apostolakisl

I am trying to set up a geo-fence. I follow the wiki instruction and via the portal website try to create a geo-fence. It gives me an error saying "node server is not configured". I go to ISY to look for a geo-fence node to setup under "node servers", but nothing along those lines is there. It appears I can setup a custom node, but what am I supposed to enter?

I had been reluctant to use ISY portal since I had already set up port forwarding, certificates, ifttt, yadda yadda and didn't feel like embarking on a new project. But, I finally made the plunge into ISY portal and have to say it really works very well. I have set up both my google home and amazon accounts with it. It works very fast. It is not exactly a stream-lined setup process but now that I have the steps figured out it isn't a big deal. Once the basic connections are setup, adding new actions is certainly much easier than using ifttt.

I see the SH keeps moving the discount all over the place on 5 packs. It was $175 when they ran that "private" sale at Christmas which I was able to put on top of that price, then it was $212 over the Memorial Day weekend, today it is down to $187. I think they jacked the price up when they decided to allow the 30% MD sale to apply.

This isn't their best sale ever but it is pretty close. Last time I got switchlincs for $27/ea, this time it is $29. The sale (30%) is actually the best I have ever seen, but at the time of the previous sale, the 5-packs were cheaper to start with.

Hope it works. Please note: if you have any "control" trigger conditions, these will need to be deleted from your two downstream "if' sections. A control condition is only true at the instant it happens, so the ever so slightly delayed "run if" won't still be true. For example, "if light x is switched on" will always be false in one of your secondary (disabled) programs.

Without the program details it is hard to say. However, if you are currently only using the "then" section of each program, then you should be able to use the "else" clause and merge the two programs into a single program. The "then" and "else" clause would contain your outcome priority 1 and priority 2 actions respectively. This would likely require using some well thought out "and's", "or's" , "nots" and "()". Also, it might be easier to disable both programs but otherwise leaving them as is. Then add a third program. The third program contains in its "if" 1) the trigger conditions, and 2) the conditions that differentiate the other two. Populate the "then" section with a "run if" on program 1, and the "else" with a "run if" on program 2.

I understand the need for hysteresis in a thermostat. But that is no excuse for not reporting the change in temp. Reporting the temp change to other devices shouldn't have anything to do with the thermostats internally set hysteresis for turning its own heat/cool on/off. It just isn't the greatest thermostat in the world. The hardware is quite capable, it is just bad firmware. The sad thing is there is no reason that the firmware couldn't be better. It wouldn't be more lines of code or anything.

You should just put a program that endlessly queries the thermostat every 15 minutes. As mentioned, thermostats for whatever reason don't report temp changes unless they are fairly large. I find this to be quite stupid. At the same time, the thermostat endlessly reports humidity chnages that are of no significance at all.

Others have expressed some concern that should ISY reboot (a power failure) during the 5 minutes, then your program 1 will be stuck disabled. Should you choose, you can fix this pretty easily Program 1 If door opens Then Run Else program 2 Program 2 - set this to "run at startup" If - blank Then enable program 1 Else Disable program 1 Send email Wait 5 minutes Enable program 1 Now, on the program summary page, set program 2 to RUN AT STARTUP Run at startup will trigger the if clause at startup. In the case of a blank if clause, then it defaults to running the then clause. So, basically, program 1 will be enabled at startup.

Just realize that this isn't a controlled wait time. The program can keep retriggering with every change in the status of the shed door and theoretically never send an email beyond the first. Unlikely for that to go on forever, but could easily go for a few hours depending on the usage of that door.

You will need two programs to do this. program 1 if door is opened then run then program 2 program 2 if blank then disable program 1 send email wait 5 mintues enable program 1

I made this test stand. It is not a thing of a beauty, but it is very functional. I cut out a ~ rectangle hole in an irregular way so that I could put a switch into the hole and have it "wedge" to stabalize. The hole for the light is also just the perfect size to wedge (lucky that my hole saw set had an exact match). Then I made a series of smaller holes that bring the wires up from bechind. The wires are spaced such that they pretty much run no risk of bumpying into each other and shorting.

V5 does have it. It just isn't where you think. It is built into system variables. 1) Create a variable and call it "month" 2) Write a program that runs every day at midnight 3) In the "then" clause, set month = sytem variable month. New Program - [ID 014A][Parent 0093] If Time is 12:00:00AM Then $Month = [Current Month (Jan=1, Feb=2, etc.)] Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') Repeat for other system variables. Then in your if clause you can use those variables. ie if $month = 12 and if $day of month = 25 and if time is 7am Then notify everyone by email 'merry christmas'

At least on the heat pump model, there is a reset switch on the inside. The button is only accessible with the unit opened such that you can see the circuit board.

