I have my light switches, IP cameras, and thermostat controlled via Vera.
What appliances and other devices are people controlling with Vera?
EtherRain Sprinkler controller (IP), DirecTV receiver (IP), Panasonic plasma (RS232), HDMI matrix switch (RS232), Blueray Player (IR), Alarm system (RS232), Patio Awning (Zwave), Garage door (Zwave), Door locks (Zwave).
I have bought a Water Alarm that works on Z-Wave. I put it down in my basement(if you have one) and monitor for water down there.
In the event of water, it sends me a notification.
I’m also setting up a Garage sensor alert to send me a text plus a picture whenever one of my kids gets home. (And that is still in the design stage :D)
You are going to get a lot of different responses to this question, but it is a great question to ask. I find that when I have friends over and they are interested in the automation system, they always want to know what all it is doing for us.
We have our Vera doing a lot of interesting (well, I think it’s interesting anyway) stuff for us. Here are just a few examples of the more out of the box ideas I’ve implemented:
[ul][li]My ~1000watt espresso maker is hooked to a load sensing outlet (CA3500), which can be turned on to warm up as part of my “morning” scene (which also turns up the heat and turns on my morning NPR fix), and automatically turns off 15 minutes after it has been turned on via any method to save power[/li]
[li]We have a dinner time scene that turns down the lights in the living room, brings up the dining room light, uses our awesome SQBlaster unit to turn on our home stereo, and starts playing a randomized “Dinner Time” playlist on iTunes[/li]
[li]Outdoor landscape lighting is beautiful but power hungry, so ours only comes on when motion is detected in rooms that have views of the backyard, or when either of the back doors are opened (and it is after dark). Controlled via HSM-100 sensors and Intermatic outdoor modules [/li]
[li]An overhead fan on the top floor, and some room fans in the basement come on periodically to circulate air and more evenly distribute heat. [/li]
[li]Water sensors (WWA-01) under several key plumbing systems (I do my own plumbing, and only trust myself so far) are poised to alert us to any leaks[/li]
[li]A Flood sensor (HM-FS001) lives in the sump basin at the bottom of my basement stairs (outdoor) to keep an eye on the sump pump. If the pump fails, in theory I get notified. [/li]
[li]Basement camera takes a snapshot of the basement doorway when the door is opened, or motion is detected nearby. [/li]
[li]Lots of other motion detected lighting that is fairly simple. Porch lights come on when approaching the house, basement lights come on when you go down there, etc[/li][/ul]
As I’m sure you have discovered, it’s a constantly evolving system. Most of the stuff I’ve described above is working well, but I’m constantly tweaking, and adding to it.
Future plans in include
[ul][li]Z-wave Controlled window blinds on top floor picture window[/li]
[li]Door locks with unique pins that fire customized scenes for each person (I bought one of these already, but have been putting off installing it[/li]
[li]EtherRain sprinkler controller to control distribution of collected rain water in irrigation.[/li]
[li]Better integration with our Security system[/li]
[li]Oh so much more[/li][/ul]
You know - I had a funny idea the other day - I think once I work the SerIO into the garage door setup, I’ll use the hrds1 that comes free in my mailbox; so I can get an e-mail notification when the mail is delivered. That way when I’m waiting on a new toy, I don’t have to keep an eye on the camera out front, I just wait for the e-mail.
Threads like this are good for everyone new and old. I love @fall-line’s approach to only turning on the landscape lighting by what is visible from the occupied rooms. Great ideas here.
I would really like to monitor the washer/dryer and get status in Vera. Being able to remotely trigger them isn’t really a need since I can set a start delay on both, but it might be nice to see if they are active or have finished their cycle. I’m looking into doing this with an Arduino and photocells, but a cheap IP cam might be fine or webcam and use Sikuli on a PC to monitor changes in the image. Also thinking about using the Smart Plugs and then be able to monitor load, if the switches can handle monitoring the W/D and not necessarily be used to shut power off (unless leak detected, etc.)
Definitely nice to see what people are doing with Vera. I am looking into EtherRain now based on what strangely wrote.
My Vera arrives on Wednesday so I am not certain all these will work, but here are my plans:
My network will consist of a Vera2, Kwikset deadbolt, two appliance/flourescent modules, one dimmer module, a thermostat, and a HSM 100 sensor.
Scene Controls:
- Press Door lock-If no occupancy as determined by bedroom HSM-100 (often I leave while my wife is in the bedroom), turn off lights, change thermostat (changes based on weather as to if temp goes up or down), arm motion sensor alerts, turn off appliance module that has several small chargers for phones on it
- Door unlock via pin or via iPhone- turn on lights, disarm motion sensor alert
- On way home command via iPhone- change thermostat
- Movie scene- dim light, turn off bedroom light
- Sleep- turn off all lights, change thermostat, lock door in case it was not earlier (woke up this morning and I left the door unlocked all night. Oops!)
- Wake- turn on lights, change thermostat- this may require obtaining another dimmer and switching a bedroom lamp to incandescent as I would like to fade in the lights so they wake us up slowly.
• Control thermostat based on HSM sensor- our thermostat in our apartment is located in the hall between the living room/kitchen and the bedroom, and of course is about 3 feet from the air return. Not very accurate for how the bedroom feels.
Hopefully I can accomplish all of this! Can’t wait for UPS to get here Wednesday!
Eventually I will have to add another HSM-100 for the living room and an IP camera.
