Another newbie to the Z-Wave World and more newbie questions. I’ll start by saying I have attempted to do my homework before posting my questions. I’ve joined and searched the forum, wiki.micasaverde.com, and have done numerous Google searches. I’m completely new to this technology, I’ve made some headway, but I still need help.
I started with Vera and Mios to control and monitor two, 2Gig thermostats in a new furnace install in my home with two zone heating and air conditioning. I started down the Z-Wave yellow brick road around two weeks ago and have successfully setup the thermostats with scene controls. So far the 2Gig thermostats are running smoothly and meeting my needs—no problems with Vera recognizing them or running under scenes.
After that first flush of success, I broadened my horizons and started researching remote thermometers and screw in light modules. I thought this combination would work well to monitor and heat a small above ground well pump station that measures approximately 7’ length by 2’ width by 3’ in height. Inside are my well, pump, and bladder tank. One side of the station is built into a hill and has a cement block wall. In years past I’ve heated this with two one hundred watt light bulbs controlled by outside switches and a wireless thermometer I monitor in my home. The best that can be said is that it works. I should probably mention now that I live in Michigan and it is not uncommon to have some single digit to below zero temperatures in winter at my location. I want to be able to monitor my home and pump station temperature at any time by Vera’s Dashboard via MIOS, and have scenes to automaticaly control temperatures. I’m spending increasing time in Florida, so having the means to monitor, overide scenes and manually send commands to increase or decrease temperatures in my home and pump station is my main concern.
After researching I settled on the Everspring (Home Manageables) Thermometer / Humidity Sensor ST814-2 (Home Manageable HM-TS001) and Intermatics HAO5c Screw In Modules for my pump station. I have set these up and they are working with scenes on the following commands based on the EverSpring (Home Manageables) thermometers readings.
[b]Screw in module one:[/b]
Light on when temperature is less than 36º fahrenheit, light off when temperature is above 42º fahrenheit.
[b] Screw in module two[/b]:
Light on when temperature is less than 34º fahrenheit, light off when temperature is above 40º fahrenheit.
To my amazement, everything above works. I researched Vera and Z Wave products before starting, and had read that documentation could be skimpy, but that is an understatement. Research, trial and error, dogged determination with a liberal amount of venting in the form of unprintable verbage, has gotten me this far, but now I really need help. I bought two of the Everspring (Home Manageables) thermometers. One is installed in my pump station, the other (along with it’s manual) resides by my living room chair as I continue to try to decipher the manual.
I’m not sure how many times I’ve read the manual, but every time I read it I’m amazed that I can be so dazed and confused after each reading. It would be helpful, if when marketing this device in the US, if Eversprings or Home Manageable would hire someone to rewrite the manual whose 1st language is English, and realize that some users might be new to z-wave technology. Rant over.
[b]Modes[/b]
I'm unsure of what should be the optimum Mode temperature settings to turn the sensor on and off. The scene that runs 1st is, light on at 36º fahrenheit. If I'm reading the manual right, if I set the Mode feature for temperature on, at 3º celsius, the sensor will power up to receive and send rf communication at that temperature. This will enable the sensor to receive Vera's scene command of, turn on light module at 36º fahrenheit. If I set the temperature off (in Mode) for 6º celsius,it will power down and no longer receive rf communication when the temperature reachs that point. Is 6º celsius a high enough temperature setting that it will receive my turn off command of 42º fahrenheit? I realize 6º celsius is .8 of a degree greater than 42º fahrenheit, but is that enough of a variance to keep the sensor on to receive the fahrenheit off command? With the lights off (heat source off), if the temperature does not increase by .8 of a degree, does this mean the sensor stays on, consuming battery resources? Is this where Vera's node settings will come into play? How do I make the sensor turn off? I know I'm not understanding and it's frustrating. If the temperature reaches 6º celsius and satisfies the mode turn off command, does this put the sensor in sleep mode until the temperature drops to 3º celsius and turns back on, hence conserving battery power? When the temperature increases in spring, summer, etc., will temperature no longer be a factor in powering on rf communication as the on mode variables will no longer be met?
At this point, humidity is not a concern, so I'm thinking the mode on command should be 100% and the off command should be the mandatory 5% decrease, or 95%. Would it be better to leave the humidity “on” and “off” Mode settings at ----ºC. If I have no temperature variables in the mode settings will Vera still receive humidity change updates on the Dashboard? Is receiving updates a feature of having the radio frequency set to “on” and not affected by the other Mode settings?
I've set the mode radio frequency to on, and the mode beep feature to off.
[b]Nodes[/b]
In the manual it talks of sleep time intervals between communication and says the sensor can be set from 1 minute to 4660 hours, but the unit has to be set in seconds increments. The default is 1 hour, or 360 seconds. Is this the time period the sensor sleeps in between being awake for 10 minutes to receive commands from Vera, or is this the time interval in between receiving humidity and temperature updates (both?)? Are the update frequencies, controlled by “polling nodes” frequency settings? Confusion reigns.
On Vera's Dashboard for the sensor, I have the following sensor display---”Temp Humidity Sensor”, “_Embedded Temperature”, and the “_Embedded Humidity Sensor”.
On theTemp Humidity Sensor, under the “settings”, I have the “Wakeup Intervals (seconds)”, I have it set at 1800 seconds. What does the sensor do every half hour, and also as important, what can I do to It?”
The “Poll this node at most” is set at 15 seconds. What information is received when the node is polled? Can it only be polled when it's caught in an awake interval ever 1800 seconds.
In the Embedded Temperature, and the _Embedded Humidity Sensors, there are also “Poll this node” settings. Do these settings work independently from the main Sensor setting? Why?
[b]Addendum[/b]
Whoever takes the time to read this and helps, has my gratitude. While searching the forum, I found a posting that said on http://wiki.micasaverde.com there was a good sensor/node reference but I’ve been unable to locate it. I’m striking out finding basic references to help newbies who need the “Z-Wave for Dummies” or “luup made easy” type reference material ;D
Thanks—Dan