Home Assistant beginners

[Subliminal Aura]

Weird! I literally just ordered an RTL-SDR stick to grab the broadcasts from my Kalawen weather station remote temp/humdiity sensors!

Was trying to convince the wife about this (rather than transcribing everything out of the family google calendar onto a paper calendar) but she was super resistant, until about three weeks ago I freed up a Pi4 and made a little dashboard for myself on an old Fire HD8 which I've got on my desk. So now I've repurposed an old 10" android based photo frame (after finding it in the garage three days after picking up a Fire HD10 for £20!) to be the kitchen based family calendar and looking around for other things to drop into my HA server.

So the old method is to push rtl_433 data to mqtt and HA consumes it.
I just pulled up my notes and I see that I had issues with Ubuntu's bundled rtl_433 version so compiled my own

1. Compile rtl_433
   

   git clone https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433/
   cd rtl_433/
   git checkout 23.11
   
   sudo apt-get install libtool libusb-1.0-0-dev librtlsdr-dev rtl-sdr build-essential cmake pkg-config
   cmake -B build
   cmake --build build --target install

   
   
2. Add service to systemd
   

   cat /etc/systemd/system/rtl433.service
   [Unit]
   Description=433MHz receiver on DVB stick
   After=network.target
   
   [Service]
   Type=simple
   User=root
   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/rtl_433 -R 22 -R 44 -R 162 -C si -F "mqtt://10.0.0.171:1883,retain=1,events=rtl_433[/model][/id][/channel],devices,user=root,pass=pass"
   
   RestartSec=3
   Restart=always
   RemainAfterExit=no
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target

   
   
3. Fire up Mqtt explorer and inspect the devices you want HA to monitor. You'll find a heck of a lot of data from weather stations, power clamps, old X10 events(!), key fobs even TPM tire pressures show up
   
   
4. Add to HA
   

   mqtt:  
       sensor:
         - name: "Porch Probe"
           unit_of_measurement: °C
           device_class: temperature
           state_topic: "rtl_433/+/devices/Thermopro-TX2/9/1/+/temperature_C"
           # expire_after: 18000 # 5 hours
         - name: "Porch Humidity"
           unit_of_measurement: "%"
           state_topic: "rtl_433/+/devices/Thermopro-TX2/9/1/+/humidity"
           # expire_after: 18000 # 5 hours
         - name: "CC Power"
           state_topic: "rtl_433/+/devices/CurrentCost-TX/77/power0_W"
           unit_of_measurement: W
           device_class: power
         - etc
       binary_sensor:
         - name: "X10 Motion Sensor"
           # Also see automation Startup: Reset X10 motion sensor as this sensor only sends the 'on' value
           # otherwise it has an unknown status on HA restart
           state_topic: "rtl_433/+/devices/X10-RF/A/6/state"
           off_delay: 60
           device_class: motion
         - name: "X10 Light Sensor"
           state_topic: "rtl_433/+/devices/X10-RF/A/7/state"
           payload_on: "OFF"
           payload_off: "ON"
           device_class: light
           # expire_after: 72000 # 20 hours
         - name: "X10 A1"
           state_topic: "rtl_433/+/devices/X10-RF/A/1/state"
           device_class: plug

   
   
5. BONUS
   If you're pushing HA data to an external database like influxdb you can use Grafana to create nifty dashboards of historical data over many years if that floats your boat

For me I was hoping that with 2026.5 I could remove part 1 and 2 and have that process encapsulated within HA rather than being an external dependency

ps Check out the HA community surely they'll be able to help https://community.home-assistant.io...me-basic-help-needed-coffeee-anyone/863091/21

 

[dymetrie]

Yes, the bit where I get the dongle recognised and working is where Gemini has been remarkably silent. So I am fully expecting it to be a bit of a pain.

Code above is really useful, thanks! Need to translate it to the HA OS on a Pi4

 

[Subliminal Aura]

Anyone have a Bosch fridge using home connect ? What integration is best and do you get temperature readings from the fridge ?

