Welcome to today’s daily kōrero!

Anyone can make the thread, first in first served. If you are here on a day and there’s no daily thread, feel free to create it!

Anyway, it’s just a chance to talk about your day, what you have planned, what you have done, etc.

So, how’s it going?

  • eagleeyedtigerEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    I believe the Phillips Hue smart plugs default to on when power is restored or you can set it to remember it’s state. They’re pricey though and They don’t have many features either for power monitoring etc. There aren’t really any other options for zigbee smart plugs here. Otherwise you’ll have to roll the dice with aliexpress ones which almost certainly won’t be certified for our electrical regulations.

    IIRC you can get them to work with other zigbee dongles without the hue bridge with Zigbee2MQTT or others, but I never got around to trying it out.

    • DaveMA
      2·
      10 months ago

      How about this one? Says it has energy meter, but not sure if it does what I want. Might buy one to test, though.

      Do you know if I can use it with Home Assistant?

      • eagleeyedtigerEnglish
        2·
        10 months ago

        Wifi gives you a lot more local options. IF i’m not mistaken GridConnect uses Tuya. So if you don’t use their GridConnect app and use the Tuya Smartlife app you can get it to work with with either the Tuya or LocalTuya integrations.

        LocalTuya is a custom integration: https://github.com/rospogrigio/localtuya. Easiest way to add it is using HACS which is for community add-ons and integrations. Add it to Home Assistant if you haven’t: https://hacs.xyz/

        Here is a process on getting the local key and adding to localtuya: https://shafi.com.au/electronics/home-automation/how-to-connect-deta-grid-connect-tuya-devices-to-home-assistant/

        I’ve used this process before to add a different Tuya based light switch to mine.

        EDIT: the LocalTuya integration doesn’t mention compatibility with smart plugs, however I did find a thread with someone getting it to work: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/energy-consumption-and-arlec-grid-connect-tuya-smart-plug/335508/50

        • DaveMA
          2·
          10 months ago

          Thanks, I’ll get one and give it a go!

          • eagleeyedtigerEnglish
            2·
            10 months ago

            My Edit just in case: the LocalTuya integration doesn’t mention compatibility with smart plugs, however I did find a thread with someone getting it to work: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/energy-consumption-and-arlec-grid-connect-tuya-smart-plug/335508/50

            Might just pay to double check if you absolutely want to communicate locally. I tested both using the Smartlife app and localtuya with my light switch and there was a noticeable delay with using the cloud based integration.

            • DaveMA
              2·
              10 months ago

              Thanks! I was heading to Hammerbarn anyway so have grabbed one, will give it a try and see if I can make it work. And will see how it handles power being turned off.

              If you can’t get NZ certified zigbee switches, what do you use for extending the zigbee range?

              Edit: I see the Phillips Hue ones use zigbee. Might try one but am really keen for the power usage monitoring.

              • eagleeyedtigerEnglish
                2·
                10 months ago

                I honestly don’t know. The only zigbee I use is Hue and all their lights/accessories work as zigbee repeaters. If I understand correctly the zigbee standard specifies for this.

                I had grand plans for adding both zigbee and zwave devices, which is why I started using Home Assistant. I bought a Conbee II dongle to use for zigbee, but I haven’t actually added anything to my system for quite awhile so I’m still using the Hue bridge.

                I don’t know if I would bother with the Hue plugs if you want power monitoring. The ones I have only get used for on/off functions. I was hoping there might be extra sensors exposed when added to HA, but it’s not the case. For example the hue motion sensors can give you light level, motion and temperature in HA.

                • DaveMA
                  2·
                  10 months ago

                  Thanks for the info. Sounds like the lights may be the best way for me to get zigbee through the house, it’s good to know they act as repeaters. I just looked up the lights and they seem to mostly be around $100 each 😮. Some $50 ones, I’ll have to see if they are suitable. Our house has a lot of lights, gotta weigh up some priorities 😆

                  • eagleeyedtigerEnglish
                    2·
                    10 months ago

                    We don’t have that many, mainly built up over time. A few of the white bulbs, sensors and plugs, ceiling light and the portable one for my eldest’s room. Our place isn’t that big though.

                    Bunnings/M10 both sell them so you can try for some price beats. Second hand bits can pop up in Trademe every once in awhile too.