apostolakisl

A hardwired connection to your Elk is pretty fail safe. Insteon communications are not nearly as reliable. Of course if you are using Insteon water detectors you still have comm issue potential there. There is no special compatibility regarding and Elk valve used with an Elk relay vs some other brand. ElkWSV needs a single pole double throw relay (normally open and normally closed connections). Other brands probably have the same requirement. I have my elk wsv wired to my elk panel and have the water turn off 30 minutes after the system is armed to away mode, plus I have hard wired water detectors throughout the house. I also have one at my office that works the same, except it shuts the water off immediately since my office alarm system isn't smart enough to have options like wait 30 minutes.

MWareman meant to say "event driven" not "even driven". A typo that would be challenging to figure out. Basically it means you have to think in sense of triggers. In the below example at least one of the 2 conditions must be a triggering item and the programs would only run when the trigger event happens. Either that or the programs below would need to be externally triggered (ie a 3rd program that says "run if" of these programs as part of its then/else clauses. For example, if a condition where the "status" of a switch, the trigger would be a change in the status of the light. If the condition were a "control" of a switch, it would require that someone physically acted upon the switch (pushed it in some way). As mentioned, 2 programs If condition 1 and condition 2 Then do x Else blank If not condition 1 and condition 2 Then y Else blank

This is a little off topic from what you are saying but in the same line. I was looking at some example code that has been written for Amazon to control DirecTV receivers. It appears that you can avoid the IFTTT thing alogether and go direct from a custom Alexa skill to your ISY. Based on my first run through, it looks like you can parse everything directly and substitute variables. For example, you might say, Alexa change channel to <name of channel here or number> and it will either plug in the number you say or look up the name you say and substitute the number. In my mind this is the best way to work all of this as it has the least number of moving parts.

That is a good idea. You can pretty much get an older android device for free. I still have one of my first ever android phones (like maybe 10 years old) still running on my bedside table. I have my Sprint phone number linked to google voice which then rings my hangouts dialer on the phone. In short, it is a bedside phone that ensures I don't miss a phone call during the night if my normal phone is left elsewhere in the house. Interestingly, the hangouts rings at least once if not twice before my actual cell phone rings the first time. Good to hear your autoalarm works. Maybe I'll try adding it to my Tasker profile.

That's a good one.

Yes, it is. I guess I should have realized that when he said he had mobilinc hd. So, aside from tasker, I don't think anything exists that will take your phones built-in alarm clock and not only trigger a url event at the alarm but also be able to do something at a time x minutes prior to the set alarm. Tasker is by itself reason enough to go android.

I believe this will do what you need. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joaomgcd.autoalarm&hl=en You also need to buy tasker (only $3 I think?) If you only plan on using this when your phone is on you local wifi, no need to mess with port forwarding. If you plan on using outside of your LAN, you will either need the ISY portal or setup https and port forwarding. EDIT: And you'll have to of course learn how to use tasker. Tasker is pretty awesome if you have the desire to figure it all out.

Question: If decided to go with the Portal, as it seems to be smoother for echo than using IFTTT. I still can keep my port forwarding as is and use it also, right? It doesn't shut down the network module functionality as it already exists? I do understand that if I stop paying for the portal, my network module doesn't get re-instated?

My little one is 3.5. He can run my android phone far better than my parents. He has mastered voice requesting songs and videos he likes using ok google and cortana. He likes low riders (which sadly often have a lot of foul language) and sings the song by War quite well, he loves monster trucks, and lots of other kid videos including paw patrol. Thank God he got tired of Blippy, oh was he annoying. You can't let that kid watch you do anything even once unless you are OK with him doing it, cause he remembers. He figured out how to log into my phone, open my video camera app, browse to the one in his bedroom, and point the camera away from his bed (he figured out we use it to spy on him). Or just for fun he figured out how to turn the speaker on and he talks to himself (there is a roughly 1/2 second delay which he thinks is hilarious). It is amazing how he remembers where all the icons are on the phones for the apps he likes, he just flips through at warp speed to get to the ones he wants.

