Hi to all! This is going to be a rather long post but I have worked to keep it as brief as possible.
First I am a semi-convert from Homeseer to Home Assistant. As you will see below I want to become a complete convert. My current setup is what I would call a Hybrid. I run Homeseer V3 on a Windows laptop for just Zwave devices. I utilize the mcsMQTT plugin on Homeseer to post and subscribe to all topics on a MQTT server running on my Home Assistant instance. I run Home Assistant OS/Supervisor/Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 4+ with 8 Gb of ram, with a 128 Gb microSDHC card and use it to control and show the status of all Z-Wave (via MQTT).
Homeseer âmcsMQTTâMQTTâHome Assistant
Home Assistant â MQTT â mcsMQTT â Homeseer
In terms of Zwave devices see the following:
Installed and controlled by Homeseer
* Homeseer Smartstick+ (1)
* Homeseer WD100 Dimmers (3)
* Homeseer WS200 Switches (2)
* Homeseer WD200 Dimmers (3)
* Jasco 14287 Fan Controllers (2)
* Jasco 14318 Switches (3)
* Homeseer DS100 Door/Window Sensors (4)
* Honeywell ZW1002 110V Outlets (1)
* Trane XR524 Thermostate (1)
* GoControl/Linear (Nortek) GD00Z-4 Garage Door Controller (1)
* Schlage BE468CEN716 Dead Bolts (2)
Un-installed
* Aeotec Z-Stick Gen 5 (not the plus version) (1)
* Honeywell ZW1002 110V Outlets (2)
* Aeotec Multi-Sensor 6 ZW100-A (1)
* Aeon Labs Energy Reader (1)
* Everspring Model SP103 Motion Detector (1)
Since moving into this home (10/2017) I have lost (2) Jasco 14318 switches and (1) Homeseer WD200 dimmer. I have replaced them with TP-Link Kasa WiFi switches/dimmer.
I want to do away with Homeseer and the Windows laptop. Lately some issues have cropped up with the mcsMQTT plugin regarding the dead bolt locks and the garage door opener and itâs reporting of status. With the door locks it just doesnât update the MQTT server at all, they both show âlockedâ and control is hit and miss. With the Garage Door it sends the command to âopenâ reports the status of âopeningâ and then the status of âopenâ. However when closing it sends the command to âcloseâ reports the status of âclosingâ but never reports the status of âclosedâ. I have followed the command and status updates in their respective topics via a NodeRed debug console and the missing updates never make it from mcsMQTT to the MQTT server.
My setup is that I have yaml configuration files for all of the items listed above. See the following as an example for a switch:
Outside Entry Way Light Switch
Homeseer Node: 33
Ref ID: 53 Name: Outside Entry Way Light
- platform: mqtt
name: âOutside Entry Way Lightâ
payload_on: âonâ
payload_off: âoffâ
unique_id: âOutsideEntryWayLightâ
state_topic: âCRUD-06/mcsMQTT/Entry_Way/Lighting/Outside_Entryway_Lightâ
command_topic: âCRUD-06/mcsMQTT/Entry_Way/Lighting/Outside_Entryway_Light/Controlâ
value_template: â{{ âonâ if value|int > 0 else âoffâ }}â
optimistic: false
So I hope you have a pretty good idea of what I have been doing and have setup. Now to my questions:
- With my equipment is Zwave.JS ready for my production system
I am confused about Zwave2MQTT, Zwave.JS, and their relationship.
-
As I understand it I could use Zwave2MQTT by itself and it would replace my setup with Homeseer, i.e. Zwave2MQTT runs as a seperate server, posts and subscribes to a seperate MQTT server, and Home Assistant would interact with the MQTT server as it does now. I would probably have to change the command and status topics to match that of Zwave2MQTT.
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Or I can run Zwave.JS on my Home Assistant instance as an integration with no MQTT involvement what so ever.
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Or I can run both Zwave.JS and Zwave2MQTT together utilizing MQTT topics or not. (The reason for running with Zwave2MQTT would be for itâs management interface and if using MQTT topics to utilize NodeRed for automations (which I donât currently do.)
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Prior to Zwave.JS being announced and moving my Home Assistant install from a Raspberry Pi3 to the current Raspberry Pi4 I purchased the Aeotec Z-stick Gen 5. As I understand it this Z-wave stick is not compatible with the Raspberry Pi4, you have to buy the â+â version. If I have to purchase a new Z-Stick I was thinking about going with the Go Control HUSBZB-1 combo Zigbee/Zwave stick. I do have a Phillips Hue Hub and I am thinking I could simplify even more by using the one stick to control both my Phillips Hue lights and all my Zwave equipment. Do you forsee any problems doing this?
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I want to minimize my home automation downtime if I move ahead with this. What would be the best way to migrate from one to the other? Please be as detailed as you can.
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When including new Zwave devices with the Homeseer Smartstick+ and Homeseer I found that you had to be practically right next to the new device for inclusion to be successful. Would this be the case with the GoControl HUSBZB-1 plugged into my Raspberry Pi4?
Well that about wraps it up. Looking forward to any responses and advice.
Regards
Chuck