2017 HAI Omni + HomeSeer HS3PRO -> Which Lighting Control?

Hello all, have had multiple HAI OmniPro II's for years, and now added a third panel in a new location.
 
I have 3x OmniPRO II's
HomeSeer HS3PRO running in a Windows VM on VMWare VMotion for high availability
Honeywell Lyric Thermostats
The HAI UPB link in my first location with some HAI dimmers (never finished the install....yet)
Enterprise-grade Wifi system (Aruba)
Ring doorbells (for now)
 
My question is:
 
If you were starting from scratch for lighting control in 2017 with the infrastructure I have,  plus the potential opportunity for things like shades control and other stuff, what hardware standard would you use for lighting control?

OmniPro supports several lighting technologies, and you can mix and match them, which is one of the best features that HAI offers. It all depends on what you really want from your lighting system. IMO, the best for use with HAI are RadioRA2 and Centralite Jetstream. UPB also works well, but requires correct setup. I would not use zwave directly with the panel, maybe from Homeseer, I personally only have a handful of z-wave devices due to their generally bad reliability. Somfy is great for shades control, and HAI integrates with it well.

I wish I liked the RadiaRA2 design and price better. I use a mix of UPB and ZWave here with a Lumina panel (OmniPro compatible.) I have a couple of the HAI dimmers. They aren't bad, but not a great design either. I like the Cooper Aspire ZWave switch design the most, although they have a status reporting issue that makes them troublesome for maintaining light status updates if you use a lot of them. I agree, if you like the look of the RadioRA2 then they are a good and reliable choice.

My last house was all UPB, which worked just fine.  However the delay in actions after keypresses, and the very noticeable buzz was kind of a turn off.
 
I am remodeling the house I am in now, and going with RadioRA2.  The feel of the switches, and general responsiveness of the system is spot on.
 
Even better, much like you I also have HomeSeer.  So I have the RadioRA2 plugin which uses IP to communicate to RA, and I can use the serial with the Omni.  Both communicate to the system at the same time, and both get status back when the other system does something (i.e. Homeseer sets a scene, the Omni will show that about 2 seconds later).

@neillt
 
So are you using Homeseer 2 with your OmniPanel?
 
Here primary (very slow baby steps) light switches is UPB. 
 
The OmniPro 2 is currently connected to a Volp dual phased TW-523, HAI UPB, VRCOP and HAI ZIM. 
 
Only UPB switch upgrades have been to reduce the footprint of the switches if anything here.  Never much pay attention to the noise.
 
I have been slowly (very slowly) updating to LED lighting.   This too sort of related to the color and WAF.  I redid the laundry room with LED lighting and currently wife is not really happy with what she sees relating to the illumination.
 
Using the Homeseer Omni Plugin to talk to the OmniPro 2 panel.   Most recently these days grouping the automation to rooms with Homeseer.  For security though still using keypads old Omnitouch 5.7's (best for the WAF here).  Only primarily watch the Omnistat if anything these days.

Hey Pete,
 
Homeseer 3 here, running on Windows.  Using Rob Mason's newly re-named OMNI plugin.
 
The Omni has all the serial ports in use:
- RadioRA2
- ZIM
- Russound Audio
- UPB
- Carrier Infinity
 
I can still add the HAI serial expansion board if it comes to needing that 6th port.  I am still using UPB for some outbuildings that are too far for my single repeater RadioRA2 system, and really don't justify the cost of installing more repeaters and the cabling between them.  I have considered using Zigbee out there (the Sylvania Lightify bulbs join up the ZIM just fine) but having a local switch is still useful.
 
Homeseer also has connections to the RadioRA2 and the Russound directly, but then uses the OMNI Plugin to control the Carrier Infinity climate zones, security, and misc analog I/O.
 
Overall, everything gets along which is nice, and Homeseer can be the interface to Alexa so I can trigger just about anything with voice commands to Homeseer that are then dispatched to the right system.

neillt said:

Homeseer 3 here, running on Windows.  Using Rob Mason's newly re-named OMNI plugin.

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My Homeseer 3 is still in "the box", and I am running HS2. Many reasons why, but one major was the lack of integration with HAI panel. I have an extensive setup, using all 256 units, most of the flags, user settings and have 11 RC2000 connected directly to the panel. The last time I tried HAI plugin it was not able to get status of units with high numbers, could not get user settings and did not read the thermostats. Just wonder if you had tried the new plugin with these features.

Yes here with the Russound serial port (which currently is not plugged in) pushing at serial port capacity.
 
(X10, UPB, Z-Wave, Zigbee Zim, Russound (or HS2).  Use Russound keypads for primary control as it is faster than Omnitouch and Homeseer.
 
Comparing speeds / functions between old serial and new network connection for HS.  Understanding here that the old plug in does polling.  I do not see much in speed differences between the two.
 
Guessing you have mentioned to Rob about the 200 range units issue?
 
It's been a long time now since the beginning of the Homeseer 3 plugin which started in 2014 or so.  The first Homeseer testing was with the Omni Pro 2 panel sitting on a workbench.
 
Primary here for use with security utilize keypads and legacy Omnitouch 5.7's (serial).  I have done a couple of custom Homeseer Touch screens.
 
IE: mixing my Omnistat and weather stuff.
 
There are many Omni users integrating the Amazon Alexa with the Omni panel.  Today you can also integrate the Samsung Smartthings (and Alexa) hub with the mix of the Leviton Omni Panel and Homeseer.  Here going back to the touchscreen for master bathroom audio (just removed the Amazon Alexa from the bathroom).
 
@Pica, there was an issue with the Homeseer 3 thermostat API relative to more than one thermostat.  This is why the HAI plugin wouldn't work with more than one thermostat.  Today this has been fixed now with over two Omnistats but not sure how 11 thermostats would work? Thinking too the over 200 units stuff should be working.  Best to just give it a try.  Rob is running the plugin on Homeseer 3 on an RPi inside of the Leviton HAI Media can.  Here originally had thermostat issues with the last HAI Homeseer 2 plugin (very low on the WAF).  Think that Tink fixed this with the very last version of the Homeseer 2 HAI plugin.  (well I didn't see any issues with it).  Note here running HS2 and HS3 HAI/Omni plugins (serial and network) for comparisons concurent to the HAI Logger Samsung plugin.  Rob has mentioned audio integration in the Omni Plugin future.  My HAI / Omni testing here was always removing all Homeseer variables and events prior to the upgrade to the point of memorizing the events having redone them many times now.  That is me though.
 
Looked at my units configuration and I am at 161 with Zigbee stuff....
 
Created a test of 209-212 UPB units on PCA.  Looking at HS3 / Omni Plugin after.  Attached pictures.
 

 

I would be really suprised if Rob's OMNI plugin didn't support all the units, zones, tstats, etc.
 
He's also very responsive about things not working right.

neillt said:

I would be really suprised if Rob's OMNI plugin didn't support all the units, zones, tstats, etc.
 
He's also very responsive about things not working right.

Click to expand...

Can you please PM me his info? I have a question regarding how to use the OMNI plugin with multiple OmniPro II panels.