I’ve been on an exciting journey integrating smart lighting into my home, and I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts with the community. One of the standout devices I’ve come across is the Plum Lightpad Advanced Smart Wi-Fi LED/incandescent light dimmer. It’s a fantastic piece of technology that allows full control of the lights, including using the lightpads as presence sensors to trigger rules. The ability to control everything from my smartphone, whether I’m at home or away, has been a game-changer for me.
I recently stumbled upon the Plum Binding for OpenHAB, which has been instrumental in getting the most out of these devices. The author of the plugin, @mikenemat, has done an incredible job, but I’ve noticed that the binding hasn’t been updated in some time. While it still works with OpenHAB 2.2, it throws a lot of ‘background thread errors’ and occasionally causes Karaf to lock up, requiring a full restart of OpenHAB. This has been a bit frustrating, but I’m still impressed with its functionality.
I have nine of these dimmers installed throughout my home, so the potential for a more stable and updated version of the binding is huge. I’m wondering if anyone in the community has the time or interest to help update this plugin. I’d be more than happy to test any new versions as they come along!
Another area I’ve been exploring is gate automation using the Remootio system. I’ve successfully integrated it into my Home Assistant setup and it’s been working exceptionally well, much faster and more responsive than the Remootio app itself. However, I’m looking to add a bit more functionality. I want to create a button card that can open the gate, wait 2-3 seconds, pause for 10 seconds, and then close it. This would be perfect for when someone is walking in, as it would allow them to enter without the gate being fully open the entire time. I’m a bit stuck on how to implement this in Home Assistant, so any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!
On a lighter note, I’ve also been experimenting with sequential GPIO commands using Esphome for controlling my Profalux shutter remote controls. It’s been a fun project, but I’ve encountered some challenges with command queuing when multiple shutters are being operated simultaneously. I’m curious to know if there’s a built-in way in Esphome to handle this or if I need to dive deeper into custom programming. Any insights would be invaluable!
Overall, my journey with smart home automation has been both rewarding and challenging. I’ve learned so much along the way, and I’m excited to continue exploring and improving my setup. I’d love to hear from others who have similar experiences or who have successfully tackled some of these challenges. Let’s keep the conversation going and continue to support each other in this fantastic community!