Paid Consultants for Home Security Platform?

jesse01 · July 8, 2021, 5:25pm

Hi All,

I am wondering if there are people on here who do side work/configurations for home assistant? I am not new to home automation and have known about HA for years, but I am working on setting up my first one and it has been a little challenging. It will likely be a small paid gig, but money is money, right?

Here is the background:

My primary use for HA right now will be a DIY home alarm.
I have already done a lot of the work, but cant seem to get some things to work correctly.
It will likely involve basic scripts, automations, and scenes, which I have created but they aren’t all working in harmony when the alarm is triggered.
Lastly, I am interested in learning HOW you fixed it so being willing to explain to me what you did, why, and how is important.

If this is something you can do, or you know someone who can help me do it, please write me back.

Jesse

AllHailJ · July 8, 2021, 6:27pm

If you provide more detail and ask for help you will most likely resolve your problems without having a small job. I use DSC interfaced through an IT-100 and then interfaced to HA. The serial port is made to look like an envisalink. The integration is available on-line.

I wouldn’t feel right about charging money as too many people have helped me free of charge. I understand if you have security concerns and would like to keep it private.

Regards

GSzabados · July 9, 2021, 12:36am

What is your idea? And what is failing? What are you using as basics of the DIY Alarm? Alarmo by any chance? Or have you got a proprietary alarm installed and interfaced with HA, like the Satel Integra?

jesse01 · July 9, 2021, 6:28pm

Hi there,

Thank you very much for the advice. I posted for help earlier in the week, got some views, but no one responded.

I should have been a bit more clear about the alarm setup. I am planning to do this via the digital alarm home panel add on (entity: alarm_control_panel.alarm).

The alarm will be all smart devices, not tied to an existing or legacy hardwired unit. It is really just automation and script logic to trigger existing smart devices (lights, door sensor, camera, and motion sensor).

jesse01 · July 9, 2021, 6:37pm

Hello,
I am not using an existing or legacy alarm panel or system.

I am looking to use the digital alarm home panel add on (entity: alarm_control_panel.alarm) and then create automations for my existing smart devices (lights, door sensor, camera, siren, and motion sensor). Like I said, it is probably something basic that is wrong, I have been looking/troubleshooting and just cant seem to figure it out.

Here is the gist:
I am looking to alarm ONE door (the rest of my doors and windows have bars on them – I live in Las Vegas so that is common). The one door is my back French doors. I have a smart door sensor that works with HA, and an indoor Ring camera that has a motion sensor and siren built in, all compatible with HA. I also have two smart light switches that I want to flash when the alarm goes off.

So, without the alarm control panel code in my config file, I can get the ring siren to trigger if it detects motion (I have tested this by walking in/by the door). But, if I add the alarm coding back and add it to the automation, I will get an app notification (which I set up as part of the automation) but the Ring siren will not go off. So, it kinda works and kinda doesn’t.

I also cant get the light loop script to work.

I hope this helps clarify.

AllHailJ · July 9, 2021, 7:48pm

Do you have any automations that you have tried? If yes would you please post the formatted YAML code.
Do you know how to group entities like lights, door sensors,camera. This will reduce the number of automations you need.

Here is an example of how I set up my groups:

In configuration.yaml I added the following line of code to include a file called groups.yaml

group:  !include groups.yaml

My groups.yaml looks like this (I chose 3 entities but you can have as many as you need:

#My Security Groups
  alarm_doors:
    name: Doors that are monitored
    entities:
      - binary_sensor.comm_closet_door_sensor_door_window
      - binary_sensor.garage_entry_door
      - sensor.mechanical_room_door_sensor_access_control_door_state_3
  alarm_windows:
     name: Windows that are monitored
     entities:
       - binary_sensor.mil_suite_window
       - binary_sensor.owner_sitting_area_window
       - binary_sensor.owner_sleeping_area_window

Do you know how to use helpers? This can help you accomplish automations easier

As an example lets pick an automation and write out what we want the automation to do. This is just text so we have the triggers, conditions and actions clearly defined.

