As the title suggests, are there any good and cheap IR devices I can use to control my AC and fans? I had a Tado that works well but is quite expensive. I also have an older Sensibo which is also a bit pricey.
Anyone knows of a cheap solution that integrates well with HA and can learn a few IR commands from existing remotes?
The Broadlink RM4 Pro is one of the more common ones that work with HA that is usually recommended and its not too expensive.
Thanks! I see a few on my local Amazon. Any idea if you need one per room to control fan And AC or one for each device?
Just one per room.
If you only need IR (and not RF) then the Broadlink RM4 Mini is a cheaper option.
DIY with wemos d1 mini + ir shield - flash with tasmota and use irhvac (hacs). Also updates your ac state if someone uses the physical remote so it stays in sync.
You can still add a bunch sensors later (light, mmwave, temp/humidity)
Broadlink mini - Works just fine but doesn’t update ac state from physical remote.
So I bought RM4C Pro and the first thing I needed to do was download the iPhone app and then connect the RM4 to my network. In the setup process, it also created an account for me nd synced it to the US server. Once the device was set up, I had it learn a command through an RF remote and that worked.
Now coming to HA, the device was found and added. Two questions.
How can I stop the RM4 from connecting to an external server outside home and sending data. The idea behind setting up HA was to keep things local.
How can I import the learnt RF remote option from RM4 into HA to be able to use it how I’d like. Ideally, I’d like to be able to tell Alexa a command and have it execute the button press.
As far as I know you can’t flash Broadlink devices with your own firmware.
If you wanted local control then you bought the wrong device.
As Shaq said above, an ESP based device is local and most likely cheaper too.
Or was it RF remote you had?
You say RF in #2.
block it’s internet connection in your router or put it on a blocked VLAN
I use SmartIR (linked above) for my Broadlinks and this will provide you with a ‘learn’ service call you can run to get the codes from your remotes. Once you get the codes, you paste them into a JSON file for use. It sounds a little complicated but it’s actually very easy. There are a bunch of premade JSON files in the Github repo which may cover your device in which the work is already done for you.
As per the comment from Hellis81 above, you need to make up your mind as to whether you are using IR or RF because SmartIR is for, well IR.
I want to control multiple devices—almost all are IR, but one in my home is RF. I went with CM4 Pro because someone suggested it can do both IR and RF.
These devices are pretty cheap, and I don’t mind buying an additional one so the current one is exclusively handling RF while the other ones can handle the IR devices scattered around my house.
While the name suggests otherwise, can SmartIR also work with RF devices? The RM4 Pro I bought managed to recognize and make my RF device work so I’m guessing it might have some config stored that knows the codes to my remote?
The RM4 can also integrate with Alexa so I could potentially leave this one with access to the Cloud so if HA can’t work with RF, then just have this but working on my single RF device.
Option 1 sounds awesome but i wouldn’t trust my DIY skills. Is there any readymade solution with this hardware?
Well, you could build your own using breadboard with this circuit
I’ve seen some other open source hardware but they’re even more expensive than broadlink
It’s also easier if you have heat gun. Apply some solder paste to the pins, blast em with some hot air and they’ll get soldered within a few seconds
There are pre built devices like Shaq says.
They are ESP8285 with IR.
https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-esp8285-ir-transceiver.html
I have one of those at home and they work fine.
Have not tried the software Shaq mentions though.
Keep in mind these need extra hardware to flash.
If you don’t have it then you need to buy that too. (They are also very cheap).
Right, I also have this one I think the only issue was the range isn’t as great like the d1 mini. Unless you place it close enough to the ac, I need to test this again
I was looking at the kc868 that’s around $50
