Adding Homekit to Existing Items

[LePigeonBleu]

Hi!

I hope this hasn't been asked before...

I have smart items in my apartment and none work with Homekit. Without spending a ton to repurchase everything with Homekit capabilities, does anyone know of a way for me to use these devices with Homekit? Any smart hubs that would do this? Any and all help is appreciated!

mark

 

[joshforman]

Homebridge

 

[LePigeonBleu]

Homebridge

Thanks. I'll give it another try. I tried it one time and got error after error. I'd correct one error and another would come up.

 

[LePigeonBleu]

Out of curiosity, is there any solution other than Homebridge, that I can use without having to continuously run my computer?

 

[LePigeonBleu]

Also, I've tried many times to get it to run, but haven't been able to get far. I get to the config.json file and get errors. Is this the only program?

 

[NOITAIDAR]

Head over to the HomeBridge issues forum on github, lots of people there who can help you.

https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge/issues


It sounds like your issue might be with the format of your config.json file. Paste your .JSON file into a validator on http://jsonlint.com/ to be sure

 

[LePigeonBleu]

Head over to the HomeBridge issues forum on github, lots of people there who can help you.

https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge/issues


It sounds like your issue might be with the format of your config.json file. Paste your .JSON file into a validator on http://jsonlint.com/ to be sure

Thanks! I'll check out the issues site. I've pasted the .JSON file on the validation site and get errors each time. I'm not a coder, so I have no idea what I need to fix.

 

[haxrnick]

Thanks! I'll check out the issues site. I've pasted the .JSON file on the validation site and get errors each time. I'm not a coder, so I have no idea what I need to fix.

I assume you're also downloading the appropriate add-on as well for each accessory or platform. With no coding experience I'd suggest just copying their provided example and editing/add on what you need to.

{
    "bridge": {
        "name": "Homebridge",
        "username": "CC:22:3D:E3:CE:30",
        "port": 51826,
        "pin": "031-45-154"
    },
    
    "description": "This is an example configuration file with one fake accessory and one fake platform. You can use this as a template for creating your own configuration file containing devices you actually own.",

    "accessories": [
        {
            "accessory": "WeMo",
            "name": "Coffee Maker"
        }
    ],

    "platforms": [
        {
            "platform" : "PhilipsHue",
            "name" : "Hue"
        }
    ]
}

What OS are you trying to run it on? If Windows, it'll be a little more finicky than rPi and linux.

 

[Otto Pilot]

MAybe this will help...When I first set up homebridge, my issue ended up being the config.json file was being put in the wrong folder (/homebridge vs /.homebridge which it was looking for). Once I got that figured out and fixed, everything worked very smoothly.

 

[LePigeonBleu]

Sorry for the long delay in my reply...

I've gotten nowhere with homebridge and if anything, don't understand it even more. Is there a simplified way of installing everything?

Mark

 

[chuyn]

Regarding your original post's question about smart hubs adding HomeKit capability.. the only options I've seen so far are Philips hue, Insteon, and Lutron Caseta. You can replace those systems' old hubs with newer HomeKit-capable hubs ($60-80 CAD). It'll cost money, but imo, not "a ton". That would just cover lights/outlets as long as those are the brands you already have of course. Other items, nothing other than homebridge from what I've seen.

 

[LePigeonBleu]

I have Hue, but need the bridge for Homekit. I have August, but need the Homekit version. I have Nest, which I'd sell and get the ecobee3 lite.

Does anyone know if there's a setup I can do involving SmartThings or something similar?

m
[doublepost=1480202559][/doublepost]Should I consider hiring someone to do this via join.me?

 

[chuyn]

Personally, I replace two of my august locks for HomeKit version and spent about $100. The hue I spent $50. I did get lucky and sold at the right time/found the right buyer. I actually went from an ecobee back to a nest. Prefer the look of the Nest more than the 1-2 times I used Siri to control the ecobee. Getting the newest hue hub shouldn't be that bad. You could always try selling the old one to minimize the cost. You could always sell the august lock to non-iOS users too

 

[SouthernTeuchter]

I had a Hue setup originally and wanted to add a couple of old Orvibo S20 WiFi plugs so set up Homebridge on a Raspberry Pi. It's somewhat technical but I used to be too so was able to get it up and running quite quickly. Pros: 1) it's very cheap, 2) it's rock solid - had it running continuously for a month without a glitch; Cons: it's a little clunky since you need to play with code (a little bit) any time you want to make changes - depends how comfortable you are with that.

The best resource I found for figuring out Homebridge was Reddit. There is a Homebridge subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/homebridge/) but it's not used much. The best place so search for stuff and ask questions is actually the Home Automation subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/homeautomation/). There are a number of people who have integrated SmartThings into Homekit this way.

The best resource/description I found for setting it up was here: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1oNv74I7VnIZZ0bqI6gZoZWj92kNqULjMV5NmdmlH9G8/pub