[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":122},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f5-IeurB7lEzUs9rQX4kNd7U0USyTWnXuuaCCC65k2CI":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"tags":6,"view_count":13,"vote_count":14,"answer_count":15,"has_accepted_answer":16,"accepted_reply_id":17,"created_at":18,"last_activity_at":19,"thumbnail_url":20,"is_technical":16,"has_solution_keywords":16,"related_thread_id":21,"author":22,"author_avatar":23,"body":24,"replies":25},37,"Adding non-native devices to Control4",[7,8,9,10,11,12],"control4","home-assistant","device-integration","third-party-drivers","chowmain","smart-home-bridge",38943,58,15,true,2,"2021-11-11T14:53:24.946836","2022-02-10T14:53:24.946836","https:\u002F\u002Fpicsum.photos\u002Fseed\u002Fdd51d16ac1063ff709d7c5f0807aa69a\u002F1024\u002F768",null,"TechSavvyHomeowner","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=TechSavvyHomeowner&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","Hey everyone, I recently had a Control4 system installed in my new home and I'm loving the integration so far. However, I have a few devices that aren't natively supported by Control4 that I'd really like to incorporate into the system. Specifically, I have some Govee RGBIC light strips in my entertainment room, a Roborock vacuum, and a few Meross smart plugs that I was using before the C4 install.\n\nI've heard there are ways to bring non-native devices into Control4 through various methods like IP drivers, IFTTT, or even Home Assistant as a bridge. My dealer mentioned something about Chowmain drivers but didn't go into much detail.\n\nWhat's the best approach for someone who wants to keep their existing smart devices working within the Control4 ecosystem? I'm somewhat technical and comfortable with basic networking, but I don't have dealer access to Composer Pro. My dealer is great but charges $150\u002Fhour for programming changes, so I'd like to minimize those costs where possible.\n\nAre there any community drivers or third-party solutions that work well? I've seen some posts about using Home Assistant as a middleware layer - is that overkill for what I'm trying to do? Would love to hear from others who have successfully integrated non-native devices into their C4 systems.",[26,34,40,47,54,61,65,69,76,83,90,97,104,111,117],{"id":27,"author":28,"author_avatar":29,"created_at":30,"vote_count":31,"is_accepted":32,"body":33},1,"HighEndIntegrator","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=HighEndIntegrator&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2021-12-08T14:53:24.946836",32,false,"The Chowmain drivers your dealer mentioned are definitely the way to go for many devices. They have drivers for Roborock vacuums that work great. For the Meross plugs, you might be better off replacing them with something native like the C4 outlet switches - the integration will be much more reliable and responsive.",{"id":17,"author":35,"author_avatar":36,"created_at":37,"vote_count":38,"is_accepted":16,"body":39},"HomeAutoGeek","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=HomeAutoGeek&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2021-12-13T14:53:24.946836",35,"I've gone down the Home Assistant bridge route and honestly it's fantastic if you're willing to put in the initial setup time. There's a HA driver for Control4 that exposes your HA entities to C4. This means anything Home Assistant can control, Control4 can control. For your Govee strips and Meross plugs, HA has native integrations that work perfectly.\n\nThe setup involves running Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi or similar, connecting all your non-native devices there, then using the Control4-HA driver to bridge them over. Your dealer would need to install the driver and do initial config, but after that you can add\u002Fremove devices in HA without needing dealer involvement. It's maybe 2-3 hours of dealer time upfront but saves money long-term.",{"id":41,"author":42,"author_avatar":43,"created_at":44,"vote_count":45,"is_accepted":32,"body":46},3,"Control4Enthusiast","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=Control4Enthusiast&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-01-02T14:53:24.946836",18,"Just a heads up - the Govee strips use their own cloud API which can be flaky. I tried integrating mine and the latency was noticeable. Ended up replacing them with Hue strips and using the native C4 driver.",{"id":48,"author":49,"author_avatar":50,"created_at":51,"vote_count":52,"is_accepted":32,"body":53},4,"DIYSmartHome","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=DIYSmartHome&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-01-08T14:53:24.946836",20,"Seconding the Home Assistant approach. I run about 40 devices through HA into my C4 system including some cheap Tuya stuff and it works surprisingly well.",{"id":55,"author":56,"author_avatar":57,"created_at":58,"vote_count":59,"is_accepted":32,"body":60},5,"AutomationPro2020","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=AutomationPro2020&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-01-17T14:53:24.946836",22,"One thing to consider is reliability expectations. Native C4 devices respond in milliseconds and are rock solid. Bridged devices through HA or cloud APIs can have delays of 1-3 seconds and occasionally fail. For lighting I always recommend going native, but for things like robot vacuums where you're just triggering a cleaning cycle, the slight delay doesn't matter at all.