Level door lock?

Configuration
41

you must have meant to say Ring? Link if you have it for Nest.

For the Ring integration is it possible to use the ring bridge instead of the doorbell for the connection?

2 Likes
42

Still no sadly.

43

I’ve got a kludgey system working via Ring/Alexa/Node-Red that is similar to the HomeKit approache described above.

(1) Keep the lock-state in sync by having an Alexa routine that sets the status of a virtual switch installed via node-red-contrib-virtual-smart-home. Use Node-Red to sync that switch state with input_boolean device on Home Assistant.

(2) Use an alexa-media-player routine within Home Assistant to actually lock the Level.

(3) Unfortunately, alexa doesn’t actually allow you to unlock via routine. But it does allow you to unlock via voice if you use a confirmation code. Turns out that can work with the “custom” command of alexa-media-player with a two-second delay between the command “unlock [back/front] door” and the command “[four digit confirmation code]”

There’s definite lag, and I worry that it’s all going to fall apart if Amazon does anything to disable either the NodeRed-Alexa interaction or the AlexaMediaPlayer-Alexa interaction. But so far, so good.

44

Skug67,

Can you please elaborate on this? I’m interested in an Alexa-based solution.

45

I don’t know that there’s a whole lot of elaboration.

(1) (Google “node-red-contrib-virtual-smart-home” (as a noob, the forum dosn’t want me to insert a lot of links) for a node red plugin that creates a switch that can be controlled from Alexa.

(2) See (Please explain how to implement Input Booleans with Node Red - #7 by astone) Allows you to read/control a Home Assistant input_boolean from node-red

(3) custom-components/alexa_media_player: This is a custom component to allow control of Amazon Alexa devices in Home Assistant using the unofficial Alexa API. (github.com) Allows you to send commands to Alexa from Home Assistant as if they were spoken. (service = media_player.play_media, content-type = custom, content_id = ). If you tell it to lock your door, it just works. If you want it to unlock your door you need to send that command and then put a couple of second delay into your script, then tell it to speak your code (Alexa wants a spoken confirmation code to unlock the level), it seems to work just fine.

46

I just installed a Level Bolt and after striking out with Home-Assistant native and HomeBridge, I did the HomeKit<->Home-Assistant 4x automation trick as detailed by @Mikkaat, and it works like a charm. Best of all, it’s surprisingly fast. The door locks and unlocks just as quickly with HASS as with HomeKit - 2-3 seconds. Sometimes the Level app is faster, but it usually takes 6-8 seconds, including holding my finger on the phone.

Great job @Mikkaat. Thanks!!

1 Like
47

Thank you, but the thanks should go to @galligan and @kelvin.ng. All i did was ask a lot of detailed questions.

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48

I’m having the same confusion as you.
What did you do to “bring that switch over”?

49

i do not understand how someone can trust the lock of his house to a smart device, security wise. I am a tech oriented person and i would use tech all over my place to make my life easier, except the lock.

50

That’s what I said until some of the family started leaving the front door unlocked overnight and had to check it nightly. Though all the lucks kind of stink in my mind so haven’t committed to one.

51

If someone really wants into my house they’ll smash the glass right next to the lock, or if they’re smart, go behind the house and break a window where they’re less likely to be seen or heard. Since the Level Bolt is entirely inside the door, you can’t tell there’s a smart lock at all, so even a tech-savvy thief (who’s averse to shattering glass breaking :slight_smile: ) wouldn’t know it’s there to try to hack it. Plus, the fact that it’s BlueTooth means they’d have to be standing on my porch to even get started, where my security cameras would catch them and alert me. At that point, the window would probably look awfully tempting.

So yeah, it’s a risk, but as a network security professional I find it to be much smaller than other things and greatly outweighed by the convenience of not having to give a physical key to my neighbor, contractor, etc.

