Home Assistant Node-RED Install Plus Examples

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

NOTE: Since this video was released, the add-on has been updated and the credential_secret that I mentioned as being mandatory is no longer used, so this can be ignored If you want to learn more about Home Assistant, this series will help you out kzbin.info/www/bejne/hILYonx6rK9maJY

[@fredrikrutgersson]

Thanks for Home Assistant Node-RED Install Plus Examples.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

May thanks and glad to know the video helped

[@andrewfreestone6316]

Thanks Dave. Just started HA and was uncertain about node red. This video was excellent, simple to follow and patiently explained. Looking at you other videos. Thanks again.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

I've found Node-RED to be extremely useful for HA It makes the automation so much easier to set up but also to test and troubleshoot rules

[@piperjohn_3]

This was excellent content and definitely worth the time. It answered a lot of the basic questions I had in getting started with NR. Your examples were well selected and presented. Exampled of how to use debug and inject nodes was much appreciated. Bigtimer and its little bro ez are definite must-haves. A game changing moment happened for me here when I realized the switch node was not just binary but could be used for multiple case logic! Thanks for this.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Thanks for the feedback I think Node-RED makes it so much easier to set up automation rules and troubleshoot them I don't know of another smart home solution that incorporates anything like this, which gives HA such an edge So, good to know the video was helpful

[@robgreen6697]

haha Hi I was just looking up some Node Red stuff and was delighted to see you pop up! I'll listen in and I hope your video helps me out here. What a small world.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

They world may seem large but it's surprising who you keep bumping into Main thing that got me hooked on Home Assistant was Node Red It makes it so much easier to build, test and troubleshoot rules So I hope you find the video useful

[@robgreen6697]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone for sure, I was over thinking some things plus the templates are now in my head for my mmw presence sensor plus I we you did an Espresence which I setup 2 days ago… hope you’re keeping well and thanks for making these tutorials

[@lakromani8172]

This video get me started in Node Red. Debug part is very handy to understand and use.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Absolutely It's frustrating when you setup a rule and it doesn't work But that debug window makes it so much easier to understand and fix I also found it very useful when looking for attributes to setup rules for as some devices don't have separate entities

[@JeganathanPoongavanam]

Thanks a lot David. Very helpfull for me to start the node red flows. The explanations are really clean and clear! Thanks again

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good to hear I'm really glad Franck provided this Node-RED add-on as it's made automation me for so much easier

[@rasbe6863]

This is an awesome tutorial for new people to learn about Node Red. I moved all my home assistant automations to node red 3 years ago. I have over a hundred flows all linked in some way or not. I will definitely be sharing this. Keep up the good work!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it That's a lot of flows I must say, but I suppose it's a lot easier to manage than using typical rule engines Node Red is actually what got me interested in Home Assistant I used to be computer programmer, but even still, I find Node Red much easier to use and there are so many things you could do with it

[@DavidVerch]

I installed Node Red a few weeks ago and had no clue what to do even though I watched other videos. Yours was the best and most useful for a beginner. Watched what you did and added my first automation. The garage light turns on when the garage door opens then stays on with the delay off for 20 minutes.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good to hear To me, Home Assistant can do many great things, but Node-RED is what got me hooked

[@craighogan9448]

Top of the line video presentation. Very Very clear and concise. Wish I would have found this one earlier..

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good to know the video was helpful so thanks for the feedback For me, Node-RED puts HA miles ahead of any another home automation solution

[@brianpietrzyk8945]

Great Video! I like how it was presented.. at a good speed and showing potential curve balls along the way. Not so fast that you have to pause it every few seconds to digest or replay as each concept is introduced. I'm an HA noob and in the process of moving off Insteon and HomeSeer (which I was on for 20 years and was not without its issues of coms reliability and HSx Rpi stability). Much appreciated David!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciated I'm glad to hear that the video wasn't too overwhelming as there's a lot to Home Assistant let alone Node-RED And this gives me a better idea of how I should structure future videos

[@brianpietrzyk8945]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone Now I'm trying to figure out how to map the nodes to entities. I'm using Shelly and HA Rpi. So at some point you want to get into the details of that it would be great.