Actually already did that since I have a daughter named Alexis. I did it this morning before he woke up. I'm sure by the time I get home tonight he will have figured out the new name.

Oh great, there is a button to turn the mic off. He'll find it and "test it" soon I'm sure. At least now I know about it too to turn it back on when he turns it off. I had to turn off the panic buttons on the alarm system after several events there as well.

The fact that you had a child at the time. I was probably biologically capable of having a child in the trash 80 days, but only in my w** dreams did I actually execute the task.

How does portal stop my 3 year old from changing the music every 5 seconds and setting like a dozen timers and asking for the weather for every day of the week, one day at a time? Ohhhhhh how I hope he loses interest soon.

Oh wow, you are oooooolllllllldddddddld.

My echo came. I came home and the house was empty. I quickly had Alexa turning lights on/off with IFTTT. Then trouble came. My wife and 3 year old came home. My 3 year old is fixated. He will not leave her alone. He is turning the lights on/off, he is checking the weather every 10 seconds, he is setting timers, he is playing music, he is asking Alexa questions that I don't understand, but somehow alexa does. On the bright side, I don't know that I have ever seen him so happy. He just asked Alexa to play songs by 21 pilots. Who is 21 pilots and how does my 3 year old know them!?

So it sounds the same, only that the portal spoon feeds you the REST string rather than going to the wiki and looking it up. I wasn't sure if the IFTTT had dedicated ISY portal applets ready to go.

The portal is easy. But realize that IFTTT works directly using REST commands to your ISY without the portal. Not sure how you do the setup with the portal but I have played around using IFTTT to turn lights on off. IFTTT has a "that" command where you can send GET commands. So far I just tested by sending emails to my IFTTT account that turn lights on/off. It surprisingly responds in just a few seconds, presumably that is the email server. Ordered an Amazon echo yesterday so when I get that things will get going in full.

Yes to all above. 1) Get a Dynamic DNS company so you can give your home a name and have it forward to whatever your current IP is. I use no-ip.com. I pay like $20 every couple years for like 25 and I have dynamic dns setup for my office, my home, my parents, my inlaws, my church, etc. Reasons are 2: 1) Your home Ip address can change, this tracks it. 2) It is easier to remember something like jo-blo.no-ip.biz than some random set of numbers that might change at any random time. 2) Setup your ISY with a self signed certificate. Instructions on the wiki 3) Setup router with a reserved address for your ISY. This way you leave your ISY on DHCP mode and your router always gives it the same address. Keeps you from accidentally having two things on the same LAN IP and also helps you if you forget the address since you can look it up on your router. 4) Port forward 443 external to port 443 internal at the ip address you chose for your ISY in step 3. When you first log into your ISY using the secure port, you will get an java error telling you that the certificate is invalid. This is because it is self signed. You need to go into the JAVA exceptions and give your ISY an exception. Self Signed are still encrypted, the difference is that you have to trust that person at the other end is who they say they are. Since the person at the other end is you, you can probably trust yourself. I suppose someone could setup some elaborate spoofing scheme to trick you into thinking you have accessed your own ISY when in fact you have accessed their server, but that is a seriously complicated thing to do to get control of someone's ISY.

oberkc is correct. I do not understand the problem the OP is having. The OP's program does not know the status of the device/scene and does not respond to the status or change in status. You can turn the lights on/off as many times as you want during the day or night, the OP's program will not care about any of that and will leave the lights alone excepting that it: 1) Run "then" statement at "from" time 2) Run "else" statement at "to" time In fact, the then and else could both turn things on, or each could do things completed unrelated to each other. If the problem is that you want to temporarily disable the program so that it does not execute the then or else, then you can add additional clauses to allow for an override, or you can write a second program that disables this program. For example, I have a background light scene in my house which turns on scattered lights throughout the house at sunset and turns them off at 11pm. If I am having a party, I don't want the lights to shut off at 11pm. So, I have a kpl with a button I use as override. A second program monitors the status of that button, if the button is on, it disables the from/to program.

