Facing an avalanche of "end of support"

Fri Dec 30 07:43:21 EST 2022

Jeffery - I replaced my Vera with the Habitat earlier this year.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiCkvzIrqH8AhXEmmoFHbTVAZYQFnoECCAQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.centralite.com%2Fproducts%2Fpearl-thermostat%2F&usg=AOvVaw0Tcqd-Ta8mX22_efknLlsE
Best Pearl Thermostat | Centralite Zigbee Thermostat
google.com

Ezlo.com <http://ezlo.com/> has them for $50

On Dec 30, 2022, at 7:34 AM, Jeffrey Lomicka <JeffreyLomicka at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> Oh, James, thank you for the long and detailed answer.
> 
> I do use the cloud interface to the Thermostats.  The iPhone app is the primary way we set up and control them. I monitor them from Xtension, but don't control them there. I realize the xTension code will work for years after the cloud is gone, but I'd need to set up a web page that was as simple as the RadioThermostat one.
> 
> You talk about Hubitat in a way that makes it sound like a general replacement for the Vera.  Is that true? You also talk about the pi integration like it's a bit of a kluge, and until I hear about it being pulled, the Vera/Alexa integration I'm using now might just as well be left alone.  It is quite reliable. Most of the HA in the house is now ZWave through Vera. There is still a little X10, and I accidentally got a Zigbee temperature sensor, but it works through the Vera too and seems fine. I'm growing more into Kasa WiFi devices now too.
> 
> My washer is the GE Profile 705, with a real agitator, and the matching 70E dryer, and both are a nice step up from their Fisher Paykel predecessors.  No complaints so far, it's been about three weeks. OOTB they send alerts to your phone 5 minutes before the end, at the end, and every 30 minutes until you open the lid.
> 
> On 12/28/22 2:21 PM, James Sentman wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> On Dec 28, 2022, at 10:50 AM, Jeffrey Lomicka <JeffreyLomicka at comcast.net <mailto:JeffreyLomicka at comcast.net>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> The latest appears to be RadioThermostat.
>>> 
>>> Did y'all get the e-mail?
>>> 
>>> I have three and use both the XTension integration and their soon to be deprecated web/app cloud access.
>> 
>> 
>> Do you actually use the cloud stuff? XTension connects to the radio thermostats via a direct connection to the thermostat and does not require an internet connection or their cloud to be working. As long as they don’t brick the devices on purpose as they shut down they should keep working just fine with XTension… But it’s been long enough since I have done anything with that plugin that I should verify that… Yes, thats correct. So while you’ll want to explore more recent products they aren’t going to just drop out of XTension when they shut down their cloud.
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> What should I migrate to?  Are there any other thermostats with as good support in XTension?
>> 
>> The best thermostats with good integration right now are the ZWave ones connected through a hubitat. The Vera supported thermostats too but didn’t always update the information. The 2 I’ve still got on my old vera for testing have to be regularly polled in order to catch the changes. The ones on the Hubitat do not. And then you have the basis for a ZWave network which still remains the best way to automate your lights and other stuff and no reason to switch over everything all at once. You can start with just a hubitat and a single thermostat.  Before purchasing a ZWave thermostat make sure that it is a model that the hubitat specifically says works. ZWave thermostat integration is something that does not seem to be fully followed by all the manufacturers out there and if you get a very fancy one from Trane or Honeywell it is unlikely to work properly unless the hubitat people specifically say that it does. Anything that the hubitat supports XTension will support through it no problem. 
>> 
>> I would stay away from any wifi thermostat from either of those 2 companies, they both enjoy their completely proprietary cloud system and as far as I know provide absolutely no way to talk to either their cloud or the thermostat locally and have absolutely no interest in doing so.
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> This, and I fear any day Vera's Amazon Echo support will be pulled and I'll need to run around and find some Pi to get local control working.
>> 
>> This I have no idea about. The plugin is already a complete frankensteins monster of work arounds for problems in their implementation which they have made so many changes to which seem to have no purpose other than to piss off everyone using it for home automation that way. This is the most serious possibility of a problem that you probably face given the list. I’m not sure what the best solution is to work around this but there really are some good pi implementations of similar things that I have at least glanced at. The best ones aren’t free however so I haven’t done any serious work towards such a device. It might be better to just switch to using hey siri on your phone. That connected to some home kit pseudos in XTension and through the shortcuts system can let you do pretty much all the same stuff and even much better stuff.
>> 
>>> 
>>> And, lastly, at the risk of bringing up more than one subject in an e-mail, my new GE washer/drier has a cloud interface.  Is there any sort of XTention integration available for that?  And if there were, what would I do with it? Why is my laundry on the Internet?
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I like the idea of getting an alert on my phone when the laundry is done, and if it had a setting to send me another alert every hour until I actually get the stuff moved into the dryer that would be useful to me ;) Otherwise I can’t imagine it serves any useful purpose than to potentially give the power company  a way to turn off your electric dryer along with your AC unit during rolling brownouts that are becoming more and more common. If you can find an API document for a corporately condoned connection to get your info from their cloud I’d be pleasantly surprised and that could be turned into an actual XTension plugin if you wished it ;) If some folks on the internet have reverse engineered it then that info could be used for the same but it would likely break once in a while and require a lot of rework as they make changes to an undocumented API. There might even be a way to get to it locally without going to the cloud, I doubt even more than the other that they have a published API for this available but I’ll see if I can find anything… Ah, I see first of all they have an If This Then That integration so that could be used to make connections back to XTension via the JSON server. I’ve played with that and other things and it works. Assuming that the internet is up and you don’t mind the cruel combination of stuff necessary to make it happen ;) AH and i also see that there is already a python implementation of some of the work necessary for the kitchen devices, so we could almost certain turn that info into an XTension plugin as well. I read the top level documentation just now and it APPEARS that it is making a local connection, but I’m not entirely sure as they implement the undocumented without documenting what they are doing, sigh… But it is certainly possible. I can also reveal here that my dryer needs another new felt gasket installed and is more than 20 years old now, also i just replaced the suspension arms in my washing machine which is probably only 10 years old but upon opening it up I discovered that it is           almost completely rusted out inside. So both have a limited lifespan and will need to be replaced ;) How do you like these GE Washer and Dryer things not including the cloud support? It’s possible I could be talked into replacing one of mine with one of them in the next, oh year or so ;)
>> 
>> Thanks,
>>  James
>> 
>> 
>> James Sentman                       http://www.PlanetaryGear.org <http://www.planetarygear.org/>		http://MacHomeAutomation.com <http://machomeautomation.com/>
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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