I’m planning my smart home system basing it on ST, but I am encountering my first “issues”
Is there any IR controller that is really supported in ST?
I have to buy 3 of them but I’m really struggling finding something. Broadband is not supported, while Tuya-based controller might need the Tuya hub to work
I have seen the switchbot mini hub and it could be ok for me but I don’t know how it handles “IR learning”
My second issue deals with switches: I’d really like to use an energy harvesting switch (the NodOn one for example) but as far as I know, ST hub doesn’t support the Zigbee Green Power standard and so I would need to buy the HUE hub… But once I have the HUE hub, can I see the switch in ST and use it to control whatever I want?
Two completely different topics would generally go in two separate threads. It makes it a lot easier for others in the future to use the forum for information.
But for now, the simplest answer on the kinetic energy switches which use the zigbee green power profile is that they do work with a hue hub, they don’t work with only a smartthings/Aeotec hub, but once you do have a Smartthings/Aeotec hub, and a hue hub, you have a couple of options.
use the custom edge Driver for the hue hub which exposes more devices than the standard official integration. This method gives you the most features.
use Alexa routines (not smartthings routines) as an intermediary. As it happens, Amazon recently added the ability for these devices, when connected to a hue bridge, to act as triggers for an Alexa routine, so you can then use them with smartthings-connected devices. We use this method in our own home and it works pretty well.
use the official smartthings matter bridge integration to bring in the hue hub, and that may bring in the switches with it. But I haven’t yet seen it confirmed exactly which devices come in through this method. But if it works, it would be great, because it’s a local connection and does not require any custom code. It doesn’t offer quite as many features as option one, though. Just as one example, with option one you can also access scenes created in the hue app.
So there are definitely some options, but all will require both a Smartthings/Aeotec Hub, and a hue hub.
SwitchBot hubs do IR Learning pretty well, but the smartthings integration is limited to either on/off, or to activating scenes that you set up in SwitchBot. So it’s probably not what you were imagining.
there is a community created integration with Wi-Fi devices that have been flashed with the Tasmota software and includes a bunch of different IR blasters, so you could look into that.
there’s quite a good community built integration with the old harmony hub, so if you could find one of those, that might be another option:
remotec does make some zwave IR blasters which used to work pretty well with smartthings under the old pre-2023 architecture, but I’m not sure if anyone has created an edge Driver for those yet.
as @Paul_Oliver noted above (we crossposted ) , some tuya WiFi IR blasters are included in the official Tuya/smart things “linked services” integration, but with only a limited set of features. But the good news is they won’t require a tuya hub or a smartthings/Aeotec hub, and they don’t require custom code.
True (I have one), but like all Matter certified IR blasters it is limited to just on/off (except for air conditioners), and only up to five devices. That’s just the way the current matter spec is.
Why are infrared appliances other than Air Conditioners only able to be turned on/off?
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Matter does not support this feature.
Matter presents IR blasters as an off/on wall socket.
You can get around this, again, by using the other smartthings/SwitchBot integration and using scenes. But that’s pretty clunky and it’s not local.
Wasn’t aware of this limitation, only needed to add and Air Conditioner and a TV. But what happens if you have 6 or more. Will the standard cloud based solution work for the others ?
The Bond Bridge is also a nice IR blaster. I actually use ZGP switches (Hue hub) to control my ceiling fan (Bond Bridge). The Bond does IR and RF if you get the small one (black). The larger white one only does RF.
They support fans, fireplaces, blinds, shades, lights and bidets (not sure why ). They also allow custom programming if you can record the IR/RF signal. I was able to record my IR fireplace commands using an unsupported fireplace.
+1 for the Bond bridge, especially using @blueyetisoftware’s Edge driver. I have custom programmed anything you can think of into my Bond, ranging from IR dehumidifier to RF lights. I even have weird things like a fog machines and lasers tied into the IR. It works flawlessly and is fully integrated into ST. Without a doubt the best and easiest option.
). They also allow custom programming if you can record the IR/RF signal. I was able to record my IR fireplace commands using an unsupported fireplace.