Home Assistant on HomeMatic CCU3

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Hi!

I want to start with some “smart home” devices. I got the Hormann gateway and already bought the HmIP-MOD-HO addon to send signals. So now I need to either get the CCU3 or raspberry with raspberrymatic to control the gateway.

The Home Assistant looks very promising with a tons of integrations, giving an opportunity to integrate different brands etc., so for future expand makes more sense to have it as well.

The question is: Is it possible to launch it on HomeMatic CCU3 directly? AFAIK the CCU3 has pi3 under the hood, so everything should be good :grinning:
As the pi3 (or raspberry in general) is pretty short in stock, it’s easier/cheaper for me to get some used CCU3 and host HA on that (for the pi3 I’d need to buy radio module, so it’s another expense).

Thanks for the responses in advance!

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I have the CCU3, and I had Home Assistant running on a Pi 3 for a while as well.
I’d advise you against buying either of them, I mostly regret the purchase of the CCU3. The CCU3 is too expensive and the Pi3 is too slow to give you a nice Home Automation experience with Home Assistant.
The automations, scripts, integration will work just fine, however everything with a bit of a CPU load will cause pain.
For example, restarts, backups, updates will take minutes instead of seconds.

Take a look at this table here: Einleitung · jens-maus/RaspberryMatic Wiki · GitHub
If you don’t speak german, throw it into a translator.
The simplest and cheapest Homematic(+IP) gateway is the USB Stick, HmIP-RFUSB.
Otherwise, get a RPI-RF-MOD and a HB-RF-USB-2.

As for running Home Assistant and Homematic/RaspberryMatic (preferred), I’d suggest a VM (that’s what I’m currently running) if you have a server or an old laptop (upside: integrated UPS!) you can spare.
RaspberryMatic will run in a container inside Home Assistant OS, this is officially supported as well :slight_smile:
Otherwise, an Intel NUC will give you great performance as well.

You can DM me in german as well if that’s easier :slight_smile:

Also, welcome to the community :partying_face:

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Hey @fedot thanks for sharing!

Unfortunately I don’t have any old laptop that could work as a hardware, so I’m willing to buy something to host the HA.

I was thinking about the CCU3 as I can get that as cheap as ~55 EUR, so the pi 3 in similar price (both used). But for the pi3 I need the radio module ( RPI-RF-MOD) which is another 40+ EUR (plus requires some soldering :grinning: ).

So is there any other hardware that’s worth checking for hosting HA? Pi4 (2GB or needs 4GB)?
Those Intel NUC are in tons of different specs, so it’d be good to know the min hardware that would run it smoothly :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Looking at PI prices, really I might look for some used laptop with 8gb ram and getting the HmIP-RFUSB to connect to gateway addon :thinking:

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Pi4 with 4GB should wo well too. However the SD card is gonna restrict your I/O, so you’d want a USB SSD, at which point you could get a used laptop too.
As for NUCs, it doesn’t really matter, an old i3 with a SSD is gonna be worlds beyond anything you’d accomplish with a Raspberry Pi.
Compare the price to a used laptop you can get your hands on, but really anything with a x86 architecture from the last 10 years is gonna do just fine.
If getting a CCU3 is cheaper than the USB+Radio module, then go for it. It’s mainly the price that’s an issue there, the hardware is fine. My CCU3 came with a really bad SD card however (Read/Write < 10MB/s), so I’d advise you to get a fast SD card, 16GB will do just fine and won’t be too expensive.

I have a CCU3 as well with RaspberryMatic installed, that works just fine. Once I’ve swapped out the SD card, updates don’t take 1h anymore. :laughing:

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Hey, thanks for the reply.

But what You meant by USB + Radio module?

If getting a CCU3 is cheaper than the USB+Radio module, then go for it.

The USB has built in radio, right :smiley: ?

Anyway, I think You helped me to take the decision which hardware should I go and now I’m looking for some Intel NUC or refurbished laptop/SFF (plus this USB ofc).

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Yes, the USB-Stick on top of the table has a built in module, be sure to get it from ELV if you want it, since there are some sticks flying around from the Deutsche Telekom with limited functionality.
I meant the linked products, basically a USB adapter for the GPIO shield, but that’s probably more than 55€ combined if you can get a CCU3 for that price.

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Well I decided to go with the USB stick and getting some used latpop/NUC, which would be more expensive but providing smoothier experience (at least I hope so :smiley:).
So firstly, I’m getting the USB to play around and in the meantime getting the hardware :smiley:

I found that one works:

Delivery from ELV is pretty long

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@fedot Thx for helping :slight_smile:

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Be aware that the product you’ve linked is the Telekom OEM Version which ONLY supports the HmIP radio protocol, not Homematic.