[@johnnylockwood]

A very comprehensive summary. Thank you. Very good

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Thanks for the feedback and good to hear the video was helpful

[@IsmaelLa]

I just setup my node red in minutes with this video. Calmly explained and great testing options shown as debug and inject nodes. Thanks for this!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Thanks for the feedback and good to know the video helped Node-RED is great for putting together rules but if something doesn't work it makes it so much easier to work out where the problem is

[@terrymaker4781]

Great video. I had no trouble following the whole tutorial! Thanks!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Thank you for the feedback, always appreciated And good to know you found this helpful

[@coollllmann]

Excellent explanations, thanks a lot sir. Donated a little money, keep on the great work!!!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good to know the video was helpful And many thanks for the comment and the contribution to the channel

[@ElliottMorris]

This was very helpful to me - thank you! I didn't know the StopTimer node existed, and it was exactly what I needed. I have two motion detectors in a room that turn the room lights on, and resetting the motion timer was a challenge. This works like a gem!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good to know the video was useful I've been using this timer for a while but shortly after making this video it was removed from the default node list It's a pity because that ability to stop the timer is very useful for motion sensors But at least you can still install it and use it

[@ElliottMorris]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone to me that's one of the most frustrating things about the Node-Red implementation in Home Assistant. There are many useful nodes that can be installed but aren't installed with the default installation, and IMHO it's difficult to search and find nodes with desired specific features.

[@Jackavatar]

I learned a lot from this video, thank you!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good to know the video was useful

[@koolkiwikat]

thank you for your time and effort, I enjoyed been taught new tricks :)

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good to know the video was helpful I think Node-RED is a great way to set up, test and troubleshoot automation rules

[@Hasse-swe]

Very good video sir. Good explaining as well. One of the best videos of Node Red i have seen, and it helped me alot with my automations with HUE Motion Sensor. I using an old computer for Home Assistant on Debian 11 (No GUI) to keep it simple and clean. The only thing i installed was "openssh-server" and Home Assistant. I use the HUE Bridge and everything works just greate so far. Even with IKEA Trådfri RGB GU10 spots. I have some E27 (RGB) lights before that i like to sync with my computer and Razer Synapse 3. Next goal is to get 2 GU10 lights from HUE cause i want to sync them to the computer. But those are very expensive here in Sweden. IKEA Trådfri is around 18USD. And HUE is about 59USD each. But i can buy multipack, and that will be a little cheaper. Tanks again for a greate video.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

An interesting setup, thanks for sharing And good to know the video was useful I do like the convenience of the Phillips Hue bridge, even though Home Assistant could control most of the lights directly I've had it for some time and it's been used with different smart home solutions but rarely have I had any problems

[@Hasse-swe]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone I got use for the video again. Theharddrive gave up. And no ticking sound or warnings. So i replaced the harddrive to an SSD (2,5 inch Sata). I didnt need the preformance of an SSD. I could get a standard HDD instead cause they usually have a longer lifespan. But the cheapest new HDD i found was almost twice as expensive as the SSD I chose. The HDD was on 1TB and the SSD is on 240GB. So it was cheaper to get an SSD instead, and it use less power as well. And i also got 50 Swedish Kronor in discount. So the 240GB SSD was cheaper then a 120GB SSD. I dont need so mutch storage space for Debian 12 and Home Assistant. So now i am learning even more.

[@school_Coding-Time]

Awesome and consistent video. It's has a lot of important and usefull information. But please use a second tab in your browser so that you don't have to wait for NodeRed to load every time.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Yeah it is useful to have that extra tab open

[@patrickdelvisohopkins]

Excellent video, clear and to the point, thanks!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Thank you for the feedback and good to know the video was helpful

[@JoachimBTube]

Great Video, thank you David

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Thanks for the feedback and glad the video was helpful

[@euzon]

Grazie. Il video che cercavo.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Buono a sapersi, il video è stato utile

[@daviddonnelly8406]

David, following your excellent lesson right up to adding and configuring a call service node. Time 24:00). Then when selecting the area - my area (Guest Bedroom) does not show. All other areas in the house show. I have looked all over HA and see the Guest Bedroom identified as an are - except in Node Red. Help - what is wrong - where do I need to check......?? (Thanks in advance!!)

