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In our smart home, very different devices, protocols and services are networked with each other via the smart home software Symcon. These include Zigbee devices such as Philips Hue, Ikea TRÅDFRI and the inexpensive Xiaomi Aqara sensors. For these Zigbee devices there is now a great solution to integrate them into the home network without cloud and Chinese servers.
I like to repeat my thesis that a smart home only deserves its name if it networks all devices and the smartphone is not just a shifted light switch.
There are now lots of products and manufacturers that rely on the ZigBee protocol. Philips is best known for its Hue series. In second and third place are probably IKEA with TRÅDFRI and Osram with Lightify. I especially like the cheap Xiaomi Aqara sensors, because they are unbeatable cheap as window sensors, if you buy them directly from China. So I paid Xiaomi Aqara window door sensor at Gearbest.
Although the Philips Hue Bridge can also be used to connect some devices from other manufacturers, in the case of Xiaomi Aqara this fails and you have to fall back on the version of the Xiaomi Bridge that was previously only available as a Chinese version. The data also takes a detour via Chinese servers and the remaining functions of the Xiaomi gateway (e.g. Internet radio) are not usable in Europe anyway, since Chinese.
With the smart home software Symcon you can bring Xiaomi Gateway, Philips Hue Bridge etc. back together as separate devices and read actions from each other and use values from sensors, but something else is nice. Furthermore the integration of the Aqara sensors via the Mi-App is more than cumbersome and Xiaomi only supports Aqara devices via detours because of the DSGVO.
On the other hand, the Philips Hue motion sensor cannot be used in conjunction with the Hue Bridge and Symcon. The background is that the Hue Bridge does not push any actions via its interface. Symcon (but also Open Hab, FEHM etc.) have to query the bridge regularly for status changes, which is of course unfavorable with a motion detector. The mobile and battery-operated motion detectors would be ideal for many applications, and an IKEA TRÅDFRI motion detector or the Aqara RTCGQ11LM is available for just 10 euros.
From Dresden comes rescue in form of the ConBee II USB gateway for 39,95 €, or a small header for Raspberry Pi for 29,95 €. The ConBee provides its own browser-based configuration environment called deCONZ. This makes it very easy to add and configure Zigbee devices. ConBee is compatible with practically all Zigbee based devices (a compatibility list can be found HERE). It also offers the functions of the Philips Bridge, so that other apps can also be used with it. If you want, you can also operate the ConBee Gateway parallel to a Philips Bridge.
On my computers I have installed the ChromeHue browser extension, with which one can comfortably control the Philips lights from the computer. These extensions also work with the ConBee, just as you are used to with the Philips Bridge.
As I have Symcon running in a virtual machine on my server in the technical room, I did not want to connect the ConBee II Stick to the server, as this would have had a negative effect on the range.
But in our kitchen there is a Raspberry Pi 3 hidden behind a TV display, which takes care of connecting my weather station with CumulusMX. I've connected the ConBee Stick to this Raspi, so I can practically cover the whole house. In addition, all Zigbee devices that are plugged into an electrical outlet also act as repeaters at the same time, so that the ConBee's range is automatically extended. Our 6 Philips Livingcolors IRIS thus form a mesh over the entire living space.
From here you can do everything in Symcon that you can do with other devices. The difference is that you can now completely do without the Xiaomi MiHome app including the Chinese cloud. In addition, the ZigBee devices react without noticeable delay, so that the motion detectors can also be used for completely different tasks than just controlling ZigBee lamps.
How about a cheap Tradfri motion detector under the bed (or at the front) that turns on the night light when you have to get out at night - or how I get to bed late as a night owl. What have I done to my feet ...
The xiaomi aqara window door sensor can be individually interrogated and alerted if windows are still open when you leave the house. You can also use a Philips Hue Wireless Dimming switch for other switching tasks than just ZigBee devices.
I installed an xiaomi aqara window door sensor in the mailbox in front of the house, which informs me about new mail via telegram.
Also interesting and very reliable are the Xiaomi Aqara temperature humidity sensor. These small ZigBee sensors measure temperature, humidity and air pressure and work very accurately. Also these can be shot at Gearbest for about 10 Euro each, if there is a sale again.
I use it to control a Confee dehumidifier in the garage basement. This is switched on from a relative humidity of 65 % and switches itself off again at below 55 %. The Confee could also do this without Symcon, but I also include the wall temperature and the dew point in the control. If the wall temperature is far above the dew point, the dehumidifier can also be switched off, as there is no risk of mold growth.
In addition in Symcon the absolute air humidity is calculated inside and outside and a ventilation recommendation is given by telegram and info. display. It has no sense to ventilate if the absolute humidity outside is greater than the absolute humidity inside and one simply cannot estimate that. Otherwise you get more humidity into the room than is already inside.
With the ConBee II Stick, the possibilities in our smart home were once again significantly expanded for little money. In addition, you don't have to rely on external services and the configuration has been greatly simplified. But what I like most about it is that everything that listens to the ZigBee protocol now works as one.
Of course, such a configuration is complex and you have to enjoy implementing it. In fact, not only does it provide extra comfort, it also helps reduce costs. Thanks to the many measured values of room temperatures, heating and return temperatures of the heating and the individual heating circuits, outside temperature and weather forecast, we were able to reduce gas consumption by more than 30%. Our heating system runs completely without individual room control, only via an exact hydraulic balancing. But I had to make it myself, because most heating engineers probably have no plan of it - but that's another topic.
