stillen_i30

thanks for the replies. Did not know about group functionality, have changed it so that all texts and emails are in one group. Have also added the repeat commands, thanks again

The variables ability seems to be a whole world of functionality that I'm missing out on...I just don't get them. However, today I thought of the following to see if I understand how variables can be useful. Please help me to justify if this is a valid use of variables or not. I have a program which sends me and my wife an email and text each notifying if the garage doors have been open for greater than 30 mins. I now want to addend this program by sending a second notification that, if and only if either of our two garage doors REMAINS open for another 30 mins, then a repeat text/email would be sent. After this, for each one hour the garage door continues to remain open, keep sending texts/emails until the garage doors are closed or 5 hours have elapsed. Would the variables functionality allow me to make this happen, and if so, any ideas how? My basic garage door program is as below:

I did some switching around of my insteon devices. I had an outdoor appliancelinc on/off module controlling some landscape lights. I removed the module and instead am going to use it to control some holiday lights in the backyard. For the landscape lights which used to be controlled by the above appliancelinc, I replaced the receptacle and wired-in an in-line linc. How do I make all the changes in the ISY? The landscape lights were embedded in various programs and scenes...I don't want to have to go back and re-do each thing from memory. Is there a way to simply change the address of the insteon devices but instead use the same names? Thanks

I live in AZ where the summer heat is ridiculous. We save a lot of energy by turning the thermostat down. However, I want to create a scene that is linked to a button on my home screen of my android (via MobiLinc) called, "Coming Home" which when set to "ON" will set the main house thermostat to COOL 81 deg F and HEAT 74 deg F (so that it works to heat in winter and cool in summer without having two separate buttons). I can't seem to figure out how to create a scene like this? I've assigned keypad buttons in the house to a program which will set certain thermostat setpoints but never through a scene. Is this possible or should I stick with a program, which would be fired by a click of the widget? Thanks

I thought I remembered seeing smarthome selling a kit for drape control, you may want to try there first. I think the kit includes an I/O linc. I'm curious if anyone knows any controls for plantation shutters!

I have a controlinc in the bedroom. When I press 1-OFF on my controlinc, it turns off the bedroom lights and sets the thermostat temperatures. I have a keypad linc in the master bedroom near the entrance to the bedroom. I want to designate button "H" on the keypadlinc to adjust ONLY the temperatures on the thermostat with a push of the button. When button "H" is pushed to turn ON (with corresponding LED for button H turning on), the thermostat sets to "AUTO" mode and 72 degrees HEAT setpoint and 80 degrees COOL setpoint. When button "H" is pushed to turn OFF, thermostat sets to "AUTO" mode and sets 68 degrees HEAT and 85 degrees COOL setpoints. I also want it so that when I press the 1-OFF button on my controlinc at the bedside, it automatically turns on the "H" button on the keypadlinc indicating the program is active and the setpoints are 72 heat 80 cool. How do I do this? Do I create a scene with the temperature set points or do this via programs? I currently attempted to do this via programs, but when it comes to setting the "THEN" parameter for the keypad button H, it asks which dim level of the button I want and not just simple "ON" or "OFF" so that the LED corresponds appropriately. TIA.

Ok guys I figured it out, I had an alternate basic program telling the lightswitch for the coach lights to turn off after 5 mins that was messing up the coach lights coming on with opening the garage door. I disabled that program and it works, so at least I've id'ed the prblem and can work to fix it. As always, thx for the suggestions.

Ricke, I had this same problem not too long ago. