Home Automation Monitoring

[nov0798]

I know this question will probably produce a laundry list of possibilities, but here it goes anyway.
I recently downloaded Premise, and found it to be a pretty neat interface. I currently have an M1G and would like to use Premise, along with the M1 to monitor, and automate some tasks. My question is should I strictly use the M1, or should I use Premise? I assume to monitor things via the M1, I need to wire everything to a zone, which Premise can see. If I decide to use Premise to do some tasks, how do I wire into that program? What type of interfaces do I use? I have a wired ethernet network throughout my house, with switches on each floor, so I could wire into that if needed. Anyway, any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Brian

 

[Lagerhead]

I don't have Premise. But there are some principles you can follow as you design your automation tasks. This assumes that you have a decent connection between your M1 and Premise, ethernet or otherwise.

I put all of the life and property security functions -- detection and alarming -- solely in the M1 for reliability. If you split the work you unnecessarily introduce a second point of failure. Having said that, related "optional" or "nice to have" secondary alarm functions, such as sending additional email alerts when an alarm occurs, or turning off fans, etc., can be very comfortably offloaded into an HA application.

There are some things that the M1 simply will not do, such as periodic temperature data collection and reporting. For these, you have no choice but to use an external application. It is not unusual to poll the M1 at intervals to get status information necessary for your automation tasks.

Some functions are done best if they use the best features of each. For example, I get an indication of the level in-house activity using motion detectors. For this function, the motion detectors increment counters in the M1, and my HA application polls the counters periodically. If I take down the HA application, the M1 is still faithfully counting so I still have good data after the HA app reboot.

Similarly, I have my HVAC master setting controlled entirely by the M1 (again, for reliability) but when somebody changes the HVAC master setting, the M1 tells my HA app, which then sets my stand-alone thermostats accordingly.

Collecting heating and cooling run times, running non-critical fans, setting up lighting program parameters are all done in the HA application, mostly because it is impossible or impractical to do in the M1.

There may also be a question of "what will fit in the M1." Mine is rather loaded with rules, tasks and custom values. So the reality of your functions may dictate moving them from the M1 to Premise.

Of course you have to start with an understanding of the capabilities and strengths of each.

 

[nov0798]

Thanks for the reply. I guess my question should have been, what technologies are used, or can be used to monitor things like washing machine on/off, toaster on/off, attic fan on/off, temperature, etc! I have been looking at the one-wire application, and may try to use this. I know (or think i do) that if I want to create scenes, etc with lighting then I need to use UPB/Z Wave or some other technology, etc. If I use 1 wire or other technology (not sure what), then what device do I use to hook that data into the M1, or Premise? Do I use my IP network, or do I not? Sorry for the questions.

Thanks

 

[DavidL]

Thanks for the reply. I guess my question should have been, what technologies are used, or can be used to monitor things like washing machine on/off, toaster on/off, attic fan on/off, temperature, etc! I have been looking at the one-wire application, and may try to use this. I know (or think i do) that if I want to create scenes, etc with lighting then I need to use UPB/Z Wave or some other technology, etc. If I use 1 wire or other technology (not sure what), then what device do I use to hook that data into the M1, or Premise? Do I use my IP network, or do I not? Sorry for the questions.

Thanks

If you are thinking of using a 1-Wire network for monitoring, then you need to find out if Premise supports 1-Wire or if the ELK supports 1-Wire. If neither do and you are set on Premise or ELK, then you need to find a different monitoring solution than 1-Wire.

You need to have an End to End solution, not just "one cool thing over here" with no connection to "the other cool thing over there".

I know Homeseer HA software, to some degree MainLobby, and not sure about CQC support 1-Wire. All three support the ELK.

Now, If you were a software developer, you would be in a position to add the glue between the hardware / software links, but you would already know that

 

[TXFlatLander]

If you are thinking of using a 1-Wire network for monitoring, then you need to find out if Premise supports 1-Wire or if the ELK supports 1-Wire.

According to this thread, Elk only supports ONE 1-wire temperature or humidity per each ELK-M1KAM. No other 1-wire solutions seems to be supported per that thread. It may have changed by now. I would think CQC would support 1-wire easily. I am sure someone will jump in shortly who is using 1-wire with CQC.

 

[nov0798]

BUT, looking through a one wire site, I see I can use a hub then that goes to serial on the back of the PC running Premise. From Premise, I assume I could probably see the serial connection, and monitor the sensors???? I dunno??? From there, I can make Premise do things based on temps, or whatever else Im monitoring, I Think?? DOnt know still new to Premise, and have been away from the whole HA thing for about 6 months. Ill keep doing research. Anyone know if Premise supports 1 wire devices?? (123??)

Thanks

 

[123]

I'm not aware of any 1-wire drivers for Premise. I'm planning to write one for the Midon Design TEMP08 which is an affordable 1-wire interface that supports many useful 1-wire sensors.

For monitoring the operating state of electrical devices, you can use a current-sensor. There are several posts on this device here on Cocoontech. Basically, it closes a relay whenever it detects the presence of current. You connect the current-sensor's output to an input of your ELK M1 or a WeederTech WTDIO. You can use the M1's rules to act upon state-changes or use Premise's scripting via the ELK M1 or WTDIO drivers.

In lieu of 1-wire temperature sensors, you can use ELK's temperature sensors or ADICON BOBCAT sensors. Premise can read BOBCAT sensors (temperature, light, humidity) directly without the need for an ADICON Ocelot module.