HomeKit Homekit, Smartplug & sunrise / sunset?

[dbrewood]

Guys looking to get started with Homekit and need to know whether one can buy a smartplug (Eve??) for use in the UK and get it to turn on at sunset and off at sunrise?

As this is the first endeavour in Homekit I'm not sure if it can support the sunrise/set automation.

I do already have AppleTV (4k) so I think that supports being used as a hub?

Any assistance appreciated.

 

[djjclark]

Can't speak to Eve or UK but I have plugs from 3 different vendors that operate based on sunset. Sunset is a variable you can use in automations.

 

[dbrewood]

As a matter of interest which plug vendor would you recommend?

Good to know the idea looks to be viable. Assistance muchly appreciated.
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[malcky77]

I don't have any eve products or smart plugs for that matter.....but the free eve app has a lot of options for automation, so you will defo be able to set virtually any time you need for a smart plug.......the home app would also be able to do that too if you don't want to use the eve app.

I have my entire house lights using Philips Hue bulbs & lightstrips so if I were to venture into the smart plug area I personally would choose the Philips smart plug.

 

[dbrewood]

Well the Eve smart plug is due to be delivered tomorrow, fingers crossed.

 

[Itinj24]

Well the Eve smart plug is due to be delivered tomorrow, fingers crossed.

I’d be shocked if it doesn’t do what you need it to. It’s more a function of HomeKit automations and not the actual smart plug. I have 4 Wemo Mini’s and they are exposed to all of HomeKit’s automation triggers, including time based (sunset/sunrise) so long as the Apple TV is hooked up as a Hub.

 

[CraigB1960]

The HomeKit automations for arrival and time of day operations work well. Timed events based on switch state not so well.

 

[Nigel Goodman]

I have complex automations based upon sunset (sunrise would be the same). I use the Home 3 app by Matthias Hochgatterer (look for Home 3 in the App Store) to set one hour before sunset and at sunset itself. The Home 3 app can do some of these complex automations which the Apple app cannot (yet) do.

As for the smart plugs I use both the Eve (no hub bridge required - expensive - slow to respond) and the Ikea Tradfri (hub bridge required - cheap - fast and reliable - complex to set up but works well when done). You can get a starter kit including the hub bridge for less than the cost of one Eve.

 

[Solver]

I’ve had a problem ever since iOS 13.
An automation turns on a hue light five minutes before sunset then turns it off 30 minutes after sunset. However the light never turns off.
This worked fine using iOS 12.

As far as smartplugs go, I successfully use VOCOINC. Cheap, fairly quick and Wi-Fi. They also have a color smartbulb. Unfortunately those have sometimes lost connection, where only turning the bulb off and back on would reestablish that connection.

 

[Itinj24]

I’ve had a problem ever since iOS 13.
An automation turns on a hue light five minutes before sunset then turns it off 30 minutes after sunset. However the light never turns off.
This worked fine using iOS 12.

As far as smartplugs go, I successfully use VOCOINC. Cheap, fairly quick and Wi-Fi. They also have a color smartbulb. Unfortunately those have sometimes lost connection, where only turning the bulb off and back on would reestablish that connection.

HomeKit has been a buggy mess since iOS 13. I love the new features they added to the cameras like being able to turn lights and accessories right from the camera view screen but it’s not even close to being as stable as iOS 12 was.

 

[waw74]

HomeKit iOS has been a buggy mess since iOS 13.

fixed that for you

 

[dbrewood]

Cheers for the additional feedback guys. My initial worry will be whether the Apple TV 4K will be able to reach from the living room, through the bedrooms to the attic where the plug will be located.

Matthias Hochgatterer's App has that now been updated to 'Home+ 4' for £9.99?

 

[Itinj24]

Cheers for the additional feedback guys. My initial worry will be whether the Apple TV 4K will be able to reach from the living room, through the bedrooms to the attic where the plug will be located.

Matthias Hochgatterer's App has that now been updated to 'Home+ 4' for £9.99?

My Hub (ATV 4K or HomePod, whichever decides to connect itself) reaches everywhere. Garage that’s half encased in concrete, driveway, attic, etc...

And yes that is the same app, updated.

 

[dbrewood]

Brilliant thanks for that, sounds like it should work well then.

