I’ve used this around the house which is probs what you are after, does need power but just a simple USB C - M5Stack ATOM Matrix ESP32 Development Kit | The Pi Hut
These are also very nice if you want to DIY a thermostat M5Stack Dial - ESP32-S3 Smart Rotary Knob with 1.28" Round Touch Screen | The Pi Hut
Thanks, that could be an option if I did end up going down the esp32 route, although it seems to have more functionality than I need (i.e. integrated button and an led matrix). What I’d probably do if I went with esp32 is get a £2-3 board from ebay/aliexpress, connect it to a single led and place in small housing myself.
Random Question (which may spark many more!).
Is there any value/benefit in getting a smart thermostat (with smart radiator valves) when I’m always home, the rooms I don’t use are always set low on the rad valves & I turn the heating on when I want it? 
I have a combi boiler - which means that I have to plan less for warmth, and so kinda don’t see the benefit with them in collab with a Combi boiler.
Not really, I use a simple Zigbee Relay on the boiler with Aqara TRVs in every room bar 2 (you always want to keep at least one or two without smart TRVs. This is because all rooms are in use most of the time. I also have been playing with presence sensors which turn the TRVs down if no one is in the room for a certain period.
Yea, two of them (one upstairs, and one downstairs), don’t have any TRVs on them. I already have dual heating with controls upstairs/downstairs.
So don’t think I’m best placed for it… Maybe it’ll change when rooms (like the office) aren’t used all weekend, and might want to have that room come on in the morning on working days etc 
In the days when I’m more likely to have the heating on in the morning when we’re in 
season
It’s also good to keep them rooms warm (not as hot) as frost protection.
Oh yea, I’ve got all the unoccupied rooms set to have the TRV set to 1 - so that they at least get some heating, when the main heating comes on.
Yeah makes sense, yeah if you don’t plan to automate then no point in using smart TRV
I use the Hue Bridge still over the SkyConnect I have, it makes firmware updates easier and it also gives me a fallback position if my Pi4 dies, those lights/switches still work regardless.
Its also a painful process to migrate them all by repairing.
If I had other Zigbee devices over just Hue then I would look to migrate over having 2 zigbee networks though but I am down the thread/matter route for now with a few EVE devices.
The EVE motion is very good over the Hue bridge when interfacing with HA as I found the Hue API had a delay relaying the luminance after a motion event is triggered which caused a delay turning on lights (although SkyConnect would sort that)
Watch out on your 2.4Ghz bands for wifi as Zigbee is on that range and if you have an AP broadcasting close (in proximity and freq) with a bit of traffic it can slow resposivness down.
Its in beta but Hue test for an elongated amount of time. I dont know if you could use a second bridge in Matter mode as a workaround but I know matter comes with limitations.
At least it’s in beta and does exist. Hopefully it will arrive this year. I can hold out for a little longer. I wish the Hue Bridge would give some feedback as to what the problem is. It could at least give a warning that it has hit the device limit.
I’m just guessing that 52 devices is overloading it? To be precise - 27 Hue Colour Bulbs/Lightstrips and 25 Hue v2 Dimmer Switches (the version with the Hue logo on the 3rd button down).
It’s not a big house either, I just happen to have the bulbs in lots of lamps, and the dimmers next to the bedsides and on the walls/desk etc - the total soon adds up.
I’ve also tried to remove a bunch of scenes from each dimmer, leaving only the default on/off and a single relaxing scene for each room. This has made little difference, it’s still lagging massively.
I might try changing the Zigbee channel again…
Is there a list of actual exact frequencies for each of these Zigbee channels? So I can cross-reference to the WiFi frequency my UniFi APs are using?
They are processed on the hub so the traffic the switch sends is a simple button push/hold basically although complex transitions/animations do go over the zigbee to the lights.
Hue I think only has 3 frequencies it uses, stick to 25 and avoid using 2.4Ghz 11/13.
Remember though the neighbours wifi can affect it (not just how close they are to the hub, how close they are to the, say, outside light), I am close to the limit myself but I did notice when an ap was on 11 next to the bridge resposivness dropped.
Z-Wave avoids the wifi bands but its rare in the UK and costly. Thread is on 2.4Ghz as well (Matter I think can be on any transport protocol that supports it but thats mostly Thread right now, Hue matter does zigbee then the bridge translates to matter on ethernet).
The one perk with using the Zigbee stick is you can see the Zigbee network in much more detail but the thought of repairing all those devices and also the wonder if its causing issues has held me back.
I regret choosing Hue to be honest. Once you have gone down that path and spent the money, it’s difficult to switch ecosystem, especially when your partner refuses to use anything other than the Hue app to control lights, despite having better options available.
I’m just going to have to run with it at this stage and hope the update sorts it.
Thanks.
The device limit is there but you can hit similar with anything besides wifi based and they cause 2.4ghz issues anyway with the traffic, the wiz bulbs are very cheap by comparison but they are not the stabiliest. Using a zigbee stick does avoid the problem as the device limit is a bridge recommendation but even then you will hit 2.4Ghz bands causing issues if they have a bit of traffic.
I saw someone mention their LG tv caused their wiz bulbs to drop off wifi and not reconnect randomly when on the same vlan and wiz bulbs just roll out firmware which can cause a lot of issues.
I had a similar problem but less with using the hue app and more using the iOS home app which has its own problems although using Browser Control to limit the dashboard interface and clean it up has helped a lot with acceptance with the other half.
She is getting more comfortable with the HA dashboard I made, especially with the blankets on the bed being controlled by it.
Lights are used typically by her by the Home app at bed time and physical hue buttons most of the time. A lot of the lights use motion sensors from EVE so she doesnt need to worry about them going on/off at all.
It’s not, the good thing about Hue stuff is that it’s standard zigbee so you can use even Aqara zigbee hubs. I use hue lamps and buttons because I started with the Hue bridge then out grew it
Just a pity app wont work without the bridge I assume.
But you couldn’t then use the Hue app? That is the requirement, sadly.
No but you can 100% do everything and more with the home assistant app. Make dashboards that resemble the hue app. Make scenes etc
Yes, I agree. That will not wash in our house though, with my partner. We would end up sitting in darkness. It’s a good suggestion though.
I will just have to wait for the promised Hue multi-bridge update.
Those atom matrix led things, are they straight forward to get up and running?
Wow, what dashboard is this? I need to do the home layout for mine!