Trigger: A monitored door is opened
Condition: Alarm is not disarmed
Action: Activate alarm, send message

The following is the automation I wrote for the above:

- id: '1625859056723'
  alias: 00 - Trigger Alarm
  description: Trigger Alarm when door or window is opened
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: group.alarm_doors
    from: Closed
    to: Open
  - platform: state
    entity_id: group.alarm_windows
    from: Closed
    to: Open
  condition:
  - condition: not
    conditions:
    - condition: state
      entity_id: alarm_control_panel.home_alarm
      state: disarmed
  action:
  - type: turn_on
    device_id: 13c1dce685aec1038f55154b4afd06ee
    entity_id: switch.smart_chime_alarm_current_value
    domain: switch
  mode: single

So the trigger is OR. if windows or doors go from closed to open

Conditions are AND. Alarm is not disarmed

Action is: Turn on the siren

If you have the hardware installed please share your trials at group and automations. Feedback can then be given to help you get things working. Remember YAML is turing complete so it is a programming language wrapping the configuration.

Regards

123 · July 9, 2021, 8:20pm

An entity’s state value is what is displayed in Developer Tools > States and not what is shown in the Lovelace UI which may be different due to the entity’s device_class

For example, I have a group of doors (binary_sensors whose device_class is door) and the group’s state value is onor off (as seen in Developer Tools > States). It’s displayed as Open and Closed in the UI but that’s not what should be used in a State Trigger.

When you look at group.alarm_doors in Developer Tools > States, what does it show as its state value?

jesse01 · July 9, 2021, 9:49pm

Hello,

Thank you for the tip about groups, i’ll look into doing that. For now, I’ll share with you what I have.

Here is my config.yaml file. It is very basic right now.

default_config:

http:
  ssl_certificate: /ssl/fullchain.pem
  ssl_key: /ssl/privkey.pem

alarm_control_panel:
  - platform: manual
    name: Home Alarm
    code: "1234"
    arming_time: 5
    delay_time: 1
    trigger_time: 5
    disarmed:
      trigger_time: 0
    armed_home:
      arming_time: 0
      delay_time: 0

# Text to speech
tts:
  - platform: google_translate

sonoff:
  username: removed
  password: removed

group: !include groups.yaml
automation: !include automations.yaml
script: !include scripts.yaml

Here is my automations script:

- id: '1625507632146'
  alias: 'Alarm: Siren activated when armed and motion detected'
  description: Alarm sounds when motion is detected and alarm is armed
  trigger:
  - type: motion
    platform: device
    device_id: b454ccc10b861b1cf6decf95e68666c6
    entity_id: binary_sensor.living_room_motion
    domain: binary_sensor
  condition:
  - condition: state
    entity_id: alarm_control_panel.home_alarm
    state: arm_away
  action:
  - type: turn_on
    device_id: b454ccc10b861b1cf6decf95e68666c6
    entity_id: switch.living_room_siren
    domain: switch
  - service: notify.mobile_app_jesse_s_phone
    data:
      message: ALARM! INTRUDE ALERT! Motion detected!
  - service: script.alarm_flashing_lights
  mode: single
- id: '1625511420567'
  alias: 'Alarm: Disarm'
  description: ''
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: alarm_control_panel.home_alarm
    from: arm_away
    to: disarm
  condition: []
  action:
  - type: turn_off
    device_id: b454ccc10b861b1cf6decf95e68666c6
    entity_id: switch.living_room_siren
    domain: switch
  mode: single

Now, if I remove the alarm panel from the config file and remove the alarm panel state from the automations file as a condition, and then i walk in front of the camera, the siren will sound and ill get my notification via the app. But, if i add the alarm back into the config and add it as a condition and then arm the alarm, the siren wont sound but i’ll still get the notification via the app. Its like it skips the siren part.

I also cant get the light loop script to work, but that is another issue.

Thank you for any help you can provide, and if you cant, no worries.

jesse01 · July 9, 2021, 9:50pm

Also, sorry. I dont know how to paste script to this forum like you did above.

paddy0174 · July 9, 2021, 9:56pm

Take a look here: How to help us help you - or How to ask a good question

Not meant as critic, just because you asked for.

jesse01 · July 9, 2021, 10:08pm

Awesome! Got it, thank you!

GSzabados · July 9, 2021, 10:22pm

Why are you not giving this a try? All basic alarm functions are wrapped into this.

nickrout · July 9, 2021, 10:45pm

Perhaps because in your other post you didn’t quote your code properly.

jesse01 · July 9, 2021, 10:55pm

hanks for the suggestion, maybe i’ll give this a try tonight. I only worry that it is in beta and it says ‘may cause headaches and bugging’ lol. but, it looks pretty promising.