\n\nAlso worth noting that some Chowmain drivers require annual subscriptions, so factor that into your cost analysis versus just paying your dealer for the occasional change.",{"id":62,"author":22,"author_avatar":23,"created_at":63,"vote_count":45,"is_accepted":32,"body":64},6,"2022-01-22T14:53:24.946836","Thanks everyone! The HA bridge approach sounds like exactly what I need. I already have a Pi sitting around doing nothing. @HomeAutoGeek - do you know which specific driver I should ask my dealer to install for the HA integration?",{"id":66,"author":35,"author_avatar":36,"created_at":67,"vote_count":41,"is_accepted":32,"body":68},7,"2022-02-01T14:53:24.946836","Look for the \"Home Assistant Control4 Integration\" - it's actually configured from the HA side using HACS. Your dealer just needs to enable the director's API access. Pretty straightforward.",{"id":70,"author":71,"author_avatar":72,"created_at":73,"vote_count":74,"is_accepted":32,"body":75},8,"C4MasterTech","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=C4MasterTech&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-02-05T10:15:00.000000",28,"Chowmain actually has a dedicated Govee driver now that supports the RGBIC strips directly through their cloud API. I've deployed it on three client jobs and the response time is under 2 seconds. For the Roborock, their official vacuum driver includes room mapping which is a huge plus. Meross is better handled locally via Tuya or through HA to avoid cloud dependency.",{"id":77,"author":78,"author_avatar":79,"created_at":80,"vote_count":81,"is_accepted":32,"body":82},9,"SmartBridgeExpert","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=SmartBridgeExpert&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-02-06T14:22:00.000000",41,"If you want zero dealer involvement after setup, go full HA + the official Control4 integration from the HA community. You can expose every single entity (lights, switches, vacuum) as virtual devices in C4. I've been running this on my own system for 18 months with zero downtime. The initial dealer programming is literally just enabling the director API.",{"id":84,"author":85,"author_avatar":86,"created_at":87,"vote_count":88,"is_accepted":32,"body":89},10,"HomeIntegratorNYC","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=HomeIntegratorNYC&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-02-07T09:45:00.000000",19,"One tip most people miss: use the local Tuya integration in HA for your Meross plugs instead of cloud. It's faster and doesn't rely on internet. Then bridge to C4. Works like a charm and your dealer only needs to add the HA driver once.",{"id":91,"author":92,"author_avatar":93,"created_at":94,"vote_count":95,"is_accepted":32,"body":96},11,"C4DIYGuy","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=C4DIYGuy&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-02-08T16:30:00.000000",25,"I replaced my Govee strips with Philips Hue and never looked back. Native C4 Hue driver is instant and rock solid. For the vacuum and plugs, HA is perfect. Total cost for the bridge setup was less than one dealer visit.",{"id":98,"author":99,"author_avatar":100,"created_at":101,"vote_count":102,"is_accepted":32,"body":103},12,"AutomationFanatic","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=AutomationFanatic&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-02-09T11:10:00.000000",14,"Chowmain subscription is $99\u002Fyear per driver but worth it for the support. If budget is tight, HA is free and the community is huge. I help people set this up all the time.",{"id":105,"author":106,"author_avatar":107,"created_at":108,"vote_count":109,"is_accepted":32,"body":110},13,"TechDealerAlly","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=TechDealerAlly&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-02-09T18:45:00.000000",31,"As a dealer myself, I always recommend the HA bridge for clients who want to tinker. It keeps you in control without calling me every time you buy a new gadget.",{"id":102,"author":112,"author_avatar":113,"created_at":114,"vote_count":115,"is_accepted":32,"body":116},"HAControl4User","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=HAControl4User&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-02-10T08:20:00.000000",27,"The HACS Control4 integration is the one you want. Search for 'control4' in HACS and install the latest version. Takes about 10 minutes once HA is running.",{"id":15,"author":118,"author_avatar":119,"created_at":120,"vote_count":98,"is_accepted":32,"body":121},"FinalTipGuru","https:\u002F\u002Fui-avatars.com\u002Fapi\u002F?name=FinalTipGuru&background=random&color=fff&size=256&bold=true","2022-02-10T13:55:00.000000","One last tip: enable logging in the HA-Control4 driver so you can see exactly what's happening if something lags. Makes troubleshooting super easy.",1784825298091]