Im starting my Home Assistance journey. Will start controlling the HVAC units in my house, but was interested on presence sensors, but I seen a few but not sure with is the way to go... Any tips will be highly appreciated. I have 6 LG Fancoils that ill control thru Feather s3...seen sensors from Sckreek, and also from AQARA FP2, price is big difference, between them ... any help highly appreciated Thanks .!!
If you are actually just starting out with HA, do not start with HVAC.
As you are just starting out I advise to invest in presence and other sensors with cable power options where you need them placed in the home where possible so that you don't have to worry about replacing batteries every few years when its time.
If there are devices that are only battery powered at the time that you still want to use them you can invest in battery eliminator cables that have the type and voltage needed for those devices.
As for HVAC there are video's online you can look to for general idea's and advice for the type of setup you have to work with.
I have a fujistu AC unit here myself that is controlled through the FGLair heat pump controller integration since it came with the FGlair app and is a WiFi capable unit (if fujitsu kill off the app and the api then IR control is what I will have to move to). I control it more with the current area and in home temperature states and turn it on and off based on the cost of power from my provider.
So in your case you would just see if there is an integration available for your brand and model and go from there.
i installed other systems for many year, in my business, but want to do something different more open this time.
I have cat 6 cables in every room , near 30 cm beneath ceiling and also have on the ceiling.. power outlet I dont have only for the shades motor..
Twisted pair cables can carry power too, but it is advanced to look at Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices, so you do not have to fight with power injectors.
When it comes to presence detection, then there is PIR, which is fast to detect movement, but bad at detection small movements.
There is also mmWave, which is slower to react to movements, but can often even detect to rise of a chest on a breathing person.
PIR can run on batteries while mmWave will eat batteries too fast to be useful.
I would not go for batteries in any of the two types.
Some devices combine both methods, but beware of features, such as zones, which might be cloud and/or vendor app only.
Generally speaking avoid all cloud based devices as much as possible. Not always but can be avoided for most of devices. Built it as much as possible on local control only, preferably use zigbee or esphome as this doesn't need internet access to operate.
Everything else put in VLANs with client isolation and strickt firewall rules for communication with your main lan or home assistant. Also using local dns for everything would be very helpfull.
I know that this is easier to write then to do, but thinking ahead can save you a lot of time, energy and money.
Luckily for you, you can get battery powered motors which also have an additional small solar panel. I suggest you go with Zigbee ones since they consume much less battery than wifi, meaning the solar panel will be able to charge them basically forever.
Avoid VLANs unless you are a routing master.
Especially avoid anybody suggesting VLANs and firewalls in the same sentence. They have not understood routing and will lead you down the path for chaos.
I mean I only have power outlets, for shades.. not for other sensors in ceiling area..
Im good at networking is part of my day to day, but ill use Z-wave for lighting in the future, currently have Radio Ra 2 installed , and its still working but is 12 years old already. ..
Ah, gotcha. I thought it was the other way round.
Depending on your country's wiring standards (and your access to the ceiling), you should be able to find a Live + Neutral wire at the ceiling rose which you can use to power those sensors. If not, pulling a permanent live from your nearest switch to the ceiling shouldn't be too much of a hassle.
I do not know you, but many way they are good at networking, but they fail at routing and think they can fix stuff with firewall rules.
so from what im understanding, better to run the sensor with 110V instead of the POE..
Here we go again.
I'm not routing master, I don't have any formal it education and I don't work as it anything.
If I was able to do it using opnsense and openwrt so any guy next to me probably can.
As you are not using VLANs on your home setup it is your decision that you force to be a general rule of thumb.
Using smart home or generally running your local network without VLANs and dedicated firewall rules is kind of wishful thinking that everything will be fine.
And the end of the day, its anyone decision how will it set up it's own network.
I can use VLANs.
My entire network setup is Enterprise grade, but I know the workload such a setup will require.
I also use firewalls, but it is an extra layer on top of the routing tables, and the last thing that is applied, when everything else is running.
Your setup might work for you now, but if you have not handled your broadcast traffic that needs to routed and understand the complications in those routings, then I will say your recommendation to use VLAN is a truly bad advice.
IoT relies heavily on discovery protocols and discovery protocols relies heavily on broadcasts.
VLANs are for setups where you have a single host that can configure them else you are best to just have isolated physical networks via a dedicated router and switch setup.
All that matters its to separate your IoT and Guest Network items from your internal network for security reasons.
It is also something easier to setup when you have hosting devices with 2 or more nics, one for internal access and one for that isolated network you need it on to see those devices to control them.
No, I'm not saying that. However most ceiling mount mmwave sensors (the kind that sit flush in your ceiling) will require AC voltage. Apart from the DIY stuff, the only mmwave sensor I know which takes PoE & can be installed flush in a ceiling is the Everything Presence Pro, and that requires a separate 3D print for the ceiling enclosure.
What I'm saying is to leave both options (AC or PoE) open until you decide on a sensor you like.
Yeah I'll do that in case I want to add something either way in the future!! Thanks @ShadowFist
My current Setup use VLAN, and im familiarized with it , just that im taking the video distribution thru ip out of my new setup.. But thanks anyway for the head ups!!