Scottmichaelj

Amazon Echo is on sale today for $149.99 - one day only.

Coming from someone who has spent money on a professional system... I have an RTI system in my home. It does have to be professionally installed and programmed but I LOVE IT! I have a XP6 with three T2x remotes and a couple iOS licenses. Thankfully I am in the industry and have access to this so I can program it myself. The nicest thing is they have a driver (plugin) that is able to communicate directly with the ISY giving you full two way feedback over standard TCP/IP. The driver was made by a ISY forum member here actually. The downside is that this system not cheap and every plugin or lic for a device costs money. However because its rock solid, fully configurable, and works with a ton of products I dont mind spending money for the quality. It is cheaper overall than Control4, Cresteon, Savant, etc. I also wanted remotes with actual buttons, as I dislike using touch screens. My belief is touch screens should be used for informational feedback only. See pix. I am boring and keep the gui graphics and buttons to a minimalistic design so please dont pick on me. You can look at AMX, ProControls, and URC - all have pros and cons. Some of these if not all require a authorized installer, but these cost less then the ones above. Here is a sample of some screens of my remotes. On my "Home" page the top button can arm/disarm the Elk and show armed state. I have my most used lighting scenes for each area. There is a "sleep" button that auto turns on a playlist of calming nature sounds in my bedrooms distributed audio, and then buttons control my HD shades (I could have made this a single button). The current weather is at the top right, which I can click on to give me more info about today, then by swiping I can get a 5 day forecast. If I click on the "Home Page/Date Time" it then gives me the full details of my remote specs, IP, Remote Name, WiFi Signal strength, etc. I also can touch any of the lighting, directv, kodi, or music to control and get feedback of those devices. On the DirecTV page, its very simple but I get the show name, channel, when it started and time left all from a quick glance. If I click on the "DirecTV and date/time" in the top left I go back to the "Home" page. This info can have more details if required. I find it easy for anyone to pickup and use and but very powerful.

You could add a program in your ISY to email, text or other notification to warn you when you have a low battery No chasing necessary.

If you have a triggerlincs then yes you just make a program and it can send you a notification via text, email, etc. example: If triggerlinc is on then send notification.

"Siri ask Alexa to turn on my lights"...one day maybe.

Thanks guys for the info, that worked! I never heard/read that before but I plugged an "Y" electrical cord splitter into the LampLinc and then on one side put the LED strip and on the other plug put a 4.5V DC 1000mA power adapter from an old project and wa-la it worked. When I unplugged the power adapter the LEDS then turned back on dimly even when the LampLinc was off, plugged the power adapter back in and the LEDS turned off. So add a power adapter is the key. I also called Philips Hue support and confirmed without using the app you cannot turn the Hue Lightstrips or Bulbs (even with the new "plus" and v2 hub) back to the last "color" it always will default to the warm white, which doesn't work for me, I need daylight/cool white. That being said I still am trying different things out. I rather not have a separate hub, network whatever to control my LED strips. I am trying to go 100% Insteon/ISY. These are really nice, thanks for posting the link. My countertops are white so the LEDS shine down on them and you can see each LED bulb on the counter. Grabbing a frosted channel to put the LED strip in maybe the perfect solution to stop that and still have a nice task lighting.

After playing with them they are not bright enough so I have to figure out something else. I bought some of the Philips Hue Lightstrips Plus and they are super bright and do work well except for the issue is if you turn off the light switch they revert back to the default color setting (Warm White). For whatever reason they dont retain the last color in memory. How dumb is that? Not sure I will kept those either! Dang! Back to the drawing board...what a PITA!

Thats what I thought. Dang it. I really need to use a Lamplinc and was trying to go cheaper than the Philips Hue since I only need single cool white dimmable. Thats why I went with a 120v LED direct plugin vs the 120v to 12v route. Plus you seem to lose dimming ability. Back to the drawing board. This seems too hard than it has to be. Guess its because I am trying to be cheap. Edit: my bad grammar and spelling

So I ordered some direct plugin 120V LED Strips and when plugged into a LampLinc (newer version 2457D2) when turned "off" the LED strip still produces a dim light and is not all the way turned off. If I plug the LED strip into a 2477D or KPL switched plug then it will turn all the way off. Seems like the Lamplincs are not shutting all the way OFF leaving some power behind just enough to light the strip. Also the Appliancelinc doesnt have this issue either. Anyone else see this before? Are my Lamplincs bad? Should I call Smarthome about this?

It was just a thought. Didnt know if the conduit was running on a fence line or easy to get to. Then could save you money. Or if you had a electrical outlet out there somewhere then putting a DL device to help the RF. Good luck resolving it.

Heres a thought and maybe someone can chime in, but on the long run maybe go halfway and put an inlinlinc or something on the line to help push the signal out further? Making sure to protect it in a waterpoof box or something? Assume you have conduit running so add a device in between? You say it works 75% of the time so repeats wont work? I know its not ideal but just for those spots? Just spitballing. I dont know how the paths/link work so I cant answer that. Above my pay grade Im afraid. Edit: Added url for inlinelinc: (leave it always ON) http://www.smarthome.com/in-linelinc-relay-insteon-2475sdb-remote-control-in-line-on-off-switch-dual-band.html

I agree with Teken signal suckers could be your issue. Maybe start by putting filterlincs on the washer, dryer, fridge, and any UPS devices you have plugged in. I noticed a difference doing this in my last home when I got into larger scenes. I thought my communication and scenes worked fine but as the scenes grew I noticed I had to do multiple repeats for all the lights were on/correct level. Once I installed the filterlincs my repeats were not longer needed. They do work.