[@daviddonnelly8406]

oh - one more thing - it also does not show up in the call service node "device" either. NO problem configuring the event: state node.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Unfortunately I don't know I've created an area with that exact same name "Guest Bedroom" and it shows up so it doesn't seem to be a naming convention problem Try creating a new area. If that shows up, consider moving your devices to that area

[@daviddonnelly8406]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone David - sound advice. Not sure why I did not think of it (duh!?!?!). Unfortunately, that did not solve the problem. It seems like Node Red is not recognizing new areas. Question: I am thinking I should uninstall Node Red, restart HA, maybe even a system reboot, then reinstall Node Red and walk through your video again for the install. If that is a reasonable approach, is the uninstall as simple as clicking the uninstall button on Node Red? Then restart or reboot the system and then install Node Red? Your advice and counsel are appreciated.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

@@daviddonnelly8406 I would look in the log files first This could be a software bug so are you running the latest versions? Because there seems to be a disconnect if new areas aren't being accepted

[@daviddonnelly8406]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone I am running: Supervisor 2022.12.1; Operating System 9.4; Frontend 20221213.1 - latest; Node Red 14.0.1. Now for logs....? System logs? In the system logs, I looked at Node Red. No errors, warnings...nothing in red print to indicate an error. I also went to the Node Red integration and looked at the Node Red logs - turns out they are the same log (lesson learned on logs). Thoughts on potential next steps?

[@caseyhanson9231]

Legend, thank you!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good to know the video was helpful

[@caseyhanson9231]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone I am currently trying to set up my Xiaomi QBKG22LM and QBKG21LM lights to my Zigbee2MQTT. I have paired them, but I'm struggling with setting the automations for them. When I go to devices it also shows a list of toggle switches, but not all of them turn the light on and off, only a select few so I'm confused and getting disheartened

[@TimNorman1]

This video has been very helpful. I have been debating about installing NodeRed or using the basic automations. I like the idea of being able to copy things especially when setting up switches or duplicate items even for different areas. I've stumbled on the timer issue, which I thought was able to be replaced by wait until node but it seemed a bit complicated to setup. Guess I need to watch to the end to find out how to get the timer installed.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Node-RED is mostly what drew me to Home Assistant because of it's ease of use When I made this video, the timer I used in the examples was a default node Unfortunately it was removed from the default list just after I published it But when I upgraded Node-RED, the flow still had a placeholder for the node and all I had to do was install the node back in and everything was fixed Developers will always make changes, and I really like this approach because I didn't for instance have to completely rebuild my flows

[@TimNorman1]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone Agree David. Changes are inevitable. Sometimes the effort to forge ahead is enjoyable. I'm glad we can add the item back in, which just helps me to learn more new stuff. I've only been playing seriously with home assistant for about 2 months.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

As has been pointed out, the stoptimer node I used was removed just after the video was released And I've also found it is removed from existing installations and so breaks existing automation rules A quick solution is to install this node manually as it is no longer installed by default You can do what I did in the last section but this time search for stoptimer This will also fix any existing rules you've used this node in

[@wayland7150]

node-RED-FLAG! "And I've also found it is removed from existing installations and so breaks existing automation rules". So because they removed a node from the library it vanished from existing live running systems? This is everything that is wrong with modern tech. I've used nodeRED in the past but learning this I won't use it on my current project.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

