2022: Reliable Switchbot setup (without hub)?

Third party integrations
1

Hey everyone,

first post here, so please bear with me :slight_smile:

A bit of context: I’m currently trying out HA for various use cases, connecting devices, trying out automations, connecting services, etcetc. Once I have everything halfway figured out, I want to wipe the system and set it up again from scratch “clean”. Things I got going so far: basic system running on a raspberry pi 3 b+, conbee2, zigbee window switch and power outlet (radiator valve in the mail atm), telegram connection for outgoing notifications and incoming commands, and I’m halfway there to connect a co2 meter that can write to MQTT brokers. I can solder a bit as long as it’s not SMD, and I can write a bit of code if it’s not too complicated.

Now: to be able to toggle my heating system remotely, I would like to use a Switchbot to press the on/off button. I checked for other ways of interacting with the heating, but as the apartment is rented, I don’t want to interfer with the wiring etc.
I got a Switchbot here, it’s working quite reliably using the phone app, but the behaviour with HA is not usable atm. I can get it to work once or twice directly after adding the integration, but then it stops again. Also the entities and the dashboard representations of them don’t really make sense to me, as it gives “switch Switchbot on” and “switch Switchbot off” (instead of e.g. “toggle Switchbot” or “trigger Switchbot”). From reading a bit in the forum here and googling a bit more, it seems that in the current version(s) of HA the implementation/integration is buggy overall, and that some people had success with using an older config setup from their previous running versions (which I don’t have as I just started out). Another approach I saw was using an ESP32 as a MQTT gateway, etcetcetc.

Long story short: who here has a working switchbot setup running, and what does your setup look like?

I need a single switch, no hub, no other switchbot components, but it should be halfway reliable as it will control the overall heating here :slight_smile:

Thanks a lot in advance! :slight_smile:

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To highjack my own thread here a bit: after digging a bit more, could the issue be that the switchbot supports two modes (single press vs on/off), but the integration only supports on/off?

With the device_class set to “switch” in the “states” page, and the dashboard only providing a “power off” and “power off” icon and button set (and I was not able to find a way to change that), I’m now wondering: is there a way to set it to “button” or “push button”? “Toggle” is available as an action for automation, but not as an option when defining the dashboard tile.

Sorry if all of this sounds very mixed-up and beginner-style, I’m still working my way into this.

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I developed a switchbot mqtt implemetation using an ESP32 as a local bridge. Basically replaces the use of a switchbot hub and provides local control. You just need an ESP32 which are about $5-$10

very reliable. You will see that people have moved to this solution for the reliability

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/switchbot-bot-curtain-meter-contact-motion-mqtt-esp32-bridge-local-control

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Wow, although this was my first time using and setting up an ESP, this worked like a charm. Thanks a lot! Ended up using the Arduino version.

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