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That’s OK, I need to only control one HmIP-MOD-HO for my gateway (maybe second one for garage door in future). So surely fits my needs :wink:

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Dear fedot (deutsche Version bitte s. unten!)
Would it be possible that you write me a PN so that we can communicate directly and in German? I am still too “young” in this forum and may not yet write to you.

I am an (enthusiastic!) beginner with Homeassistant and have corresponding questions. I have not been too lazy to do my own research but I am worried that I am putting things in a wrong context to the timeline.

Very briefly the actual state:

  • Homeassistant is running on Raspi 3 on a trial basis (performance super ok so far!)
  • Our house is “smart” with a CCU3 and connected Homematic and HomematicIP devices (light switches, dimmers, heating sensors and actuators, …)

Target state:

  • Implementation of all Homematic and HomematicIP devices in HA and their evaluation and control / automation.

Premise and question(s):
I would like to keep the CCU running as it is. Not because I think it’s great, but because I don’t have the drive to completely re-teach dozens of actuators and sensors to a Raspberrymatic (I would have to open boxes for new pairing etc…). EXCEPT of course I can make a migration of “all data” from the CCU3 and would not have to relearn anything.
I found old instructions where it was possible to connect the CCU3 directly to HA. But this integration is outdated and no longer supported. Otherwise, I find only the detour via Raspberrymatic OR plugging the wireless modules to the Raspi, which also runs HA. But this solution is not feasible for me: Our house is “big”, the Raspi with HA is in the basement in the server room at the switch, the CCU3 on the ground floor via LAN. It is positioned so that it can (almost always) reach all devices in the house.

Sorry for all the text! You see but I would be hot on the matter and am willing :wink: Maybe you can support me a little, if you have time? Thanks a lot!

----------german original version below--------------

Wäre es möglich, dass Du mir eine PN schreibst damit wir direkt und auf deutsch kommunizieren können? Ich bin noch zu “jung” in diesem Forum dabei und darf Dir noch nicht schreiben.

Ich bin (begeisterter!) Anfänger mit Homeassistant und habe dementsprechende Fragen. Ich bin auch nicht zu faul gewesen, selbst zu recherchieren aber ich habe Sorge, dass ich da Sachen bzgl. der Umsetzbarkeit in einem falschen Kontext zur Zeitachse setze.

Ganz kurz der Istzustand:

  • Homeassistant läuft probeweise auf Raspi 3 (Performance super ok bisher!)
  • Unser Haus ist “smart” mit einer CCU3 und daran verbundenen Homematic und HomematicIP Geräten (Lichtschalter, Dimmer, Heizungssensoren und Aktoren, …)

Sollzustand:

  • Implementierung aller Homematic und HomematicIP Geräte in HA und deren Auswertung und Ansteuerung / Automatisierung

Prämisse und Frage(n):
Ich würde gerne die CCU so weiterlaufen lassen, wie sie ist. Nicht weil ich sie toll finde, sondern weil ich keinen Drive habe, dutzende Aktoren und Sensoren komplett neu an eine Raspberrymatic anzulernen (ich müsste Dosen öffnen fürs neue Pairing usw…). AUSSER natürlich ich kann von der CCU3 eine Migration “aller Daten” machen und müsste nichts neu anlernen.
Ich habe alte Anleitungen gefunden, wo es möglich war, die CCU3 direkt an HA anzubinden. Diese Integration ist aber veraltet und wird nicht mehr unterstützt. Ansonsten finde ich nur den Umweg über Raspberrymatic ODER das Anstecken der Funkmodule an den Raspi, auf dem auch HA läuft. Diese Lösung ist bei mir aber nicht machbar: Unser Haus ist “groß”, der Raspi mit HA steckt im Keller im Serverraum am Switch, die CCU3 im EG via LAN. Dabei ist sie so positioniert, dass sie (so gut wie immer) alle Devices im Haus erreichen kann.

Sorry, für den vielen Text! Du siehst aber ich wäre heiss auf die Sache und bin willig :wink: Vielleicht kannst Du mich ein wenig unterstützen, wenn Du Zeit hast? Vielen Dank!

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Just install the new integration according to the documentation. But instead of entering the hostname / IP of RaspberryMatic you enter the IP + credentials of your CCU. It doesn’t matter if it’s running on the same machine as Home Assistant.

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Dear Daniel,

this is “mega-klasse”!!! Thank you very much for your answer and this wonderful solution! It works very fine!!!

It is beyond me why this / your solution is not much more known on the web and on YT. I hope the development on this integration continues and I can still use it in the future.

Another layman question: I have seen in the repository that there is since 11 hours already again a fresh update (1.30.2) for this integration. Where in the Homeassistant can I find the “update button” for this integration to stay up to date?

Besten Dank und weiter so,
CU Franz