It seemed frustrating at first when I upgraded myself But it could have been worse as the node could have been deleted from the rules Instead there was a warning and an "imprint" of a node that no was longer available Once I downloaded and installed the stoptimer node, my rules were back to normal, although I did redeploy them to be on the safe side I've been in IT for decades and things like this are inevitable I'm just glad the developers left an option to still use this node whereas someone else may have just removed it from the system, end of story and I could have been left with a broken automation while looking for alternative options And that's why you have to test upgrades before deploying them for real Although one of the major appeals to me about Home Assistant is you can install this as a virtual machine This way you can snapshot the system, deploy an upgrade and then roll back to where things were before if something goes wrong

[@wayland7150]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone Reading this and other comments it now seems not quite as bad. It does not break a running system but breaks when you rebuild. I'm having another look at node-RED. I found a chap doing exactly what I want to do, read a temperature and log it to a MySQL database. He's reading the PI CPU temperature but I will take readings off a BME280 sensor for Temperature, Humidity and Pressure. I might actually get round to Home Assistant.

[@geo5162]

Thanks Dave, great video! I'm curious why the developers would take out or hide an important node like stop timer ? I'm wondering what the developers would use in place of the Stop timer??

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

It was pulled as it was no longer being maintained Although I haven't put it to use myself, as Jimmy Murphy has pointed out in another comment, an alternative option is to use the trigger node This node sends a message out as soon as it receives input and then starts a countdown You can configure it to send another message out a different output when the timer ends So the way I see it, you ignore the first output and use the second output to turn the lights off when the timer ends However, you can configure it to stop the timer when a certain message is received in the payload So it's similar to the stop timer, just a bit more advanced and complicated I suppose

[@thomasschreier1080]

Great video, thank you David !! I'm new to Node Red and try to play local MP3 on my Sonos Speakers. But there is no Instruction how to access local files and play them on Sonos. I managed to play "Online mp3s" over , but I have no idea what is different with the local HA files?

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

My speakers are too old to test against, but are you using the Sonos integration? Presumably if you could setup Sonos to play local music say through a Plex server, you could create a playlist Then maybe an HA automation could instruct Sonos to play the music in that playlist on a speaker

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

If you know of any better/cheaper alternatives for a light sensor please let me know The one mentioned is also a motion sensor, but I really just needed something to measure the light levels and would be weatherproof

[@bryanconley6562]

I see that stop-timer isn’t there anymore, but is there a way to restart the timer function? I would prefer to restart the timer when motion is detected, not just stopped.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

It's not installed by default anymore but you can install it manually I showed an example of installing other nodes towards the end of the video Look for the node-red-contrib-stoptimer

[@AlanJones-vc9yr]

Hi Thanks for the great video. I have installed Node-Red on my Pi based Homeassistant, but it will not run. Any help would be gratefully received.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

I haven't used HA on a Pi for a long time. I never used Node-RED on it, but I would suggest checking the logs The one for Node-RED will be on a tab in the add-on page For the core logs, visit Settings | System | Logs Otherwise check out the documentation github.com/hassio-addons/addon-node-red/blob/main/node-red/DOCS.md There's also the discussions page github.com/hassio-addons/addon-node-red/discussions

[@brighterfuture3993]

time range node ? wouldn`t that be easier ? also room presence using only movement sensor is quite hard and sometimes doesn`t work at all :)

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Yeah, the time range node can certainly be helpful I've found it useful to stop the bedroom curtain opening before I'm due to get up I don't mind if the rest of the house opens up at 4am at times of the year, but that's a bit too early for me I had a lot of fun with motion sensors in Data Centres and it proved just as fun having to wave your hands around at home when the lights went out so I started tracking device usage to stop the lights going out Then along came room-assistant and I've been using that for a long while to track an Apple watch and phone It started off well, but I'm not sure what's happened of late as there are now times it doesn't pick things up at all I managed to get it all stabilised in Node-RED but as ESPresence 3.1.0 now works better with the Apple watch I've switched back to that for my room presence and it's proving to be much more stable

[@jimmymurphy8889]

It appears that right after this video was made the "Stop Timer" was removed from Node-Red. I found that the "Trigger" function can be used in its place.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Wow, now that is just plain bad luck Thanks for the update, much appreciated