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=3010.msg20789#msg20789
Then:
[ul][li]take a picture (easy)[/li]
[li]send a notification (with picture) to your mobile phone (use a SMTP client on Vera for performance reasons) (not difficult, search the forum …)[/li]
[li]establish a duplex audio connection to your mobile phone (tricky)[/li]
[li]activate a temporary access code for your door lock and record what the temporary visitor is doing (easy)[/li]
[li]…[/li][/ul]
We’ve had a lot of freezing rain here in Ohio this winter. Ice dams in the gutters, on the roof valleys, etc…
I am in the process of replacing conventional gutters with heated gutter guards and will be controlling them using an ACT ZRW103 - Z-Wave 20A Wall Mounted Relay Switch. The goal will be to minimize the ‘on’ time of the heaters while preventing ice build-up in the gutters. Always On = tremendous energy waste.
Being able to access the system using Home Buddy on my phone or over the internet will be a big plus While I am trying to figure it all out.
I had ice dams last year, so I installed 200 ft of heat rope in the valleys and gutters.
I used EasyHeat’s ADKS cable and then put their RS-2 controller to make the system run.
The RS-2 works like a champ, it requires two conditions to be met prior to turning on the heat rope: freezing temperatures and the presence of water.
If you don’t want the heat rope, you could use the RS-2 to control you gutter assembly instead.
I have not had any issues with ice dams since I installed this system and we’ve been hit 3 times since.
Thanks, I have 220’ of gutters and 13 downspouts to address so my issue is to created an integrated ‘system’. The RS-2 does 1200 watts and covers one run up to 100’ so I would need a minimum of 6 of these controllers to do the job, probably more.
The plan I’m adding is for a single mains connection to the breaker box with a 20A circuit. The OEM will be providing me with specs and guidelines for when the system should run and for how long (intervals). Now that you’ve mentioned the RS-2, I am going to think about the possiblity of adding just one of them as a condition indicator (i.e.: moisture and temperature as you’ve mentioned) and sensing when that unit draws high current to trigger a scene for the rest of the system to turn on. This has some possiblilties. . .
At 10 watts per foot, I will probably end up with two 20A relays to fire since each can only handle around 2400 watts. More to follow.
Ah - your problem is much more complex than mine!
Good luck! I will reiterate that the RS-2 works very well - it doesn’t turn on the heat rope just from snow. It waits until the right conditions are met. I’m pleased with it’s operation
Let us know what you decide to go with. I’m going to look at expanding my system for next season.
Edit: where did you see the RS-2 is 100’ max? The 200 ft cable only pulls 1000 watts and the RS-2 can do 1200…?
[quote=“FIST, post:13, topic:167564”]Ah - your problem is much more complex than mine!
Good luck! I will reiterate that the RS-2 works very well - it doesn’t turn on the heat rope just from snow. It waits until the right conditions are met. I’m pleased with it’s operation
Let us know what you decide to go with. I’m going to look at expanding my system for next season.
Edit: where did you see the RS-2 is 100’ max? The 200 ft cable only pulls 1000 watts and the RS-2 can do 1200…?[/quote]
I am basing this on 10 watts per foot. Apparently the EasyHeat is 5 watts per foot, so you are correct that 200’ = 1000 watts.
Thanks! Was making sure I didn’t miss something by hooking up my 200’!
Well a lot of you have the same functions that I have (with some variations) so I will only list those that are not already covered.
My Welcome scene toggles a virtual switch that is called “Home occupied”. If this switch is on the timed “Away” lighting scenes are skipped until the exit scene is pressed which turn off the “Home occupied” logic switch.
If the temperature is too low because the furnace failed to start an electric heater is turned on and an email sent to me. (Weekend home 100 miles away).
If the exit scene is activated (“Home NOT occupied”) all motion sensors, door/windows sensors and any bad door codes will activate a bank of high powered Red/Blue flashing LED lights (just like on cop cars) and emails me a camera picture (some of these pictures are priceless!). These are mounted inside on the top of a window facing my parking lot.
Water sensors in the kitchen, laundry room and utility room if activated will turn off the water supply and email me.
If the temperature in the grand room ceiling gets too high Vera turns on the ceiling fan.
If the temperature drops below freezing a heat cord in my well water pipes from the well to the house is turned on.
A temperature sensor monitors my hot tub during the winter and warns me if the water temp starts to drop due to a power outage or heater failure.
Two things that have not been mentioned that I use Vera in my house for:
-
Wakeup scenes for all bedrooms: these are slow ramp time (~30 minutes) turning on the lights in the morning at various times so that my kids get out of bed.
-
Use the LED on our basement wall switch to indicate not just that the basement stair light is on, but to indicate if ANY light in the basement is on.
This spring/summer I will look into Etherrain for the garden 
[quote=“jediobiwan, post:8, topic:167564”]My Vera arrives on Wednesday so I am not certain all these will work, but here are my plans:
• Control thermostat based on HSM sensor- our thermostat in our apartment is located in the hall between the living room/kitchen and the bedroom, and of course is about 3 feet from the air return. Not very accurate for how the bedroom feels.[/quote]
There is not an easy way to switch thermostat control to another temperature sensor. I wish there was as this seems like a great energy saver. You could make a zoned heating/cooling system based on controlling temperature to the occupied areas.
The only kludge I have used is bumping the set point of the thermostat based on the difference between the thermostat and the occupied room.
I know the tranes allow user calibration - which could be a user-friendly method of this concept - don’t know about the WD’s.
My WD has a calibration of 6 degrees I believe, its either +/- 3 degrees or +/- 6 degrees can’t remember but it does have it. Take cover off, flip calibration switch, adjust using +/-, then turn off calib to lock in setting.