Hey there!
I’m planning to build a little smart home using Philips Hue Bulbs and Elgato Eve Thermo thermostats. As I own many Apple products, I’d like to get the HomeKit Bridge to work.
Has anyone experiences with the devices above (especially with the Eve Thermo) and can provide me with some insight on well this works?
The Thermo does not use a bridge but is rather controlled via bluetooth and the elgato eve app. Is it still compatible with openHAB?
Thank you in advance!
Franz
I know in OH 2 better support for Bluetooth is in the works. But in OH 1 it almost certainly not work unless you implement the Bluetooth stuff outside of OH (e.g. python scripts). Beyond that I’ve no experience with those devices but HoneKit so can’t help.
Is there some reason you want to use OpenHAB rather than HomeKit? The V2 Hue hub can be used with either but the Elgato devices are, AFAIK, HomeKit only.
Be aware that Bluetooth and HomeKit can be frustrating due to the limited range of Bluetooth. While an Apple TV can give you remote access to it (if the ATV is within BT range), if your phone is local and not within BT range, the sensor/device will be uncontactable.
HomeKit has some positives but it’s still weak in automation. For example, I schedule my lights in the Hue hub rather then in HomeKit since HK automation events run on the iOS device and I can’t guarantee that it will be connected to the Internet when the event needs to run. For example, I want lights to come on at night but if I’m on a plane at sunset, they are not going to get turned on. You really need a dedicated iOS device that’s kept at home if you want to use automation unless the routines only need to run when you are home.
Apple may (or may not) announce improvements to HK at WWDC in two weeks.
You basically said it. Automation! I want different hardware (bulbs, thermostats, room climate sensors, audio…) to work together with different clients. Mostly iPhones with Siri, an Apple Watch and maybe for music some Android Phones of friends. So I think openHAB is the only solution that brings it all together.
I’m also looking forward to WWDC and hope that Apple will announce anything homekit related.
You could do that but you need to confirm OpenHAB supports the devices you want to use and that the Homebridge OpenHAB plug-in also supports the characteristics of interest. Lots of subtle issues because the device types supported in HomeKit are far more limited than those supported in OpenHAB.
Longer-term, you should keep in the back of your mind that Homebridge exists outside of the official HomeKit ecosystem. Technically, all HomeKit devices have to conform to HK security requirements that mandate a MiFi hardware chip in the sensor, hub, or bridge. As I understand things, Apple could disable Homebridge at any time. No sign they are thinking about doing that and it’s hard to see it being in their best interest (I suspect Homebridge is a huge part the use of HK today) but the risk is there.