HomeKit HomeKit Hubless Temp Sensors

[goneeuro02]

Good afternoon all! I am starting build out a HomeKit setup for our new house. I am starting with temp control. The house came with a Honeywell T6 Pro z-Wave thermostat that I am swapping for the WiFi version(same baseplate so no rewiring). The zwave doesn’t work with home kit. The thermostat is on the second floor so I want to put a temp sensor on the first to use with automations.

Is there a temp sensor that I can get that doesn’t require a hub? Bonus points if it can be plugged in so I don’t have to deal with batteries. I’m trying to use a home pod mini right now, but it takes forever for the temp to update in the home app. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[srl7741]

Mileage may vary with just a HP Mini but try this one ---> Link

 

[erihp]

Good afternoon all! I am starting build out a HomeKit setup for our new house. I am starting with temp control. The house came with a Honeywell T6 Pro z-Wave thermostat that I am swapping for the WiFi version(same baseplate so no rewiring). The zwave doesn’t work with home kit. The thermostat is on the second floor so I want to put a temp sensor on the first to use with automations.

Is there a temp sensor that I can get that doesn’t require a hub? Bonus points if it can be plugged in so I don’t have to deal with batteries. I’m trying to use a home pod mini right now, but it takes forever for the temp to update in the home app. Thanks for any suggestions.

No real reason to get a new thermostat. Now, I understand the desire to not run a third party hub, but the value of integrating zigbee and zwave compatibility into Homekit in a stable, no fuss, reliable system is very valuable.

I'd recommend a Hubitat. I have used and given away multiple C-7 units and they have been rock solid. Brings everythjng into Homekit over wired LAN, works completely offline and no cloud or accounts required. For the tinkerers, Homebridge also is a great (DIY) option.

Then you can buy/use cheap zigbee and zwave temp sensors (and many other gadgets) and keep all of this stuff off of wifi and bluetooth, with zero online connectivity required. At the very least be super cognizant of what relies on/requires wifi.

To that point, get an AppleTV to act as the Home Hub. Having a wired Home Hub is critical for latency and being able to have performance headroom to process requests quickly, wired is much more reliable.

 

[SCP]

Get the T9 with sensor, done.

 

[erihp]

Get the T9 with sensor, done.

those sensors dont report data back to homekit / home assistant so you cant take any other actions based on them if you wanted to

 

[goneeuro02]

No real reason to get a new thermostat. Now, I understand the desire to not run a third party hub, but the value of integrating zigbee and zwave compatibility into Homekit in a stable, no fuss, reliable system is very valuable.

I'd recommend a Hubitat. I have used and given away multiple C-7 units and they have been rock solid. Brings everythjng into Homekit over wired LAN, works completely offline and no cloud or accounts required. For the tinkerers, Homebridge also is a great (DIY) option.

Then you can buy/use cheap zigbee and zwave temp sensors (and many other gadgets) and keep all of this stuff off of wifi and bluetooth, with zero online connectivity required. At the very least be super cognizant of what relies on/requires wifi.

To that point, get an AppleTV to act as the Home Hub. Having a wired Home Hub is critical for latency and being able to have performance headroom to process requests quickly, wired is much more reliable.

The issue I will have with the current thermostat is tied to the stupid smart rent app the community uses. I am trying to get everything away from that. I am not sure what they are going to say when I remove the current one. I don’t know if they’ll try to charge me a setup fee if I reset theirs and connect it to my own hub. I am just gonna throw it in a closet and hope for the best.

I figure if I go with the WiFi version of the one already installed will let me swap them easily if they say anything. I doubt they will. I am just going with the ask forgiveness instead of permission. lol.

I have a wired Apple TV setup as the hub already. I also have a HomePod mini that I’m gonna try to use as the temp sensor downstairs. I just read it’s slow to update sometimes. We will see how it goes. I also bought the meross garage door opener. That’s this weekend project. Their is a “smart adapter” out there already, but again, not HomeKit compatible.

 

[erihp]

The issue I will have with the current thermostat is tied to the stupid smart rent app the community uses. I am trying to get everything away from that. I am not sure what they are going to say when I remove the current one. I don’t know if they’ll try to charge me a setup fee if I reset theirs and connect it to my own hub. I am just gonna throw it in a closet and hope for the best.

I figure if I go with the WiFi version of the one already installed will let me swap them easily if they say anything. I doubt they will. I am just going with the ask forgiveness instead of permission. lol.

I have a wired Apple TV setup as the hub already. I also have a HomePod mini that I’m gonna try to use as the temp sensor downstairs. I just read it’s slow to update sometimes. We will see how it goes. I also bought the meross garage door opener. That’s this weekend project. Their is a “smart adapter” out there already, but again, not HomeKit compatible.

i see where youre coming from. makes sense. youll be happy with the meross homekit opener, they are solid.

 

[cynics]

The issue I will have with the current thermostat is tied to the stupid smart rent app the community uses. I am trying to get everything away from that. I am not sure what they are going to say when I remove the current one. I don’t know if they’ll try to charge me a setup fee if I reset theirs and connect it to my own hub. I am just gonna throw it in a closet and hope for the best.

I figure if I go with the WiFi version of the one already installed will let me swap them easily if they say anything. I doubt they will. I am just going with the ask forgiveness instead of permission. lol.

I have a wired Apple TV setup as the hub already. I also have a HomePod mini that I’m gonna try to use as the temp sensor downstairs. I just read it’s slow to update sometimes. We will see how it goes. I also bought the meross garage door opener. That’s this weekend project. Their is a “smart adapter” out there already, but again, not HomeKit compatible.