[@spug68]

David; is you use the Current State of a motion sensor "no detection" for 20 minutes in the node, is the motion sensor alive the whole time, or is it Node Red that is watching that is does not change to "Detection"? Setting things in reverse, if the statement is true, Turn on the light. If the action is false, because motion is detected, and the 20 minutes is not reset because "no detection" has changed. Now if your telling me the whole 20 minutes, Red-Node is polling the sensor to make sure there is "no detection", then that would burn through batteries for that 20 minute period. Still learning, so wanted to ask the experts :)

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Node-RED doesn't poll the sensor, instead it's acting on state change messages What happens is that when the motion sensor detects movement it sends out a message to HA and Node-RED can then do something about that state change in a rule When motion stops being detected, for a certain amount of time, the sensor then sends another message to HA So all a rule machine does is to act on those state changes of motion detected and no motion To conserve energy, the sensor is then likely to go to sleep and so it doesn't react to further movement for a while, which is why I prefer USB powered motion sensors It probably varies among vendors but I has some that are "asleep" and don't use much energy even though the sensors are operational. They also have a night and day mode so they can save more power But they have regular periods when they "wake up" to learn about config changes that need applying for instance

[@RolandOfGileadOnYT]

If the "Configuration" tab only says there's no config for you to mess with, use ctrl+F5 on your browser, that will help.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Yeah, I'm now finding that can help a few things with HA

[@techieboy333]

You're a saviour. I couldn't get the config page up and even resorted to re-installing Node-Red a couple of times without joy, then just happened to stumble across your comment. A CTRL+F5 later and all is good. Thanks. 👍

[@gzcwnk]

So we were doing really well (better than any other tutorial so far) until "stop timer" in 2022.6 it doesnt seem to be available.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Yeah, the timing (no pun intended) couldn't have been worse and I've held off updating Node Red I read in the patch notes that the node doesn't get much use and so that's why it is no longer included I'll have to find work around before updating my own system in case things break But I believe you can still download and install this node, it's just no longer being maintained There is an alternative though I'll also look into

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

If you know of a better/cheaper outdoor light sensor that will work with Home Assistant, do let me know

[@arduino.spullen3916]

Good explanation, but unfortunately your texts, from the nodes, are very difficult to read on the screen

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Thanks for the feedback What were you watching the video on? I ask as the playback on my PC monitor is readable

[@bat3332]

any idea if this will Elgato EVE Room Sensor - Air Quality, Temperature and Humidity - Homekit integrate with home assistant ?

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

I can't really say as I haven't used Homekit or Elgato devices They do look good mind I had a look on the HA website and there's a HomeKit Controller available www.home-assistant.io/integrations/homekit_controller/ So it sounds like once you've added devices to HomeKit you can control them from HA though that integration, although nothing's guaranteed

[@bat3332]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone Thank you checking out for me

[@stoptheirlies]

This is the debug window, very useful if you have a problem you can debug a node. Yeah ok how about showing us how? A lot of talking but so far nothing on actually doing it!

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good question How about checking out the troubleshooting section in the video for instance? kzbin.info/www/bejne/h32klmd-bJd0p5o At about that point I show how to add a debug node and walk through the output being shown in the debug window

[@stoptheirlies]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone Ah! ok so the first half of the video is telling us what's going to be in the second half, whatever floats your boat!

[@TikTok-il9hx]

Really useful - thanks. Might be worth mentioning in a sticky that you no longer seem to need to faf about with the confidential secret. Did slightly worry me that I couldn't see it on the config page but comparing your install page with mine that step has now gone.

[@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone]

Good to know the video was useful For me, the setting still exists although it isn't mandatory it seems, which makes sense I'll need to try and test this on a new install it seems Thanks for sharing

[@TikTok-il9hx]

@@TechTutorialsDavidMcKone NP. Also just FYI stoptimer has to be downloaded from the manage pallet as it wasn't there by default for me.