I currently have a 1500 square foot 3 floor home with full wired and wireless network using VLAN’s and Home Assistant docker running on a 24/7 unRaid server. I currently have a number of Kasa WiFi switches and outlets in the system and would like to look at converting to Z-Wave for lighting control but have a couple of complications. There are 3 BLE ceiling fans with integrated lights that I would like to convert to Z-Wave control but haven’t figured out a simple way to accomplish this. I am also wondering if a standalone HA server would be better than running on the unRaid server?
There are two primary benefits of using standalone hardware.
- It’s easier to incorporate USB dongles (like for Z-Wave, Zigbee, etc).
- You have access to the Apps Store for HA, which makes extending functionality easier.
These are both overcomable on Docker, but they can be challenging and require a higher level of technical expertise. These two things are the reason I move from Docker on Synology to a HA Yellow (not available anymore, but the HA Green is).
One of the huge benefits of HA is its ability to integrate with many different device types and protocols. So if your existing WiFi and BLE devices are working ok, there’s no reason (at least from HA’s point of view) to convert them Z-Wave.
Not that there’s anything wrong with Z-Wave! Just saying you don’t need to get all your devices on the same protocol unless you want to. HA can happily talk to WiFi, BLE, and Z-Wave devices at the same time.
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I have the HA docker working fine, the main reason for looking at standalone is if I sell my house I can leave the HA but the server will leave with me so all the automation is gone with out a new controller.
I am thinking of Z-Wave as I would like to add more devices to HA and feel that I may get too much WiFi congestion with all the extra connections so Z-Wave with its mesh operation will take all that traffic from the WiFi in the house.
For new devices, sure, your reasoning is solid and Z-Wave is excellent! My comment was only that you shouldn’t feel it necessary to replace existing devices that are working ok.
This would not be straightforward. What is the make/model of these 3 “BLE ceiling fan+light” units? Also what does your (wall) controls / switch look like? Are there wires (how many) between your wall switch and the fan?
What are those complications?
They are all different manufacturers but the BLE control is all done with the same remotes that are paired with the fixtures (all from China). The FanLampPro app from the Apple Appstore will allow pairing to all the fixtures and will operate them with the same functionality as the supplied remote for each fixture. I have been looking at setting up an MQTT broker to maintain communications between HA an the fixtures and I think this will work but have not tried it yet. The complications are that each fixture is turned on and off from a non smart wall switch in each room. With this configuration the power is disconnected from the fixtures when you turn the lights on or off. This sometimes seems to loose the pairing from my phone or tablet to the fixtures. My thoughts are to put a smart relay like a Zooz Zen51 orZen52 to control the power to the fixtures and a scene controller on the wall in place of the non smart wall switch to operate the functions of the light and fan.
Search for TheHookUp channel on YouTube. Rob just released a video doing pretty much the same thing. Granted, he used different protocols instead of ZWave, but the concept is the same.
I think this is a good sign actually. Search this forum - I recall there were people doing some kind of HACS integration or HA addon/app that covers a couple of those ceiling fan+light via BLE control… maybe more than one method, even, with one of those using Bluetooth controls from your HA server, and the other method using ESPHome.
You (could, but you) might not even need MQTT.
And I would recommend you do the wall switch later, after you have got the above working.
Yes zen51, zen52, ZEN32, or Shelly wave (or whatever relay modules that support “smart bulb mode” or “detach mode”) would be necessary if you absolutely have to prevent family members from cutting the power to your ceiling fan+light units… Or might not be necessary, if the absolutely part of the previous sentence is not exactly 100% absolute.