Groups of (zigbee) lights

Configuration Zigbee
1

Hi,
I created a number of light groups in the configuration.yaml as it was instructed in one of the documents I read. But there is also a goups.yaml file.

What is exactly the difference between these two?

Thanks for your time!

2

One is a Zigbee-group i.e. one command only is required to control all group members.
Then there are groups (of lights or entities) in HA which you setup through the groups.yaml. The HA group is just for ease of handling but would still send a Zigbee command to each of the group members.
Just keep that in mind. Whenever it makes sense, create a Zigbee group

3

OK, clear. Thanks @anon94216691

4

i exclusively use wifi bulbs in by lights.group (s)

5

FYI; ZHA support “lights, switches, and fans” groups, most commonly used as light group for lightbulbs:

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha

“There is also support for grouping of lights, switches, and fans (i.e. support for commanding device groups as entities). At least two entities must be added to a group before the group entity is created. As well as support for binding/unbinding (i.e. bind a remote to a lightbulb or group).”

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#binding-and-unbinding

“Binding a remote directly to a bulb or group has the benefit of faster response time and smoother control. This greatly improves user feedback experience functions like dimming as the remote then directly dims the lightbulb and thus does not have to make the software roundtrip via the ZHA coordinator.”

3 Likes
6

Thanks. I just saw an old digyblur video on YouTube that explains this.

7

Sorry, I know this is an older topic but how do I a make a Zigbee group as opposed to a normal group of lights? I hadn’t realised that there was a difference.

Thanks,

Tom

8

That depends on your Zigbee stack. Do you use ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT?

9

Hi,
I’ve finally found it again, can’t believe it was staring me in the face. Unfortunately it’s not working properly I only seem to be able to add one device to a group and it won’t load the whole list of devices. It’s all through ZHA, though I am hoping to get Zigbee2MQTT working over the weekend.

10

I personally like Z2M much better than ZHA.
You will like it. Much nicer presentation level as well.