ELK M1, ISY994iZW, Alexa & Locks

[azarett]

This will be my first install with the 994iZW ( had previously done Insteon lighting and t-stats)
It looks like ISY & Alexa play very nice together, so I THINK that's going to take care of the voice control I want.
 
I glanced at the configuration for the Leviton Zwave module with locks, and I think ISY is going to be a much better fit for me.
 
I'm curious to hear from anyone with this setup - Anything to watch out for ? Any limitations ?
 
Also just generally curious about how the lock will present from the ISY to the ELK. In the past, when using the ISY, Everything was a 'scene' or a light. Will this be the same with locks ? If not, exactly what will the elk rule look like to lock/unlock ? Or do you tell ELK its a phantom zone, and then write a rule on the isy to lock / unlock based on the status of the phantom zone ?
 
Anyone using the C1M1 with ISY ?
 
Thanks.
 
 

 

[wuench]

I am not sure the ISY will present the locks to the Elk.  But if you have issues you can just write a program on the ISY that controls the locks based on Elk events.  I no longer bother exporting any of my ISY devices to the Elk. 

 

[LarrylLix]

If you are graduating from an Insteon Hub to an ISY994 the world just opened up a new dimension to you.

This is like going from a calculator to a computer.

 

[azarett]

I had previously used the Insteon version of the ISY 994 with the elk ( but I never wrote any rules or programs on the ISY)
I had insteon T-stats on the ISY, but its a somewhat limited integration.  I would set scene's on the ISY, ( daytime / night time temp for example) and ELK would see that as a light switch.
My elk rule would say " Turn off AC Daytime" followed by "turn ON  AC night time"  It worked fine for what I wanted to do, but it meant the elk was never really temperature aware. If you had multiple t-stats with several different temperatures over a period of time, it would be a pain. It also meant you could never tell the elk " temperature +/- x degrees". You would have to login to the ISY and find the scene and change the temp in the scene. I hope the door lock is more elegant.
 
The way elk expects you to control a door lock with the Leviton zwave bridge is ( in my opinion) a sad joke.
 
I found some example code for ELK-ISY exchanges  - Is there a complete list somewhere of what variables can be evaluated ?

 

[ccmichaelson]

I have several zwave locks + Elk M1 + ISY...  The ISY994izw admin console will show zwave door locks as an actual lock within the interface and with the ability to lock/unlock, see battery level, etc...  I'm just weeks away from releasing a new app in the Apple app store for controlling most parts of the ISY (Insteon devices, programs, thermostats, Zwave door locks, Elk M1 features, and other ISY-connected features).  PM me if interested and I'll give you more details.

 

[azarett]

As a past user / installer of the M1, I had every intention of doing an M1 in my new home, but I am starting to feel like its a bit of a dinosaur. I like the wired inputs and outputs because I always say " you cant guarantee a wireless link " but I can do things with a 99.00 SmartThings hub that Elk cant.
 
T-stats are going to be wifi, Z-wave is going to be locks and lighting, and people are embracing Echo / Alexa / Google home.
 
Elk doesn't have native zwave support, pairing a lock is a pain, I cant write rules based on presence ( SmartThings lets me write events based on my phone as a locator) and If I want Alexa to do something, I have to have to ask via ISY. Elk costs about 4x more and does a lot less. The only thing going in favor of the M1 is that it all runs local and smartthings doesn't.
 
I wish Elk would make some updates.

 

[ccmichaelson]

As a past user / installer of the M1, I had every intention of doing an M1 in my new home, but I am starting to feel like its a bit of a dinosaur. I like the wired inputs and outputs because I always say " you cant guarantee a wireless link " but I can do things with a 99.00 SmartThings hub that Elk cant.
 
T-stats are going to be wifi, Z-wave is going to be locks and lighting, and people are embracing Echo / Alexa / Google home.
 
Elk doesn't have native zwave support, pairing a lock is a pain, I cant write rules based on presence ( SmartThings lets me write events based on my phone as a locator) and If I want Alexa to do something, I have to have to ask via ISY. Elk costs about 4x more and does a lot less. The only thing going in favor of the M1 is that it all runs local and smartthings doesn't.
 
I wish Elk would make some updates.

 
I just recently built a home and I had similar questions/doubts...  Fast forward to today - I absolutely made the right decision to purchase the Elk M1 - not only for security purposes but more importantly for driving most of my home's automation.  I have approx. 75 wired motion sensors for automating every room/corner/hallway of my home (mostly for lighting/scene control via the ISY).  The integration between ISY and Elk is really solid so I do 99% of my rules/configuration inside the ISY but all my sensors (motion, doors/windows, water leak detection) are hard-wired into my Elk.  Now I can accomplish a lot of things like:

• If an external door is open for longer than 30 seconds and the temp is above/below XX degrees, turn off thermostat, play voice command on Elk, and/or send text alert
• If any light in any room have been on for longer than 15 minutes without any motion in that room, turn the light off
• If there's been no motion inside my home for more than 45 minutes, automatically arm my home (stay mode at night or away mode during the day)... [because my wife/kids alway forget to arm it]
• I have somewhere near 100 custom programs inside the ISY for automation purposes and the ISY and Elk are great companions IMO.

 

[jlegault]

I just recently built a home and I had similar questions/doubts...  Fast forward to today - I absolutely made the right decision to purchase the Elk M1 - not only for security purposes but more importantly for driving most of my home's automation.  I have approx. 75 wired motion sensors for automating every room/corner/hallway of my home (mostly for lighting/scene control via the ISY).  The integration between ISY and Elk is really solid so I do 99% of my rules/configuration inside the ISY but all my sensors (motion, doors/windows, water leak detection) are hard-wired into my Elk.  Now I can accomplish a lot of things like:

• If an external door is open for longer than 30 seconds and the temp is above/below XX degrees, turn off thermostat, play voice command on Elk, and/or send text alert
• 
  
• If any light in any room have been on for longer than 15 minutes without any motion in that room, turn the light off
• 
  
• If there's been no motion inside my home for more than 45 minutes, automatically arm my home (stay mode at night or away mode during the day)... [because my wife/kids alway forget to arm it]
• 
  
• I have somewhere near 100 custom programs inside the ISY for automation purposes and the ISY and Elk are great companions IMO.
• 
  

 
 
+1 This is the setup I have, and it works really well. (M1 + ISY + Alexa). The M1 is past its prime with native lighting control. The ISY994Zw is nearly as good with zwave as homeseer (what I used before). I use the bazillion binary output controls on the M1 to control lighting on the ISY. M1 + ISY integration has not skipped a beat in a couple years. I can't say the same about Homeseer, which went down weekly over either hardware issues or db corruption. I'm really happy to see Universal devices push the ISY forward. Their cloud bridge that lets you safely interface with your ISY over the web was a smart move, and should give this M1+ISY system some staying power. I think of it as the ISY modernizing the M1.