this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
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My (almost) daily request for recommendations: People with Home Assistant, what IR blaster are you using? Most likely I'd use it to control a heat pump.
Still having fun with HA? :)
I've got the RM Mini 3 which works fine for the heat pump, just slow as it's cloud based. Using smartir plugin, had to learn all commands though as it wasn't in there.
For the TV I have this one, flashed esphome on it so it's local only and no longer cloud based.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mPuQed8
Are you using the Broadlink integration? I only needed the app on first setup but have no delay on sending commands. It's classed as Local Polling on homeassistant.io
Yes, got the Broadlink integration. Commands take about 0.5-1 second. For heat pump is fine, but to control TV + Android TV + Sound is super slow. Where can you see if it has Local Polling? First time I heard about that.
On the integration page on homeassistant.io it shows on the right hand side:
Defined by them as:
If you look at the integration on the Settings > Integrations page in your home assistant, it would show a little cloud symbol if it had cloud dependency like this:
I wonder if you're having the same issue I had with inconsistent signal when it's standing the right way up. If I lie it down and point the top directly at the device it works much better
Hmm yeah you're right, doesn't show a cloud dependency. However, I found it still very slow.
I have it standing up right and it can control the heat pump fine which is above it. It could also control the TV which was on the same height about 4 meters away (as long as nobody was in between). But I do experience that sometimes the heat pump doesn't pick it up, e.g. in my morning automation to turn it on, I'm just setting it twice. It's rare though, it works 97% of the time.
That makes sense with the heatpump. I suspect the layout inside it means line of sight isn't very good at the same level or below it. I'm trying to control something where the receiver is only around 60cm from the ground. Without pointing the top to it it was pretty inconsistent and the script that runs would often miss commands
Oh boy, getting something and then flashing different software onto it! This sounds exciting. I'm also really keen for local only where possible.
Anything I should know before I order one of those Aubess ones?
Yeah, pretty cool stuff to cut them from the cloud. However, beware, it's another rabbit hole. Took me quite some time to get my head around it. I started with a simple ESP32 board and a height sensor for my standing desk to understand ESPHome.
The Aubess one works on the cloud as well.
To install ESPHome you need to do:
There's a very handy Discord channel for any questions. So far I've flashed a relay, a Brilliant smart plug from Bunnings, and that Aubess IR controller.
For the IR controller you'll have to learn all commands manually by pressing the button, reading the ESPHome log which displays the command string received by the IR receiver, and then make that a service in your ESPHome yaml.
Haha oh boy it sounds like a lot of work. I will order one and give it a go, but be prepared for questions (in a month or two when it arrives)!
Yeah all good to help. Took me a while to figure it out, in the end it's not that hard.
I decided to order both kinds. We have two heat pumps, and this way one will be working while I spend months trying to get the other working 😆
Good idea! Have a look at the smartir integration, which has all the codes for some heat pumps. Not mine, so had to create the JSON manually with all commands, which is quite a bit of work. Smartir integration allows you to use it as a thermostat in HA.
I'll take a look, thanks!
I use a bunch of zwave gear so I got one of these https://activeautomation.co.nz/remotec-z-wave-to-ac-ir-extender-zxt-600
Thanks for commenting, it's interesting to see what everyone is using. And how many protocols there are! I'm using a skyconnect dongle, which is multi-protocol but doesn't mention zwave.
I've ordered a couple of wifi based ones that others have said they are using. I got them from ali express so it will be at least a month before they arrive, but I'm hoping they will work for me.
Yeah zwave tends to be standalone as the Zwave Alliance owns the rights to the protocol and they test everything for conformance, so it's more expensive. I just don't like sticking random iot stuff on my network.
Yeah fair enough. I'm only just getting started, and I'm sure over time I'll start to build some preferences for what kinds of things I'm happy to connect.
I'm using a Broadlink RM Mini 3. My only issue with it is I can't tell where the IR bit is, I find I have to lie it on it's side to get it reliably sending commands. It may be that I just don't have it in an ideal location though.
Edit: oh forgot it doesn't support 5ghz WiFi either
This one? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32991257007.html
Do any support 5ghz wifi? It seems pretty common for things to only support 2.4ghz.
Looks like it. I think i bought it from Amazon a few years ago though.
No idea, I stopped looking once I got it 😅
Thanks, I might order one. And also the other one that @[email protected] mentioned. We have two heat pumps, so can set one up for each. And this way I have one that teaches me a new skill, and one that I can use when I fail with the first one 😆