Xiaomi / Aqara Air Conditioner Gateway - Full Walkthrough - YouTube

hey what's up!

Today we're gonna have a close look at Xiaomi's Wi-Fi enabled air conditioner controller

that not only turns your AC on and off, but it can actually control

all of its functions over infrared as well.

Let's dive right in!

I gotta start off by mentioning that they've got two very similar air

conditioning controllers out in the Xiaomi store right now.

The first being this Aqara-branded one

and they have this round Xiaomi Mijia branded version as well.

Their functionality is identical but the main difference is in the way it looks.

So let's look at what these things can do which is a lot....

on the back of the device is a large 16A 3-pin plug that fits these Chinese type air conditioner sockets

and on the front is where you connect your air conditioner, which is the same size connector,

so it basically sits in between your power socket and your air conditioner.

The AC controller has full gateway functionality meaning it connects to your router over Wi-Fi

and you can pair these sensors and switches directly with this gateway over ZigBee.

This means you can pair a temperature sensor with this gateway

allowing you to set up automation rules based on the actual temperature in the room.

As opposed to the regular gateways

this AC gateway does not have a ring of lights to function as a nightlight

instead it has this black ring on the bottom where it's infrared sensors are located.

This allows you to control all of the functions of your air conditioner

like setting the temperature, setting the fan speeds.. -Like you would normally do with your remote controller.

Recently they added a new feature in the app that allows you to control all of your infrared devices

with this gateway.

Pretty much adding the same functionality as xiaomi's infrared controller.

On the side of your AC controller there's a speaker that can be used

to play internet radio, it can ring your doorbell sound or even function as an alarm

when you've got it set up as a home security alarm.

As you see this device can really do a lot and it's really versatile

so let's install it and let's see what we can do.

The installation is pretty straightforward

plug in the AC controller into the power socket and plug in your air conditioner into the AC controller.

Once it's powered on you can set it up over Wi-Fi

and install it as a new device in the Mi home app from where you can control the device

and set up automation rules.

Once it's installed it appears in the list of devices

from where you can access the device and set up the brand and model of your AC.

You simply need to select your brand and the App will give you a whole list of possible controls.

-And if this one does not turn your AC on or off go on to the next one until it works with your AC.

In my case both of my AC's were set up like really quick but in the event that yours is not working

you can also manually set it up by learning your remote control.

The device page for the AC controller allows you to fully control your air-conditioner.

In this page we can the see the current status and temperature settings

and turn the AC on and off.

We can swipe up and down on the number to change the temperature,

and on my AC I can also set the fan speed and have the lid move.

Under other devices you can easily set up other devices that you

want to be able to control with the AC partner.

You can add a new device and simply use that devices remote control

to have the Gateway learn that function.

The cool thing is that this AC gateway also monitors the actual power usage of your AC in real time.

-And you can see exactly how much power you have used over time as well.

And in my case it actually shows me the months that I use

my AC the most and which months the bill will probably be a lot higher.

The interface of the gateway used to be quite identical to Xiaomi's regular gateway

but this has recently changed, so it's gateway functionality is a little bit more hidden in the app.

You need to go to the settings menu where you'll find a menu called gateway setting

and here you can set it up as a home alarm, a wake-up clock, doorbell and

set up devices to connect with this gateway.

Here you can pair a temperature sensor to this gateway that can be used for automation rules.

This process is exactly the same as with the other gateway unit that I've

done some videos about a little while ago.

To conclude I think this is a very nice device

and I've been using the Aqara gateway since it actually got into crowdfunding

about one and a half years ago in China.

And here in Shanghai you use the air conditioner about 75% of the year, so having this device to control

and automate the AC is really nice!

The Mijia AC gateway is a little bit cheaper

but I personally like the looks of the Aqara a little bit better,

but that's just my personal preference...

It's nice to see these have gateway functionality.

I must point out that I'm not entirely sure what plug type other countries use

for their air conditioner, but you got to note that the AC partner

uses the larger size 16A 3-pins connectors.

These are slightly larger than the regular 10A connectors,

which you will need to know if you're a looking for an adapter

as for now they only have the Chinese version.

I think it's cool to see more and more devices get Gateway functionality

so that might allow you to more easily enter this smart home ecosystem.

So far they have these regular gateways, this AC gateway, and Aqara recently crowdfunded

this camera gateway that I've received a few weeks ago as well.

And this camera gateway is currently still in beta but you can expect me to do a video about that one

in the next few months when that is about to hit the store.

So I hope you've learned something today about these air-conditioner gateways.

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Thank you guys for watching and I hope to see y'all soon!