The existing thermostat would appear offline if they were to look. If they cared enough I'd imagine they would want to check it out.

It could be wired independently to R (24v) and C (common) at the HVAC (or to a 24v transformer like this TRANSFORMER) so it has power, its online, and appears like its still functional. However any changes to its settings would have no effect on the HVAC equipment since its only powered and not tied into anything else.

Like you read a weather station temp sensor isn't very good at controlling comfort in a home because it's not designed to control the HVAC. A thermostat uses algorithms for cycles per hour and default is a sub 1 degree dead band (.5f). Plus the automation needs on and off temps unlike a thermostat that is maintain a specific temp.

I used an iHome ISS50 sensor (no longer manufactured iHome is out of business) but the house would get chilly, than warm, than chilly, than warm, over and over due to overly long off and on cycles. Worked, just not very comfortable. I bought it for a freeze protection in an outdoor utility room and it works very well for that....

Aside from getting away from Smart Rent is there a goal you're trying to achieve? More comfort at a specific location? HomeKit control? I do HVAC, refrigeration and industrial automation and I was racking my brain to figure out an elegant solution but I'm not sure of goal....

 

[goneeuro02]

The existing thermostat would appear offline if they were to look. If they cared enough I'd imagine they would want to check it out.

It could be wired independently to R (24v) and C (common) at the HVAC (or to a 24v transformer like this TRANSFORMER) so it has power, its online, and appears like its still functional. However any changes to its settings would have no effect on the HVAC equipment since its only powered and not tied into anything else.

Like you read a weather station temp sensor isn't very good at controlling comfort in a home because it's not designed to control the HVAC. A thermostat uses algorithms for cycles per hour and default is a sub 1 degree dead band (.5f). Plus the automation needs on and off temps unlike a thermostat that is maintain a specific temp.

I used an iHome ISS50 sensor (no longer manufactured iHome is out of business) but the house would get chilly, than warm, than chilly, than warm, over and over due to overly long off and on cycles. Worked, just not very comfortable. I bought it for a freeze protection in an outdoor utility room and it works very well for that....

Aside from getting away from Smart Rent is there a goal you're trying to achieve? More comfort at a specific location? HomeKit control? I do HVAC, refrigeration and industrial automation and I was racking my brain to figure out an elegant solution but I'm not sure of goal....

Overall goal is to just have control through HomeKit for the majority of things. I am more of a tinkerer than anything else.

Our thermostat is on the second floor of the house with no way for it to "know" what the temp is down stairs. On warm days when we are down stairs we set the AC and it runs constantly to bring the second floor to the desired temp. But in doing so, the first floor is freezing. It just seems like it's either way too hot or cold down stairs at any given time. My thought process is get a thermostat that I can tell to read a temp sensor on the first floor during the day instead of the thermostat itself. I like the idea of having everything in HomeKit. No other reason than that.

In our last place, we had a Ring doorbell, Nest thermostat, Wyze cameras, MyQ garage Door opener. I had like 5 apps to control everything. I just want it all unified this time. The Meross garage door opener worked perfectly. I am going to order some of the new Ikea sensors and the T6 Pro WiFi and see how that works out for us. I appreciate the insight and suggestions so far from everyone.

 

[erihp]

Overall goal is to just have control through HomeKit for the majority of things. I am more of a tinkerer than anything else.

Our thermostat is on the second floor of the house with no way for it to "know" what the temp is down stairs. On warm days when we are down stairs we set the AC and it runs constantly to bring the second floor to the desired temp. But in doing so, the first floor is freezing. It just seems like it's either way too hot or cold down stairs at any given time. My thought process is get a thermostat that I can tell to read a temp sensor on the first floor during the day instead of the thermostat itself. I like the idea of having everything in HomeKit. No other reason than that.

In our last place, we had a Ring doorbell, Nest thermostat, Wyze cameras, MyQ garage Door opener. I had like 5 apps to control everything. I just want it all unified this time. The Meross garage door opener worked perfectly. I am going to order some of the new Ikea sensors and the T6 Pro WiFi and see how that works out for us. I appreciate the insight and suggestions so far from everyone.

glad to hear the garage door recommendation worked out!

having sensors define the hvac behavior based on the room they are in is definitely a huge plus and advantage of running a smart home.

the problem you'll run into trying to run a pure homekit setup is the limited control of actions based on sensors because of limitations within homekit. you'll see once you start trying to set this up...

my personal opinion is that homekit is a great frontend wrapper for status and native app control of your devices and cameras for how well it integrates with Apple devices, especially how seamless it is when away from home.

but when you want advanced logic, it really starts to show how shallow it is with regard to expected customizations.

i totally understand your hesitation to run multiple 'hubs' but having home assistant as the backend and bridging / all devices into homekit as the frontend is really the way you to go. this way all devices are able to be controlled by either system and with home assistants advanced features you can do so many more things than even homekit + shortcuts.

plus when you have a functioning HA setup, alot of those devices trapped behind apps are freed and often can be controlled locally via home assistant. something to look in to!

if you have a spare computer or rpi laying around its free to install and nothing changes in your homekit setup by adding or removing home assistant. home assistant imports all of your existing homekit devices but doesnt change anything. it just makes home assistant aware of them and allows it to send commands to your home hub when it needs to control them. makes it easy to play around with and then ditch if its not what you want.

Oh also, get a wired HomeKit hub! Even a used older generation 4K AppleTV will work great. All support the TVOS26 and are supported.