I bought what I thought were two FE599 lever locks from my local RS when they were dumping their Zwave stock. Having recently successfully gotten our V1 up to the latest firmware, I decided it was time to put one of those bad boys on our garden shed. It’s a perfect application–Vera can make certain the shed door gets locked every night at dark, we can tell if it’s locked/unlocked, and can get in the shed via PIN anytime without having to lug keys with us.
Unpacked the first one–and someone had slipped the outer box-skin for a FE599 over a new, boxed BE369–the deadbolt unit. Opened the other one, and it was as advertised–an FE599. Installed it with comparatively little trouble, fought with pairing it with our V1 for a while, uninstalled it and set it on the counter next to Vera, got it fully paired, and reinstalled it. Workee. Linda really likes it…she’s nerd, too, but has strong aesthetic senses. But really loves the convenience.
I had planned on selling the BE369 here or elsewhere, but just yesterday, we were toiling away in the back yard, and she said something about how lovely it’d be if we had a PIN-operable deadbolt on one of the back doors. I have pulled the beast out and showed it to her, and she’s considering. If we put it on the kitchen door, it would be about 15 feet from Vera, but it doesn’t matter–I’ve got plenty of minions around that support beaming.
Here’s the thing I can’t infer from all the chatter about these guys: what does the “LOCKED/UNLOCKED” status that Vera will display for these actually indicate? Is it the actual throw-state of the bolt, or is it the throwable state? Which is to say, “unlockable”? If it’s the actual bolt state, then I think we keep it and it gets installed. If it’s the other–then we can’t tell what we want to know my checking Vera. I realize this lock can neither lock nor unlock itself–and given how snugly our doors hit the seals, I wouldn’t expect it to work, even if it tried. We’re fine with (someone’s) physical presence being required to lock/unlock…but we definitely want to be able to determine lock/unlock from a distance.
“LOCKED/UNLOCKED”= actual throw-state of the bolt.
If the bolt is retracted the lock state displays “unlocked”
If the bolt is extended the lock state displays “locked”
PS- in the thumbnail our front door is opened and the deadbolt is retracted.
Green indicates the actual state.
Blue indicates the throw-able state.
The UI wording indicates actionable states for both at the same time which is wrong.
We’ve asked that the wording change within the UI based on the actual state of the lock.
When locked, it should read LOCKED not LOCK.
And when it is unlocked should read UNLOCKED not UNLOCK.
We were told it is a very big deal to implement this in the firmware. So for UI4, it will stay as is.
@robinnes, looking at your jpg, I noticed that you had a scene that if your lock(s) are unlocked after 11:00pm it turns on a light. Can you share how you accomplish that, looking at events, they normally are triggered I’m assuming that your using LUA code? thanxs Mike
Here’s the last tab (only allowed to upload 4 attachments per post):
Here’s the Lua code from the Luup tab:
– Find the status of the lock
local LockState=luup.variable_get(“urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:DoorLock1”,“Status”,10)
if (LockState == “1”) then
return false
end
I considered flashing the foyer light too if it wasn’t locked after 11pm- but if we had guests over (and the door was opened) I didn’t want to have it flashing at 11pm.
Also, I didn’t want to call attention to my house with my foyer light flashing if we forgot to lock the front door one night. That’s why I settled on just having Vera turn the foyer light on and leave it on till we manually turn it off if the front door was still unlocked by 11pm. That works for me- but either method will work…
Good luck with it!
-Rob
@robinnes, understand, I have two Kwikset locks, so I modified your code to accommodate where one or both “Open” locks will turn on my bedside light. Mike
Nice. Some added security and peace of mind for you!
It’s really a very useful setup all in all…
At first my wife was very skeptical about any benefits of the Z-Wave locks, but after using them for a few months she now loves them.
We no longer worry about the kids losing their house keys (and someone finding them with access to our house now), when we walk the dog- it’s just one less item to bring along, and she absolutely loves the feature that turns the foyer light on at night if she comes home late. It’s a big safety benefit for her cause our foyer fixture lights up the foyer, the den, the stairs and part of the living room.
We also have a rental place- and every time a tenant left I always replaced the door lock cause you never know how many key copies they made and who they gave copies to. Now I never give them a physical key- just a pin code which I can delete when they move out. They like it better too, cause any landlord will tell you- tenants are always locking themselves out for some reason or another.
Much easier now with Z-Wave locks.
[quote=“JOD, post:3, topic:168471”]We’ve asked that the wording change within the UI based on the actual state of the lock.
When locked, it should read LOCKED not LOCK.
And when it is unlocked should read UNLOCKED not UNLOCK.
We were told it is a very big deal to implement this in the firmware. So for UI4, it will stay as is.
JOD.[/quote]
Back when they were looking for suggestions for UI4, I suggested the control panel style we have now but I specified that the “blocks” or “device rectangles” be the actual buttons for toggle devices (they’d be touch screen friendly, large buttons). Dimmers may require a different approach. Then you’d just change the state label of the button whether the light was on or off or door was locked or unlocked. This would allow anyone to quickly glance at the UI to see the state of devices. Add colors to the different states and it becomes even easer and more intuitive. I am unclear as to how this would be difficult to implement.
This whole business about having two buttons, a vague state indicator, a weak static icon choices, and the green/blue color scheme doesn’t make sense at all. There must have been some limitation or reason for it.
Agree with you whole heartily, I originally started this Z-Wave odyssey with my daughter locking herself out (more than once), I purchased two Kwikset locks and have since grown in devices. My wife who is a non-technical/computer type, had great reservations but has since come around and embraced the Home Automation revolution (Ok I’m embellishing slightly… ;D, but with use of PIR’s on stairway’s, closets, and rooms and handling lighting conditions automatically (hands free) has been well received. Also being able to remotely view and control once house via VERA and Camera’s is a major plus when one is out of pocket (traveling).
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