In part 1 we used IFTTT to set up a simple webhook and connect it to our smart home. In this post I’m going to show you how to call IFTTT from your Loxone Config.
Disclaimer: I’m not a Loxone partner so I have no formal training. All the steps here I’ve worked out for myself and I may be making some mistakes. If you can see a better way of doing it or just want to point out some errors that I’ve made then please put them in the comments below.
Step 1: Open Loxone Config and save a backup
Step 2: We will be using Virtual Outputs. This is where our magic happens. A virtual output is a command that’s sent from Loxone to an external system.
Step 3: Create the new Virtual output
Step 4: Set the Address to http://maker.ifttt.com (Note the “http”, not “https”, the Miniserver Gen 1 latest update doesn’t support https). We’ll be using this Virtual Output for all our IFTTT commands; each webhook that we send is a new Virtual Output Command and is configured in the next step.
Step 5: Create a new Virtual Output Command
Step 6: Set the following parameters for the Command:
Name: The name of your action
Command for ON: the rest of the URL for your webhook, eg /trigger/dim_kids_room/with/key/ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
HTTP method for ON: POST
You can also create another webhook for the OFF command and enter that in the Command for OFF parameter (eg turning your lights back on again).
Step 7: We are going to create a switch to trigger our Virtual Output. I’m going to use a Retractive Switch because I just want to fire an ON command and don’t need to worry about OFF. If you do want your Virtual Output to have an OFF command as well then you probably want to choose an On/Off switch. Just be aware that if you trigger your scene from outside Loxone, like a 3rd party app or Alexa then that status won’t be passed to Loxone, so you might be turning something on that is already on.
Once you’ve created your switch you can set it up your trigger and drag in your Virtual Output. Here I am triggering my scene from a triple click on my Touch Air (RaQ).
You can also choose to put your new switch into the user interface so it can be triggered through the app.
Save your config in the Miniserver and test it out.
Be aware that there can be a delay from triggering your IFTTT command from Loxone. My smart bulbs can take from 3–8 seconds to respond. The paid IFTTT plan gives a faster execution time but it still won’t compare to native Loxone products which work over an internal network.
Using IFTTT opens up the whole Loxone ecosystem to some amazing 3rd party products, like these cool Nanoleaf tiles (UK, US).
I hope this article has helped you get over the isolated feeling of working with Loxone by showing you that your home automation system can have friends and integrate with one of the most popular tools out there.
My Connected Home 