2 Likes
52

I guess each person has a level of comfort they are willing to accept, however as @jacix has stated, the strongest security point to his house (and coincidently mine and i suspect a lot more people as well) is any glass pane which can be overcome with any rock. At least with this lock in particular, it is hidden within the door itself, so you cannot see a keypad or thumbpad from the outside or inside and Bluetooth range is limited so the person would have to be close enough to compromise it that they would be picked up on cameras. Also it gives me the peace of mind that I can see my door is both closed and locked from any device including notification (have even configured a led to flash in my bedroom to signal when either the garage door is open or the front door is open OR unlocked and my alarm is armed). Although it may introduce a security concern (which i also had with my garage door), it also provides security benefits which outweigh the concern, for me that is.

53

What part are you having an issue with, maybe i can help…

54

I heard it said once that “locks only keep out the honest people”.

1 Like
55

Question was probably directed toward Robby but for me the big issue is HomeKit. Sounds like some have found ways to get around it but don’t think heavily documented. So I have HA running with Z-Wave connected to it. Do have some HomeKit devices but those are showing themselves I believe thru the Wi-Fi like my LG TV and EcoBee. Not sure how you are supposed to integrate this thing with the existing setup.

56
  • Can you see the Level Lock in your Apple Home app on your phone or ipad or mac (nothing to do with HA at this stage)? If yes, great, if no you will need to add it here first
  • Have you added Homekit integration (not Homekit Controller integration) to HA? If yes, great, If no, add that and make sure to select (I have) Input Boolean and Switch when configuring
  • I also have HomeKit Mode set to Bridge and Inclusion Mode set to Include

Hope this helps

57

I don’t even have the Level lock yet. Not until I figure out how to do this without needing like a HomePod Mini or something.

So based on your bullets, if you can add the lock to your iPhone without a HomePod, then what? Not sure I understand fully the Homekit integration but Home Assistant won’t be able to talk to the lock directly will it? Don’t tell me you need the phone to be available for it to work?

I’m thinking of trying the Danalock v3 as it has Z-Wave and may be an in between alternative.

58

Ok, understand now. You need to have a Homekit bridge/hub. For me this is a Homepod mini. You can also use a AppleTV 4k or iPad 9th gen or later (apparently other devices as well as per this page Best HomeKit hubs 2022 | iMore). I have added the Level Lock to Homekit using my homepod mini as my hub. from there, the rest of the config is as per the instructions above.

You are correct that HA cannot talk to LL directly, it communicates through Homekit. And yes, you need a Hub device (not a phone as it is not a hub device) always available to allow LL to connect to it and communicate to HA, which i guess is like any other HA to Hub to device communication like zigbee or z-wave.

From a quick look, the Danalock looks nice and not visible from outside which is a bonus. For me, I moved away from Z-Wave because i found it was flaky for my environment, but if you already have a Z-Wave hub, you should give this a go.

59

Thanks. Wish there could be a simple dongle to act as a Homekit hub like Z-Wave or Zigbee.

60

I implemented the Homekit proxy as proposed by @galligan and was pleased with the results. However, I had issues where the lock would jam or malfunction and had no way of knowing the house was left unlocked. So, I made a more robust implementation, albeit more complicated.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Set up a Helper switch that is a boolean toggle. I call this one Level Status
  2. Set up two momentary switches, one called Level Lock and one called Level unLock. You’ll need to install this package via HACS. Then add the following to your configuration.yaml:
switch:
  - platform: momentary
    name: Level Lock
    mode: on
    toggle_for: 5
    cancellable: True
  - platform: momentary
    name: Level unLock
    mode: on
    toggle_for: 5
    cancellable: True
  1. Create a Template Lock with the following in your configuration.yaml:
lock:
  - platform: template
    name: Level Smart Lock
    value_template: "{{ is_state('input_boolean.level_status', 'on') }}"
    lock:
      service: switch.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: switch.momentary_level_lock
    unlock:
      service: switch.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: switch.momentary_level_unlock
  1. Export all 3 entities to Homekit (Level Lock, Level unLock, and Level Status)
  2. Create automations in Homekit

image

They are as follows:

  • When Level Lock turns on, door locks
  • When Level unLock turns on, door unlocks
  • When door locks, turn on Level Status
  • When door unlocks, turn off Level Status
  1. Add the Level Smart Lock to your dashboard, and you should see the following:

image

Enjoy!

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