 

[Semple]

Anyone have a Bosch fridge using home connect ? What integration is best and do you get temperature readings from the fridge ?

I stuck temperature sensors in the fridge/freezer and door contact sensors on both doors.

Temperature sensors are useful to check the appliance is operating fine and that the temperatures don't drop to unsafe levels. The door contact sensors are more useful though as my OH has a bad habit of opening the fridge door and then go routing through the cupboards for something else without closing the fridge.

 

[Irish_Tom]

I have a Hue smart wireless dimmer V2 (the rectangular one with three sections), and it's attached over my light switch using one of these — IYOKI Standard Switch Cover for Hue Dimmer V2 — https://amzn.eu/d/7UXJGSK

The switch cover is fine; it does what it says on the tin. However, compared to the official Hue plate that comes with the dimmer switch, the recess that holds the switch isn't as deep, and the magnet isn't as strong. So inevitably, it's quite easy to knock the switch off the holder and send it flying across the room. Not ideal.

Can anyone recommend an alternative to the IYOKI cover that does a better job? Either another brand that makes an improved model (although I assume they all come from the same factory in China with a different brand name) or an alternative solution that covers the light switch and holds the dimmer switch better?

Cheers for any suggestions.

Bit of an update on this post from the start of the year:

1. The Blu-Tac solution has actually worked quite well with the IYOKI light switch cover.

2. I ordered a couple more Hue dimmers, and wanted switch covers, but the IYOKIs were out of stock, so I tried a different model by Samotech — https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PWTNY9B — These are much better than the IYOKI covers. They use the Hue plate, and they're slimmer than the IYOKI, so they look and perform much better. I'll be getting these when I get more dimemers.

 

[cokecan]

I stuck temperature sensors in the fridge/freezer and door contact sensors on both doors.

Temperature sensors are useful to check the appliance is operating fine and that the temperatures don't drop to unsafe levels. The door contact sensors are more useful though as my OH has a bad habit of opening the fridge door and then go routing through the cupboards for something else without closing the fridge.

What temp sensors are you using here? I've been using SonOff SNZB-01's which work well but the cold kills the batteries too quickly. I do want to try replacing them with some BR2477 batteries as they are rated to last longer in harsh cold conditions compared to the more standard CR2477

 

[dymetrie]

Yes, the bit where I get the dongle recognised and working is where Gemini has been remarkably silent. So I am fully expecting it to be a bit of a pain.

Code above is really useful, thanks! Need to translate it to the HA OS on a Pi4

This has worked really well! Almost instant recognition of the USB dongle and other than having to adjust the location of the external sensor so it gets picked up reliably (arguably it's now in a better location as it's shielded from sun and wind) I've managed to get a 'nice' looking dashboard sorted.

Still not 100% happy with the graphs, but I have data flowing and showing so it's a win and means the base station for the Kalawen can be packed away and give me some space back on my desk.

I've automated a rotation with my main home screen (bad energy info, family calendar) so I get 45 seconds of each but can override by swiping.

Working on adding in my Ring cameras so that when the doorbell is pressed I get a still capture pop up overlay. Plus, my smart meter (a pants SMETS1 unit which only updates once a day, maybe) is being upgraded in a few weeks so I'll be able to get much bettter summary information for the home screen and can create a more in depth details view to add to the rotation

All being displayed on a 2020 Fire HD8 on my desk using Fully Kiosk browser

 

[Semple]

What temp sensors are you using here? I've been using SonOff SNZB-01's which work well but the cold kills the batteries too quickly. I do want to try replacing them with some BR2477 batteries as they are rated to last longer in harsh cold conditions compared to the more standard CR2477

I've got the Aqara ones installed, the batteries do drain a bit quicker than ones measuring room temperature, just something you have to accept. They also only go down to -20C so no idea if my freezer actually dips below this.