I have a 3 storey house currently being gutted and have been studying homey. So far I am getting conflicting answers (or I am not understanding things right - if so, please correct me)
I wish to cover the entire house in hue bulbs, (about 130). I understand I will need at least 3 hue bridges for this. In addition, I intend to get about 20 iotty 3 gang switches with which to physically control the lighting as well. On top of that, will probably install a doorbird (for controlling of the car gate).
Now, my understanding is that homey can support let’s say 30-40 devices.
IF I have 40 bulbs per bridge (for a total of 3 bridges) with 20 light switches and 1 doorbird, am I correct to say I have a total of 24 devices (plus homey itself, so 25 devices) on 1 homey and that should be sufficient? If I wish to turn on all the lights across the entire house and all 3 floors (ie set a scene of turning everything to 100%) that this will work seamlessly?
Else, the other proposal I am getting is;
use 120 innr bulbs (since no bridge required and should be “faster”)
use doorbird
use the 20 iotty switches
have 3 homeys to control everything
does anyone have any advice on the above 2 scenarios? I am leaning more towards scenario 1 at the moment and would appreciate the advice!
The amount of devices on 1 bridge is as you mention 50 devices. 3 bridges will be sufficient. 1 Homey is enough because it has no device limitation, no other than the used protocol has. Zigbee > 1000 Zwave > 250.
Hue with Homey has a slight slower reaction time. I have some bulbs that work direct with philips hue app and they react a little bit quicker than the hue bulbs i operate with homey. For this problem(but actually not really) I bought some cheap xiaomi aqara zigbee door sensors. That way the reaction time for turning on the lights is just a bit better and almost as quick as directly.
I dont’t have innr bulbs but I like to buy from the leading party. I also do like the temperature of philips white colour.
The iotty switches look very very nice. They are not Homey supported. I would reconsider if this is what you want. I don’t like the fact is has no zwave or zigbee protocol. If wifi is down how will those devices react? The app seemed to be a bit buggy as I read on the internet. Maybe there are better solutions for this, but I do like the design what made me to consider iotty myself. I am also looking for a physical smart light switch.
hmmm for the iotty switches my understanding is that they can still work as physical switches since my electrician is still wiring the lights to the switches. (a couple to a switch since i told them a physical switch is still required).
am aware of the lack of zwave etc, but unfortunately, my architect couldnt live with some of the options presented by the electrician and these iotty switches were the only ones the architect actually approved …lol.
im not sure how much latency is there, are we talking 1-2 seconds from a button press when say turning on the lights, or are we talking abt 5-10 seconds?
how exactly does the xiaomi sensor expedite the lights though? for example my living / dining room is a big space with no door, so i assume that xiaomi door sensor wont work …? (sorry if its a noob question, ive literally just started all this home automation discussions over the last 2-3 weeks)
The iotty switches do look very nice, and of your architect point I understand his choice. On the other hand besides homey I myself also use some apps homey does not or does not support the way I want. For instance Nest Hello, is supported but will in future maybe unsupported. I do not have a reason to switch to another brand because of that, it works!
The latency is 1-5 seconds. Meaning mostly about 2-3 seconds. For me this is good enough. Did buy the door sensors for the reason that every motion sensor needs time to react. A doorsensor overcomes this problem. And yes you need a door for this👍. So without a door you need a motion sensor.
I’m in the process of building a 3 storey house as well, so I’ve been testing and planning a variety of brand and protocol for the past year.
For your light switch, why not just go with a traditional light switch and add Fibaro relay switch to it? I’ve been running this setup for over 1 year now with absolutely ZERO issue , less than 0.5 second latency whether you turn it on via Homey, Apple Home or triggered by Aqara zigbee/ Fibaro motion sensor.
Another option is Xiaomi/ Aqara Zigbee switch relay at half the cost of Fibaro which I have one on the way haven’t tested, the catch is it is not currently supported in the Aqara homey app, but I remember seeing @TedTolboom mention if there are enough people interested, he might add support to it.
This way, you will have no latency issues, more choice on light switch style and both relay can act as repeater which is a big plus considering your house is 3 storey.
