My outdoor landscaping transformed died on me the other day, and I’m looking for a replacement. My old one was dumb, and I simply controlled it by using a outdoor rated smart plug. Unfortunately, this approach did not allow me to control seperate zones on the transformer.
I’ve come across a transformer on Amazon and I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with it. It’s a smart, Matter enabled device. I don’t have any Matter devices in my home in use, so I’m unsure how the integration will go into Home Assistant.
I do have newer Alexa devices, as well as Apple TV and Homebridge in use, so I believe I should be able to add it to HA, but not 100% sure.
So you had a dumb system, supplied by a single transformer you controlled via a single (smart) power switch?
Now you want to change it to three separate switched channels?
You can just build three equivalents of what you previously had, or have one transformer, and switch the output of that transformer to one or more of your three channels.
I see the specifications of that new transformer are for 300watts overall, at 12Volts AC current. That’s around 25 amps total current draw. Are you sure your landscape solution requires that much current? Are you using low voltage lighting appropriately? High consumption halogen spotlights instead of low current LEDs? Can you spread your load evenly so each transformer only needs to supply 8amps, easily accommodated by cheap Chinese 4 way relay boards rated for 10amps? Ones you can buy with WiFi, or ZigBee, or Thread/Matter control.
Not sure what your attraction is specifically for Matter? Are alternates that are already tried and true viable? What distance do you have to cover for remote control? Even four of your previous smart power switch models may be a viable option if you already understand the logic, automation, and foibles needed to continue controlling it all from HomeAssistant.
My current one (was) supposed to be able to supply two zones, but it died. It was the second one of that brand I’ve had that died, so I’m looking for alternatives.
No, I don’t need that much. They have a 200W version as well. I’m just looking to see what is available. My landscape lighting is low current LED.
I don’t have any specific attraction to Matter, however, it’s the only one I’ve seen that is able to be integrated into a smart home. The current integration had issues, other than it crapping out on me twice out of warranty, so I’m just looking for newer alternatives.
Yes, the linked device is Matter certified then it should be compatible with Home Assistant.
You will need to have the HAOS Matter Server app running, and IPv6 networking enabled, before adding the device to HA via the mobile companion app. You should ensure your 2.4Ghz WiFi signal reaches to wherever the transformer will be located.
You can also add it to Apple Home at the same time without the need for a bridge since Matter supports multi-admin.
Thanks. I have all the prerequisites, so I should be good to go. It get’s decent enough reviews on Amazon. Hopefully it will last, unlike my previous transformers.
I couldn’t get Home Assistant to adopt it directly. I’m unsure why. I enabled IPv6 on my local network, and my Ubiquti gateway is set up correct, per all accounts. It did however, work right away when I adopted it into both Amazon Alexa and Apple Home. From Alexa, I was able to generate a new code and from there, Home Assistant did adopt the device.
My only thought is that I have Home Assistant as a VM on Proxmox, and perhaps it was being blocked someway through Proxmox.
I am also using HA via Proxmox. Did you do the usual make-sure-your-phone-is-on-your-IoT-wifi-network thing? I brought the transformer inside and did the adoption on the kitchen table where network is really strong before taking it outside. Maybe that helped, maybe not haha
I was lying in bed last night and that thought came to mind. No, they were on different WiFi networks, or at least different SSIDs. I keep anything “smart home” on an IoT network that doesn’t have access to everything else, whereas my phone is a trusted network.
It’s all good. It worked out adopting it into Alexa first.