GSzabados · July 9, 2021, 11:09pm

In this platform many thing is in beta…

And of course just an update from version x to y can cause headaches. Just look at the latest release’s topic…

It is a nicely wrapped solution, with most of the options what you need. If something is missing, then you can build the Automations as well. It just adds a good starting point for your alarm idea. And reading the comments you can get more ideas what you might want to implement as well.

aidbish · July 9, 2021, 11:22pm

been using it since it was first introduced, never had an issue with it.

paddy0174 · July 9, 2021, 11:45pm

Look around, in these challenging times the whole world seems to be in beta state…

jesse01 · July 10, 2021, 1:32am

lol okay okay, you sold me. I’ll give it a go. Thanks everyone. I’ll let you all know how it goes

paddy0174 · July 10, 2021, 1:34am

Don’t forget to make a backup before you start, so if something goes wrong, you can easily go back. You never know…

squirtbrnr · July 10, 2021, 3:12am

EDIT: You’re not actually changing the state of your alarm panel with that automation. You’re doing actions based on the state and a trigger, but not actually triggering the alarm.

I use the built-in alarm control panel in HA daily. My automations/scripts are built around the alarm states. One thing I did is decoupled the actions and stuff I want to happen from the actual alarm states and trigger. Here’s some of the automations I use. You’ll see a couple just set the state of the alarm, and a few others simply run a script of actions based on the state of the alarm. I use scripts instead of just automation actions because I wanted to be able to stop the actions quickly and easily/efficiently. turning off a script is easier in my mind than trying to stop an automation and abort any actions. I think I got this layout of automations from either the HA cookbook of automations, or the Alarm Control Panel docs page.

  - id: enable_alarm_away
    alias: 'Enable Alarm Away'
    trigger:
      - platform: zone
        entity_id:
          - person.b
          - person.r
        zone: zone.home
        event: leave
      - platform: state
        entity_id: sensor.garage_door_lock_alarm_type
        to:
          - '18'
          - '21'
    condition:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
        state: 'disarmed'
      - condition: state
        entity_id: input_select.home_preset
        state: 'Home Alone'
      - condition: not
        conditions:
          - condition: state
            entity_id: person.b
            state: home
      - condition: not
        conditions:
          - condition: state
            entity_id: person.r
            state: home
    action:
      - service: alarm_control_panel.alarm_arm_away
        data:
          entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
          code: !secret alarm_code
  - id: alarm_armed_actions
    alias: 'Alarm Armed Actions'
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
        from: 'disarmed'
    action:
      - service: script.turn_on
        entity_id: script.alarm_armed_actions
  - id: alarm_disarmed_actions
    alias: 'Alarm Disarmed Actions'
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
        to: 'disarmed'
    action:
      - service: script.turn_on
        entity_id: script.alarm_disarmed_actions
  - id: alarm_armed_actions
    alias: 'Alarm Armed Actions'
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
        from: 'disarmed'
    action:
      - service: script.turn_on
        entity_id: script.alarm_armed_actions
  - id: alarm_away_trigger
    alias: 'Alarm Away Trigger'
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id:
          - binary_sensor.back_door_sensor
          - binary_sensor.exterior_door_sensor
          - binary_sensor.front_door_sensor
          - binary_sensor.mudroom_door_sensor
          - binary_sensor.living_room_motion_detector_sensor
          - binary_sensor.mudroom_motion_detector_sensor
#          - binary_sensor.upstairs_motion_detector_sensor
        to: 'on'
      - platform: state
        entity_id: sensor.garage_door_lock_alarm_type
        to: '22'
    condition:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
        state: 'armed_away'
    action:
      - service: alarm_control_panel.alarm_trigger
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm  
      - service: notify.users
        data:
          title: Alarm Triggered!
          message: "{{ now().strftime('%-m/%d/%Y-%-H:%M:%S') }} {{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}!"
          data:
            push:
              sound:
                name: 'alarm_long.wav'
                critical: 1
                volume: 1.0
  - id: alarm_triggered_actions
    alias: 'Alarm Triggered Actions'
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
        to: 'triggered'
    action:
      - service: script.turn_on
        entity_id: script.alarm_triggered_actions
  - id: alarm_reset
    alias: 'Alarm Reset'
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
        from: 'triggered'
    action:
      - service: script.turn_on
        entity_id: script.camera_snapshot
      - service: notify.users
        data:
          title: Alarm Cleared
          message: "{{ now().strftime('%-m/%d/%Y-%H:%M:%S') }}"
      - service: switch.turn_off
        entity_id: switch.siren_switch
      - service: script.turn_off
        entity_id: script.alarm_triggered_actions
  - id: alarm_arm_cancel
    alias: 'Alarm Arm Cancel'
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
        from: 'arming'
        to: 'disarmed'
    action:
      - service: script.turn_off
        entity_id: script.alarm_armed_actions