These are the steps I used to successfully pair a CT101 Z-Wave thermostat with my USB Z-Wave stick running with Home Assistant. These steps were not totally clear in the instructions that came with the thermostat, so I wanted to write them down here. Put the Z-Wave USB stick into pairing mode; this varies depending…
Update 2022-05-12: This was originally posted when the legacy Z-Wave integration was in use. Using Z-Wave JS I believe you will need to enable the parameter 121 setting for “On Trigger: Send Binary Sensor Report” is toggled on as shown in the next screenshot. The original article follows the screenshot: I picked up a couple…
I recently moved to HassIO for my Home Assistant instance and migrated off a Raspberry Pi 3B to an Intel NUC. As part of that process I decided to rebuild my Z-Wave network from scratch. I had built much of the network without using a secure network key, so this was a good opportunity to…
I had to remove and re-add an Ecolink tilt sensor to my Z-Wave network recently. It’s controlled via an Aeotec Z-Stick and it wasn’t obvious at first how to remove the tilt sensor from the network and add it back. It turns out the key is to pull the battery from the sensor before trying…
Now that I have several Z-Wave light switches set up in Home Assistant, I wanted to be able to control them with my Alexa devices. Fortunately Home Assistant has an Emulated Hue Bridge component that mimics an actual Philips Hue Bridge. With this enabled and configured, I can “trick” my Alexa devices into recognizing Home…
After setting up a few Z-Wave switches from GE, I noticed that my kitchen light switch wasn’t updating in the Home Assistant web UI. It usually showed as “on” even hours after it had been turned off. This was the only place where I used the GE 12722 Z-Wave switch with the GE 12723 add-on…
One of my goals for creating a smart home is to keep things as “guest friendly” as possible. With that in mind I decided to go with Z-Wave switches to control the lights and fans in our common areas (kitchen, family room, etc.). These switches work just like a regular switch–perfect for guests–and they can…
I’ve been dabbling in smart home devices over the past couple of years, and while many of them do enhance quality of life, I have some concerns. Namely, a dependence on cloud services, eroded privacy, security vulnerabilities, and a lack of interoperability. A smart home should be smart. It should know what you want/need at…