The best advise is to check out the IFTTT website for full details. Michel hasnt released details how its going to be integrated specifically in the portal but that it its on the roadmap after Amazon Echo. I feel you on Prowl and I have seen the same for PushBullet but Pushover has been stable for me and was is the fastest of the three for me. I guess it all depends on how high of importance the notification is but my personal opinion is if its very important you shouldnt rely on them at all. Pushover is cheap. Give it a try, you dont have much to lose the app is only a few bucks. Then use it side by side with what you use now and see how it works. Let us know if you do and how it goes as I am sure other will be interested if they move over too.

As a possible work around you could use Pushover for notifications. Also when IFTTT is released you will be able to use that as well both direct from the ISY.

Scott, I personally have an ELK and ISY. You need the brain and therefore the package is a cheaper way to go vs piecing it together. You will also need the ISY of course and the ELK Plugin for the ISY. Then once the ELK is installed all your sensors can be used to trigger events in your home as well as alarm sensors. Basically dual use if wanted. For example if lets say the interior of the home is 75F and you open a window then you could turn off the A/C providing you have all the proper devices. You could use the motion detectors for the alarm but then also activate your security camera as well. As for a PC running 24/7 I am guilty and I do have one but I use it for many things. The ISY with Polyglot might be nice though as your additional needs grow but not really needed right now as far as I can tell. However do think about a remote control system and possibly Amazon Echo integration. For distributed audio I use RTI AD8x with Casatunes. I use the AD8x because it works well with my RTI remote control system and Casatunes has apps and plugins to make the remotes just work. You can setup a separate Airplay zones, use multiple input sources and can put up to 300GB of music on it, plus you can use iTunes sharing on it. You can use any AMP you want with it, it doesn't need the RTI AD8x but does need an additional AMP. The nice thing about the Casatunes/ADI is if you want to expand the system you can do so easily. Casatunes also sells AMP, I just happen to use RTI for the remote features. Somethings to think about when using Airplay as you probably know but it should be said. Most people love Airplay but don't realize if they move around their home (or go outside) if the WiFi is not perfectly setup your music can drop the connection. Also using Airplay drains your devices battery so they will need to be plugged in if you want to listen to them for a long period of time. At the end of the day don't beat yourself up over thinking things, get the basics in. Just make sure to run SMURF TUBE EVERYWHERE! Then you can future proof yourself and save yourself a headache down the road. Edit: One thing I forgot to mention is most window companies wont warranty the window if you drill a sensor into it. That being said the two way wireless Elk devices do work really well even in a large home.

Could I suggest possibly hiring a AV integration company to consult with and help you? They may suggest things to do you never would think about. For example putting in a rack in a closet, video matrix switches, where to put smurf tube for future, etc. Worth paying the money now vs retrofitting down the road. I would not use the home builders company unless its a "custom home" either, as most don't have the experience level. For example the HVAC the builders around here are now "into home automation". Uhm no thanks! Go with someone higher end at least just for the consult. Just my .02 cents. Edit: Oh and dont mount ipads or devices in your walls you may regret it later. See my other posts or say rants here about how they will become the intercom of the 70s!

Have you seen the negative reports about Scentsy and fires? If not please look into it. My neighbors wife had one catch on fire. Candles are also as you probably know a fire issue too. There is also some debate about if they use petroleum in the wax or not which is toxic. Of course Scentsy denies using petroleum but wont release the ingredients. So IMHO its best to use an Air diffuser with natural oils to scent the air to be safe. As always this is just an opinion and Im just stating this to help inform you. What you decide to do is none of my business.

That was not an available option so I have to find my own "second person". Lol

Larry you "prefer your nuts twisted"? Think thats a little TMI. [emoji48]

Lol oh and it is a glorious shower indeed! I treated myself well when I had my custom home built. Its about 4x6x10 with 2 Rainheads, 6 bodysprays, a handheld spray plus steam with aroma therapy all controlled by Kohler DTVs. Yes there is also music and a two person jacuzzi tub! Nothing was left out. Edit: oh and I need 2 88,000 BTU 100G hot water tanks to use it without running out of hot water!

This worked perfectly, Thank you @larryllix. Seems I need to learn how to properly use the 'logic' with 'else'.

+1 what Teken says. The clamping ones allow you to reuse which is nice and they dont twist the wire ends. I have used these and never had issues beside fitment inside the electrical box. I seem to find they are more reliable holding the wires too. Edit: oh and they dont hurt your fingers from twisting tight after doing a bunch of swapping out switches like I just did recently!

Perfect I'll give this a try tonight. Thanks! MBath-SS-Syncrolinc - [iD 004A][Parent 0068] If Control 'MBath SynchroLinc' is switched On And Control 'MBath SynchroLinc' is not switched Off Then Wait 15 seconds Set 'MBath (Steam Shower Fan)' On Wait 1 hour Set 'MBath (Steam Shower Fan)' Off Else Wait 10 minutes Set 'MBath (Steam Shower Fan)' Off

So it now is working fine ON/OFF commands are being seen and I haven't had any communication issues. One last thing maybe you can help me with? My shower is controlled by an electronic thermostatic valve and control panel. When I turn on the shower the SL will turn ON/OFF but I think my program logic is wrong. This is what I am trying to do: When I turn on the shower the SL turns ON the shower fan. When I turn the shower off the fan continues to run for an additional 10 mins before turning off. Here is my program but its not working. What am I doing wrong? Do I need two different programs? MBath-SS-Syncrolinc - [iD 004A][Parent 0068] If Status 'MBath SynchroLinc' is On Then Set 'MBath (Steam Shower Fan)' On Else Wait 10 minutes Set 'MBath (Steam Shower Fan)' Off

Do you have a name who is testing it at Amazon? I have a friend who is a dev at Amazon who possibly could reach out for us.