Elk M1 installation problems

[lukeidstrom]

I am installing an Elk M1 home automation/ security system in a new house for my relatives. The problem is that they did not think about installing security or home automation until all drywall had been hung and the house painted. I have already talked with them and figured out certain parts of the system, but I am having problems with others. They do not want to run any more wires if possible.
 
1 - Security system. I am going to use elk 2 way wireless for the window/door and glass break sensors. I have already ordered these.
 
2 - Home automation. Using insteon for lighting control with the elk isy module to connect to the m1g. Already ordered.
 
3 - Heating/ cooling. I have and haven't been able to figure out how to have controllable thermostats for the heating/cooling system. The way that the heating/cooling works in their house is cooling through forced air, and radiant heat through the floors for heating. They are going to have 2 thermostats in each room; one for forced air and one for radiant heat. What thermostats should I be looking at for this install? It needs to be wireless control from m1g to the thermostats. Should I be looking at z-wave?
 
Sorry this is confusing. This whole install is a head ache and just want to get it installed and working. Thanks!

 

[Del91574]

You're already against the wall because of the lack of wiring.
 
1. Not my favorite solution, but if you have it ordered, so be it. I probably would've chosen a different "flavor" of RF for the M1.
 
2. It'll work, but there's more robust products, such as Lutron and others.
 
3. Zwave or Zigbee would be your options I can see unless you pull a communications cable to the T-stat. Without knowing what kind of in-floor, we'd be guessing if there could be a single box solution. Water or electrical radiant?

 

[Quixote_1]

You're already against the wall because of the lack of wiring.
 
1. Not my favorite solution, but if you have it ordered, so be it. I probably would've chosen a different "flavor" of RF for the M1.
 
2. It'll work, but there's more robust products, such as Lutron and others.
 
3. Zwave or Zigbee would be your options I can see unless you pull a communications cable to the T-stat. Without knowing what kind of in-floor, we'd be guessing if there could be a single box solution. Water or electrical radiant?

Curious -- why aren't you a fan of the Elk 2-way wireless sensors? I was thinking of picking up a few myself.

 

[mikefamig]

I use Elk 2way and it works as advertised. The main complaint that I have heard about it is that the number of devices is limited compared to others. The main claimed  advantage is extended battery life because the wireless device stops transmitting as soon as it receives an acknowledgement from the base.
 
Mike.

 

[Quixote_1]

So if I don't live in a mansion or Fort Knox, I should manage alright?

 

[RAL]

So if I don't live in a mansion or Fort Knox, I should manage alright?

 
I think you'll be just fine.  To me, the main disadvantage of the Elk two-way wireless system is that it is relatively new and has only a modest set of wireless sensors available.  The GE and Honeywell wireless systems have been around longer and have more available.  If the Elk has the types of sensors you need for your installation, then you should be set.  But say you decide that you want to add a wireless Carbon Monoxide detector, well then you're out of luck, at least for now.  Maybe Elk will add one to their lineup in the future.
 
In favor of the Elk system is that the spread spectrum transmission technology that it uses makes it less susceptible to interference and more difficult for a sophisticated thief to jam.  But since most burglars don't even try to jam a system, you'd be talking about an unusual case.
 
Given what you want to do, in no way would I say you've made a poor choice with the Elk wireless.

 

[Quixote_1]

Thanks for your input, guys!
Now if only Elk would revise their XEP to include a hard reset switch and offer a text-to-speech board that uses a decent speech engine, we'd be all set!

 

[Del91574]

Thanks for your input, guys!
Now if only Elk would revise their XEP to include a hard reset switch and offer a text-to-speech board that uses a decent speech engine, we'd be all set!

Hard reset switch? like default or just reboot? I do reboots via an output on the M1.

 

[Quixote_1]

Hard reset switch? like default or just reboot? I do reboots via an output on the M1.

I mean like the little recessed button on your router that does a factory reset. My XEP seems to have been hacked and I can no longer access it, even when I tried changing the LAN address. It just stopped functioning one day and hasn't worked since. Scanning the ports revealed a few ports including one designated as an FTP port, but I am no longer able to access the insecure port. Very strange indeed.

 

[lukeidstrom]

I mean like the little recessed button on your router that does a factory reset. My XEP seems to have been hacked and I can no longer access it, even when I tried changing the LAN address. It just stopped functioning one day and hasn't worked since. Scanning the ports revealed a few ports including one designated as an FTP port, but I am no longer able to access the insecure port. Very strange indeed.

Have you used the jumper on the XEP to force the IP address to the default? I lost contact with my XEP, and was able to fix the problem by doing that.

 

[TurboSam]

@Q1:  Try what lukeidstrom said.  You can force the XEP to boot into a static or DHCP IP address.  For more details, see p 25 of the XEP manual.  
 
Also get the XEP diagnostics software off the Elk website--that will help.  Using it, I found out that my XEP was booting statically into a different subdomain than my computer (don't know why), but once I knew the problem it was easy to fix.
 
Good luck!

 

[Quixote_1]

Have you used the jumper on the XEP to force the IP address to the default? I lost contact with my XEP, and was able to fix the problem by doing that.

 
Yes, that was the first thing I tried (numerous times!), but thanks anyway for the suggestion.
 

Also get the XEP diagnostics software off the Elk website--that will help.  Using it, I found out that my XEP was booting statically into a different subdomain than my computer (don't know why), but once I knew the problem it was easy to fix.

Thanks, I'll take a look for it and see if it tells me anything.

 

[ddennerline]

I replaced all my GE window sensors with Elk 2-way equivalents. It’s been around 8 months, and I haven’t had a false alarm yet. I did experience false alarms with GE, but I couldn’t ever figure out root cause.
 
For Elk 2-way, a few things to keep in mind:
 
1) If you do order the small Elk 6021 sensors, you may also want to order a pack of CR2032 Energizer batteries. The batteries that Elk sources in my opinion are low quality.
 
2) If you install the sensor make sure you install on left hand side of window. Otherwise it will be difficult to replace the batteries.
 
Elk did replace a few of the sensors I had problems with, so they do stand behind their products. I still both Elk and GE receiver working side-by-side.  I cannot disable GE receiver until Elk builds a wireless driveway sensor – similar to Resolution Products.