OBS: I’m currently not using Homey - but I’m trying to investigate how a home security system would work.
We just bought a new house, and I want to set up a smart security system. From what I can see the Homey system is the answer to this.
So I should buy a lot of smart devices (Sensors, cameras, doorbells etc.) That’s easy.
From what I can read I should then use the Heimdall app to set up the security flows.
But my question is; how would this work in day-to-day situations.
I can see that it’s possible to set up some presence information, like when no motion is detected at home, and no one is home, the alarm should Automatik be armed. And when we come home it should automatically disarm by either presence or?
But, I would like to have a keypad inside the house, so when you get home you have 15 sec to disarm the alarm. How is this done? I know It’s possible from the phone, but what if the people that are entering the house are not living there?
It could be a guest of a kind. They should have the possibility to disarm the alarm by a code.
It is much easer to have ID lock and it’s Z-Wave or Zigbee module and give people different codes and service code for occasional visitor. Service code can only be used for a limit times and duration.
Just as a comment - If you have a serious requirement for a security system I would strongly suggest a standalone alarm system that has some form of integration with Homey. It will be much more reliable and likely cost the same if you can self install. eBay prices on new systems are very attractive and you can use dependable wireless sensors.
Homey is nice, it’s great, it’s fun. But I would not use it as a 100% reliable alarm system. It isn’t designed with that in mind, imho.
But, you can monitor almost anything about what’s going on when away, very nice & cool.
There is a good Texecom Connect integration available on HomeAssistant. That is the one I use and it supports MQTT too so could potentially have interaction with Homey too.
For an “every day” alarm system for me the best setup I’ve found is to use IP security cameras outside of the property (at key points) and use those as the main point of detection and to make sure that they have reliable “Human detection”.
From my own experience the HikVisiion (2nd Generation) IP security cameras seem to work the best for Human detection performance. (There are many cameras that fail badly at this), They also have good video quality and low light performance. If a Human is detected inside my property they will notify Homey. The Homey HikVision app will then register the event. This app really needs to be updated though and a few things fixed. I think the developer has actually abandoned it. It does work for me, but I have to do a work around to get it to work properly…
For other parts of the property which aren’t in view of a camera some simple 433Mhz Window and door sensors can do the job… I wouldn’t recommend motion sensors overall unless there are parts of your property that are totally “fool proof” in terms of unwanted false detections. Motion sensors are mostly problematic from what I’ve found …
I use Homey’s presence detection as the main influence for my security system combined with the Homey Hiemdale app to manage all the security modes and states. Both seem to work fairly well from my own personal daily experience.
For my particular setup I have the following modes set up under automatic flow control…
ARMED MODE = When a trigger occurs while in this mode i have a siren and a strobe light turn of for 5 minutes. All the lights turn on and a push notification is sent to my phone . It can also send a push notification to my neighbour if I choose to. Armed mode is only automatically set if Homey presence detection detects that “No one is home”… .
Partially ARMED = I set this mode to automatically start up at 11.00pm each night. In this mode “If “Someone is home” and one of my outside camera’s detects a human then a push notification is sent to my phone , all my outside lights and lounge room light turns on for 10 minutes, and Homey says “Human Detected” 3 times (enough to wake me up (if I’m asleep in bed). The reason the strobe and siren aren’t turned on is that one of the family members might go outside or open a door after 11.00pm . Don’t want to create a scene for the neighbours …
3). DisArmed = I have this mode to automatically set at 7.00am each morning (only if someone is home) . If no one is home or everyone leaves during the day then the system will automatically set to ARM., There is no use having an alarm or numerous notifications go off during the daytime when the family is at home or is active around the house. Too many chances of false triggers during the day. Someone will know if a thief shows up, .
Other people might need more strict response’s to alarm triggers but I’m of the belief that this is the best compromise for “daily use” Alarm monitoring in a typical household…
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