Starting work on LightwaveRF Native Support - anyone else interested in helping?

Hi all,

I’m a big fan of the LightwaveRF kit and am in the process of migrating from OpenHAB to HomeAssistant, mainly because I know python way better than I know JAVA, so I’m hoping I can contribute to this project.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that there isn’t any native support for LightwaveRF, so I’ve decided to start writing it.

Taking in to account the guidelines about not writing code to communicate directly with devices into my component, I’ve started work on a python library to talk to LightwaveRF devices at https://github.com/proffalken/python-lwrf

I’d love input from the community to develop this project into something that can underpin native LWRF support in HomeAssistant, especially with the new V2 hardware supporting 2-way communication.

Cheers,

Matt

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I’m interesting in this but I don’t know enough to help out, sorry!

At the moment I’m using some Command Line switches with a Shell Script. They work fine, but a ‘more official’ version for HA would be great :+1:t3:

Hi Jono,

It’s not too difficult for the V1 kit to be honest, there’s full documentation of the messages that need to be sent at https://api.lightwaverf.com and https://github.com/proffalken/python-lwrf/blob/master/lwrf/v1/light.py#L17 shows you the kind of thing you’d need to create in order to send those messages to the new device type.

Don’t worry if you don’t know Python, for now you should be able to “cut & paste” and I’m happy to coach via a Github Pull Request

I’ll try and write up a “beginners guide” on how to do this in the next week or so.

Cheers,

Matt

Hi Matt,

I’m just getting into Home Assistant, but I have a number of pre-existing LightwaveRF plugs and the LightwaveRF link.

I have a basic level of python, and would be very interested in helping out.

First up, the beginner guide - would it be helpful for me to help write up a guide with your scrips on the main ‘Components’ page? https://home-assistant.io/components/#all

Secondly, what are your thoughts on the two other ways of controlling LightwaveRF:
B) using RFXcom USB stick (expensive at c£95 as mentioned I’m the forums here )
C) programming cheap RF components using raspberrypi GPIO pins - described here.

I would suggest any 'beginners guide’s run through each of the three methods but ultimately recommend one of them.

What do you (and others!) think?

Out of interest what’s the issue with using the https://home-assistant.io/components/light.rfxtrx/ for LigthwaveRF? I do that with great success already, same for switches.

@laf - thanks so much for this!! :grin: Hadn’t come across this component yet, and looks like the cleanest way to control LightwaveRF in HA. :bulb:

The only downside I can see is the cost of the RFXcom USB stick - the ones I’ve found are around £90+. Do you have any models you’d recommend? The LightwaveRF hub is around half that price (and in my case I’ve already got one)

In any case, I’m sure other n00bs like myself would appreciate if some instructions for the light.rfxtrx were listed under LightwaveRF in the docs somewhere. Where might the best place for this be?

Thanks again,

I use: RFXCOM RFXtrx433E USB transceiver

But yes, the hub can be cheaper. I just chose to go down the other route as support already existed and is known to work + it doesn’t rely on LightwaveRF ‘cloud’

Hi all,

Apologies for the late reply, it’s been a busy few weeks!

@jw716 - any help you can give would be more than welcome, and yes, writing up some documentation on how to use the library would be useful ahead of my writing a proper module for this in the near future.

@laf - the reason I’m not using one of the other options is simple - I already own the LWRF WiFi Link and I don’t want to spend any more money on additional hardware when I should be able to control what I have with the hardware I’ve already got :slight_smile:

I know that the rxtx and other options will allow me to control a greater number of 433Mhz devices across a wider range of vendors, but at the moment I’m not planning on moving away from LWRF as it’s the only set of devices I can find that pass the Spouse Approval Factor (see my post at https://hackerdads.wordpress.com/2016/10/27/lightwaverf-openhab-and-the-amazon-echo/ for more on this).

I’ll try and start work on the module itself very shortly, and I’ll post any updates here as I have them.

Cheers,

Matt

Hey proffalken and everyone.

I’m very happy to lend a hand with this. I have both a lot of Gen 1 and Gen 2 kit.
( See my post about Gen2 kit here )

I’m personally using both the RXTX and the Hub for my Gen1 gear, as I like the Alexa integration, but throiugh using HomeAssistant, the RXTX is just so much faster!

I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on this thread!

This could be interesting… :slight_smile:

I use RFXTRX box. And it works ok. I’m a bit disappointed with the reliability of the LightwaveRF components. The only advantage I find to LightwaveRF is the Retrofitting that looks nice.

I’ve come across this https://home-assistant.io/components/rflink/ It should work for LightwaveRF and it is way cheaper than RfXTRX (TCO £20) it also can handle 2.4GHz (if you buy the component) to manage Zigbee components.

I’m building one…

@proffalken @jono @jw716 @laf @HarmlessSaucer @Marco_Elgordo

I’ve made my integration available for you. It’s a bit crude, but should work. Any questions let me know.

If there’s demand for this then I’ll spend time making it better.

C

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Excellent work! I’ll take a look at this and try it out.
I’ve swtched over to using Hass.io myself, so I guess I’ll need to try it out on a standard Home Assistant build first.
Would be great to flesh it out and maybe see about getting it into a Hass.io component! :slight_smile:

@HarmlessSaucer

@Martin_Granger in another thread is trying this out on hass.io he uploaded the file via samba. You may be able to try the same :slight_smile:

As @chillerz has mentioned, I am having some success with LightwaveRF on Hassio with his code. My coding knowledge is totally lacking though (and I’m super new to Home Assistant), so I’m struggling a little.

The forum post is here if you want to take a look.

Hi,

I’m happy to help. I’m just getting my LightwaveRF gen 1 lights and switches set up using RFXcom rather than IFTTT (and am noticing a few weird things like lights re-registering ids). I’ve been thinking of ways I can record the state of the light so it shows in the HA UI but as they don’t report their state when the switch is manually switched I’m at a loss.

Cheers,

Ico

How are things moving along with this? Any progress? Unfortunately I can’t really offer any technical help as such, but I can test it out for you :slight_smile:

I have gen1 lightwaverf equipment. A whole range actually - plug sockets, light switches, dimmer relays, open close relays & plug in sockets.

I’m using Hassio on a Pi3, and currently use it to mainly automate IFTTT > lLightwaverf scenes.

Looking forward to seeing if something comes along!!

Hi Everyone,

Just to say i have created a custom components for LightwaveRF gen 1 devices.
It uses a queuing system to stop any commands not hitting the wifi link.
The lights are fully dimmable as well and it also works well with Alexa and Google home when emulated hue is enabled.
please let me know what you think, the install guide is located as a text file but is an exact copy of what needs to be done to set it up.

Cheers,
Richie