Ditto. I mostly lean toward it is a money making scheme for the people who make this stuff. At least in my particular circumstance in my commercial property the fire sprinkler system has been a complete disaster. There are all kinds of problems with sprinklers system related to MIC (micro-bacterial induced corrosion). It destroys the pipes and after 10 to 20 years the systems are filled with holes. In my case, holes blew out in the middle of night and put tens of thousands of gallons of water into my office. Yes, a large swimming pool of water. At 120 psi a lot of water can come out of 3 x 1/2 inch holes over 8 hours. Of course they have decided to use pvc for some sprinklers, but who knows what issues those systems will have. They thought iron pipe was so awesome 20 years ago . .. what could go wrong . . .the answer is lots. My expectation would be that: 1) A properly working interconnected smoke detector in a 2 or fewer story building is just as effective at protecting life. And 2) The cost benefit would be negative. I would expect that the amount of fire damage prevented by a sprinkler system would be vastly over run by the huge cost of installing them in every single dwelling, of which 99.9 plus % never catch on fire. Not to mention the costs that would arise with a false triggering of the system and the general maintenance costs. Plus I imagine there will be mandatory testing (as is required for my office) adding a couple grand of expenses every few years and then the repairs that will follow from those inspections. I wouldn't be surprised if your insurance not only doesn't give you a discount, but raises your rates if you have one. In short, the world contains a limited number of resources and I truly doubt that mandating sprinkler systems in standard single family homes will ever be a good way to allocate those limited funds. I see it as a pet project for some busy body bureaucrats who having nothing to do but try and figure out ways to justify their own existence and a bunch of industry lobby people encouraging them. Basically, it means everyone just got less house for the same amount of money, or they now just can't afford a house at all.

It is in the IRC code, but most states have removed it. Here are the ones that did not. California: Effective January 1, 2011, the California Building Standards Commission approved the State Fire Marshal's Building, Fire and Residential Code adoption packages for the 2010 California Building Standards Codes, including its requirements for residential fire sprinklers in all new one-and two-family dwellings and townhome construc­tion statewide. More about fire sprinkler codes in California. Maryland: The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development has adopted the 2015 International Residential Code, including its requirement for automatic fire sprinklers in new, one- and two- family dwellings. Maryland law prohibits local jurisdictions from weakening the sprinkler requirement in their building code adoptions. Effective January 1, 2011, all new residences in the District of Columbia are required to have fire sprinklers. Plus the states of Colorado and Washington, while not adopting statewide IRC requirements for sprinklers, have allowed local jurisdictions to require them, and some have.

I do believe that there are places where code now requires fire suppression sprinklers in all new construction single family homes. I think you can guess where those places might be. I'm going to assume that code in those places calls for a separate service for the sprinkler. At least in my commercial building sprinkler system, there is a completely separate hookup to the water main. This hookup does not have a pressure regulator, it pulls the full street pressure. My building has a dry system. The sprinkler system is a very expensive system prone to failure and has literally caused over $300,000 in damage plus about $100,000 in maintenance over the last decade. So far it hasn't put out any fires. I don't doubt that the fire protection lobby has just a little to do with the codes.

Yes, the Elk indicator is even more direct than gear. It is the top of the shaft that is the same piece of metal that is the ball. A misalignment would literally mean the stainless steal post (which is roughly 1/4 inch diameter) was snapped. I have run my Elk through thousands of cycles. It has been in place for 7 years and turns on/off every time we arm/disarm the alarm to away. So, on average, perhaps 2 cycles per day.

Not sure how this valve works, but the Elk valve runs in circles. It has cams affixed to the valve post. The cams trigger limit switches. So it could never get out of calibration unless the set screws were not screwed down. There is essentially no friction on the cams as the turn, just a very light rub on the limit switch.

Without setting your router to port forward, you can't access your ISY, or anything for that matter from outside your network. That is, unless you instead subscribe to a service like ISY portal that keeps the port open for you. But I am confused do you have two ISY's on the same network? You must have port forwarding setup already if you are accessing one ISY from a network other than the one you are currently located in.