Energenie Mihome‎ Thoughts?

General Discussion
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Just wondering what people’s thoughts and experiences are with the Energenie Mihome‎ system when linked with
Smartthings and Alexa.

As far as I can see the light swicthes don’t require a neutral in the switch so thats a plus for me.

All the products seem to get good reviews and they are certainly competitively priced, but before I start spending even more money on this automation game I woukd like peoples opions on the system.
Are there any drawbacks ?
Are there any range issues ?

I look forward to hearing your views…

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The mihome devices are using their own proprietary protocol on a 433 MHz frequency, so they cannot be connected directly to SmartThings. They do have an IFTTT channel/service, so you can get indirect integration that way, but it may introduce additional lag.

IMG_1602.PNG2048×1536 216 KB

As @a4refillpad mentions below there is a community created integration at the link given in the next post, and you should definitely take a look at it. However it is not a full integration as not all devices or features are supported.

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If you haven’t seen it already @Alyc100 has done some awesome work integration this with smartthings.

The system protocol is proprietary and basically the system is not mesh capable so central placement of the hub is important. The biggest thing going for them is that the cheapest devices are way better value than smartthings equivalents but they are stateless. They also have some great looking light switches which again are good value for money. More expensive plus devices and the valves are stateful as they contain transmitters.

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I thought IFTTT still wasn’t working in the UK.

5

With SmartThings or with MiHome? To the best of my knowledge, it’s working with both.

The one which isn’t yet working is echo. Its U.K. IFTTT Service is not yet available.

But you could have echo turn on a virtual switch in smartthings and have smartthings then trigger an IFTTT applet to control mihome if you want. Again, it may have some lag.

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Apologies, my mistake I was thinking of Echo.

It’s mainly the light switches i am interested and it looks like the Echo has a skill for direct integration.

My only concern then is range, as the hub can’t have a central location in my setup.

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I’ve only been using it for a day so can’t offer much opinion at the moment, other than - if @Alyc100 hadn’t created a smartapp & device handlers, using Mihomes app (on android at least) is painfully annoying…and some of their product brochures are innacurate and need updating, I seem to remember hearing of energenie long before I heard of smartthings but having said that…I’m a latecomer to the smartthings party. I get the impression they’ve been trying really hard to get market penetration in the UK for a long time and only now with the help of other more successful devices/platforms/services they’re getting the attention they needed.

I love the look of the light switches and sockets but for those products one way communication is a fail for me.

An important factor for me is cost, I’m on a tight budget (thank you Orvibo and thank you @a4refillpad / @Kriskit :sunglasses: )

So whilst their prices (on offer) are appealing, if their website prices where set in stone I would probably not buy into it.

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8

Thanks for all the advice and due to the one way communication, possible range problems and needing yet another hub I think I will give it a miss.

I just wish someone would do some decent Z-wave light switches and sockets for the UK market.

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Interesting that there’s an EnerGenie smartapp; I’ll have to dig the kit back out and have a play.

Have they (EnerGenie) removed the cloud/always-on network requirement?

Not looked at it in about a year and not tried ST/Alexa, so can’t add anything there, but for context:

http://www.wegotserved.com/2015/12/21/review-energenie-mihome-adapter-plus-home-automation-gateway/

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I bought a hub and a light switch to have a play and I can say that it was simple to install and also to integrate into ST using Alyc100’s DTH and smartapp.
Does work well but there is a slight lag so I may not use them with motion sensors to turn on lights.
They also integrate using the MiHome app and IFTTT and smartthings but the lag is increased even more.
I have one question which I cannot find an answer to so maybe you peeps out there can help.

On the back of the switch there are 3 terminals. L, Slave and L1.
L and L1 are straight forward in that they are power in and out to turn the light on.
I’m trying to find out what slave is for and all I can think of is that this is used when using 2 switches to control one light. i.e. either switch controls the light.
Any thoughts?

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I have a two light switches and am quite pleased with them. As you say a bit of a lag but otherwise OK
I started with their eTRV’s which are pretty good especially with ALYC100’s Apps and have been buying other of their stuff since.
Also there is now a skill for Amazon Alexa so good Smart home integration.
If you click the Help menu when logged in to MiHome from a browser there is a Mi|Home section which has info for their products including their light switches. There are a couple of wiring diagrams one diagram showing the use of the Slave terminal.