Maybe. I would focus more on putting your PLM on a clean circuit rather than physically close to the panel. It also helps if all of your stuff is dual band. And even if it is all dual band, a very noisy power line seems to "drown-out" the radio com. Not sure how the SH engineers managed that.

Mine update temp but will let it drift a bit before updating, hard to say exactly, but it is regularly off by more than a degree but never by more than 2. The same is true for humidity, but humidity is constantly bouncing around so I get a rediculous number of humidity log entries. I would prefer that it update the temp with even a .5 degree change and not so much with the humidity.

I have seen people say they had 50 feet. I have 2 isy's one has about a 20 foot cat6 cable and works flawlessly. The other is just a regular ~5 ft cat5 patch cable and also, of course, works fine.

Making dry air humid consumes energy. So, dumping warm humid air outside, sucking in cold dry air from outside to replace that air, then heating and humidifying that air is a waste of energy. However, I'm not sure we are talking about enough warm humid air to make a difference you'll notice in your energy bill. I guess it depends on your shower habits.

If you wanted to get fancy you would "zone" your exhaust fan. One zone would be the outside and the other zone would be your air intake plenum. When conditions call for humidity, it would vent into the plenum. When you turn on your bathroom fan, that would trigger your furnace fan as well. That would mix the bathroom air with air from the rest of the house. Now, that is probably way overkill. . . .but you could say you did it. EDIT: Oh and, don't do that for the toilet fan.

Yeah, I am not sure you want to vent out that hard to come by humidity. Seems like it would be better to mix and move that humid air through the whole house. Of course that would need to be monitored to ensure you aren't getting anything crazy out of whack.

Mother nature can do that for sure (in the desert). But, man, it would be one hell of a dehumidifier that could pull humidity down that far (in an environment where it would natuarlly be higher). As an example. Sadly, a few years ago, I had a major pipe break and it flooded my office. They sucked out the water and put maybe 8 gigantic dehumidifiers in a space of about 4000sf. The humidity got below 40, but barely. My electric bill that month was quite special too.

Your situation is not a building issue. From the standpoint of damaging a structure, it would be virtually impossible to over dehumidify. And on those problem days you refer to, the temp inside and outside is basically the same . . so condensation won't happen. You may have issues with your cigars, I don't know much about what humidity they like. Problems in the south often times revolve around over-sized AC units that cool, but dom't dehumidify. Combine that with a poorly implemented insulation/vapor barrier and you have condensation under the outside sheathing of your home. This is much more of a problem in the south because mold is just all around more prevalent. Plus, once you do get the condensation, it tends to create wet stuff that is also at a good temp to grow mold.

I wouldn't worry about frosty windows. The windows could eventually get rot on the muttons/frames, but that would be a slow and obvious thing. It is the mold in your walls that you'll never see and could explode out of control before you know it. That is the problem. Good windows might go along with well implemented wall insulation. Or maybe not. Especially if you replaced the originals with better ones.

There is a lot more to perfect humidity than just indoor and outdoor temp. It has a ton to do with your insulation. Extremely good insulation and you can go with a much higher indoor humidity. The problem is condensation and mold. If you have poor insulatoin and poorly designed vapor barriers, warm humid air from inside can find cold surfaces in your walls and condense. The same in reverse can happen when it is warm and humid outside and you are air conditioning your house. Northern homes typically have to keep a vapor barrier on the interior sideo of the insulation and in Southern homes you look to vapor barrier on the other side of the insulation. Also a big deal when putting in a refrigerated room/wine cellar. If you live somewhere that spends a lot of time at each extreme. .. well I don't know? Closed cell foam? That is a vapor barrier in its entire thickness. (note: never vapor barrier both sides of your insulation) The best humidity for humans and the stuff in your house is typically right around 50% and has nothing to do with outside temp. The Monet hanging on your wall doesn't give a rat's a** what the outside temp is . . . right?

When I built my house, I had outlets installed above the mantels of the fireplaces. They installed them nicely only about an inch above the top of the mantel (as expected). However, I didn't think about the fact that now you can't plug a lamplinc in. So I had to flip them upside down. So that is why I have two outlets with the ground up in my house. I probably should have had them installed sidways.