Will likely invest in the apps if/when we get more devices. With one smartplug it's likely not needed yet

 

[Itinj24]

Brilliant thanks for that, sounds like it should work well then.

Will likely invest in the apps if/when we get more devices. With one smartplug it's likely not needed yet

Adding devices and subsequent scenes and automations really becomes addicting ?

 

[dbrewood]

LOL I can imagine (I had that with Amazon Echo kit), but as I've been out of work for almost a year tech spend is very much restricted.

 

[CraigB1960]

As far as smartplugs go, I successfully use VOCOINC.

I have had good success with VOCOInc smart outlets. Never have I lost connection to them unlike my Leviton wall switches and dimmers.

 

[CraigB1960]

I use the Home 3 app by Matthias Hochgatterer (look for Home 3 in the App Store) to set one hour before sunset and at sunset itself. The Home 3 app can do some of these complex automations which the Apple app cannot (yet) do.

Based on your comment, I purchased the HOME+ 4 (his updated version) on sale for $9.99. Very good program that makes it much easier to setup your automation. It indeed has a fuller set of features than Apple's Home app. Thanks for the tip!

One thing I learned from Reddit's HomeKit threads is the change from IOS 12 to IOS 13 Apple changed the way it deals with timer events triggered by the accessory. In the past, I could turn off a FAN or Light when it turned on by creating a Scene and Automation; convoluted, but worked. Well, Apple changed this so you cannot turn off the triggering device at the end of the timed event. This is crazy stupid (IMHO). I cannot figure out a work around (someone on reddit commented to use HomeBridge and a virtual accessory as a workaround).

My workaround (somewhat) is now I changed my timed bathroom fan to be triggered with the turning on of the bathroom light, which then turns on the fan. I can then have the fan set to turn off in a timed condition. So now the fan will come on automatically with the light and then time out correctly. If you manually turn on the fan, then it will stay on (un-timed). But this is ridiculous since most of the time you do not want or need the fan to be turned on. So now, I have to manually turn the fan off after turning on the light.

Something so simple as a timed switch event should be straight forward and easy to to implement.

 

[dbrewood]

Alas in the UK there are very few Homekit manufacturers, Eve being the main one.

 

[Solver]

I’ve always considered HomeKit automations a kluge. It should’ve been built more like Siri shortcuts, which is more powerful, expandable and fairly easy to understand.
Oh well, maybe iOS 14.

 

[TonyC28]

For the life of me I can’t get a sunset based automation to work. Time zone is correct on all involved devices. Restarted all devices including my router. Maybe the problem is iOS 13 being junk.

 

[Itinj24]

For the life of me I can’t get a sunset based automation to work. Time zone is correct on all involved devices. Restarted all devices including my router. Maybe the problem is iOS 13 being junk.

You know what, you’re most likely right about that. iOS 13 has not been particularly smooth on the HomeKit front. I’ve had some issues with the Home app freezing and accessories showing as updating for a minute before stabilizing. My sunset automation did fire as expected today, but I never tried that timer before sunset (2 hours before)
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Only happens when I’m on WiFi though. When on LTE, smooth as butter so that’s really strange.

 

[dbrewood]

I'm very happy to say the Eve plug was installed in the attic today and it is working perfectly to control the sensor on the bathroom that triggers the under-the-cabinet lighting. So we how have the lighting on at night only. Very pleased.

 

[cynics]

Cheers for the additional feedback guys. My initial worry will be whether the Apple TV 4K will be able to reach from the living room, through the bedrooms to the attic where the plug will be located.

Matthias Hochgatterer's App has that now been updated to 'Home+ 4' for £9.99?

HomeKit accessory that use wifi are using a proprietary Apple protocol (HAP) that is run on wifi stacks of your existing network. When you are at home the HomeKit data is communicated via the device you are using like your iPhone (iPhone > router > accessory). When you are away the hub acts as a stand in for your phone because it can communicate via the Apple proprietary protocol (HAP), (iPhone > internet via iCloud > hub > router > accessory). As long as your 2.4ghz wifi network range reaches the accessory you are fine.

The caveat to this is for Bluetooth HomeKit accessories. While the protocol runs on BT stacks similar to wifi a hub (connected or standby) will need to be within BT range of the accessory. This is because your house won't have a BT infrastructure.

 

[dbrewood]

All installed up in the loft and working now.