikea devices (motions sensors, buttons etc and they just don't seem to want to play nicely with ZHA. Some people seem to get them working without any trouble but I've also seen lots of posts of people struggling with devices that HA will recognise but then not display any entities, or they will get stuck during the setup process etc etc. Reading up a good number of people have got them working with Z2MQTT and it has got me thinking about transitioning over to it but it feels like it'll be quite the chore, having to remove all my devices (ok I don't have a huge amount but still...) and then reset them all up and then update any automations etc with the new entities.
Has anyone done this and what were your experiences?
About to do the same thing here. My understanding is that it's fairly straight forward, but just a bit of a manual process. The best option is to buy a 2nd Zigbee hub/coordinator that you can assign to Z2MQTT, leaving your original one tied to ZHA. Then all devices remain operational and you can migrate stuff in your leisure. You effectively have to remove a device from ZHA, then put it in pairing mode and re-register it in Z2MQTT. This will obviously have an impact on any automations or dashboards pulling data from these devices and entities but seems the least destructive and takes the pressure off. You can obviously just delete all Zigbee devices and re-pair them all in Z2MQTT in one go but if you've got a lot of Zigbee devices, it could be a bit of a chore!
Soldato
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That's pretty much my understanding too, reluctant to buy another Zigbee hub but it might make the job less annoying and would allow for a gradual transition rather than having to do everything at once...
I suppose I could potentially run the two systems in tandem any way and just use Z2MQTT for the devices that don't work with ZHA?
When are you planning on making the change? I'd be interested to here how you get on. Also, can I ask why you're changing?
I suppose I could potentially run the two systems in tandem any way and just use Z2MQTT for the devices that don't work with ZHA?
When are you planning on making the change? I'd be interested to here how you get on. Also, can I ask why you're changing?
Like you I've come across a few devices that are a bit funky on ZHA. The last one was an Ikea Vindstyrka which doesn't report tvoc with ZHA but does with Z2MQTT. I managed to get that working by using ZHA Toolkit and a zhaquirk based on some info others had developed to make this work but it's messy. If I had Z2MQTT then it just works without any hacky workaround! ZHA is great for general simplicity and for the most part does just work but I'm starting to get into these areas where having a bit more control or better device support would really help. I've been using Zwave2mqtt from day one (Z-Wave JS UI) and it's been utterly flawless so if Z2MQTT is even remotely similar, it should be worth the work! Not sure when I'm gonna try it but hopefully soon.
If you only have a few Zigbee devices (less than ten or so) then just remove them all from ZHA, stop ZHA, start Z2M and then add all the devices. If you have a lot of devices then I too recommend getting a second Zigbee coordinator. When I moved from ZHA to Z2M I had around 60 devices. It made the process smoother and a lot less stressful! Sometimes just removing the device from ZHA put it into pairing mode so it was a complete doddle to immediately just add it to Z2M.
Z2M is worth the effort so I’d persevere no matter what method you go for.
Z2M is worth the effort so I’d persevere no matter what method you go for.
Does anyone use VirtualBox to run HA?
I'm finding Z2M on this increasingly finnicky, whereby it will just lose the adaptor and all the devices will then drop as Z2M stops running.
I have to restart the entire PC to fix it, which might be a problem as I am going travelling for 1-2 months soon, and parents aren't aware on how to restart the PC etc
Thanks
I'm finding Z2M on this increasingly finnicky, whereby it will just lose the adaptor and all the devices will then drop as Z2M stops running.
I have to restart the entire PC to fix it, which might be a problem as I am going travelling for 1-2 months soon, and parents aren't aware on how to restart the PC etc
Thanks
Virtualbox is notorious for exactly that. It’s not a recommended way to run HA. Someone on here has said they’ve been running HA on VMWare without any issues so you could look into that as a solution
Thanks. I tried vmware a long time ago, but I found it incredibly complicated for a noob like me. Maybe I'll have a go again
It was me that's using it in VMware Workstation. If you're familiar with Virtualbox, then you'll have no issue with VMware Workstation. Perhaps you were thinking of VMware ESXi or similar which is a very different kettle of fish. Workstation is now free since Broadcom acquired VMware. You can pass USB devices through very easily too (I'm passing a Conbee II zigbee coordinator, Aeotec Z-stick gen5 and a USB connection for my UPS) and it's certainly stable!
Soldato
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I'm running HA under a VirtualBox VM on Linux headless. I think it's Lubuntu but been ages since I set it up.
I moved from ZHA to Z2M quite early on in my HA journey... Been pretty fine since.
Soldato
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I see, makes sense. I might have to take the plunge and move over at some point when I've got enough time to be able to not leave myself with half a system working.
Do people keep their home assistant updated?. im still running verison 2025.3.0 and i see the latest version is 2025.9.4
My system is running really stable and ive never had any issues so just wondered if updating could cause all sorts of headaches and if theres any benefit to it.
My system is running really stable and ive never had any issues so just wondered if updating could cause all sorts of headaches and if theres any benefit to it.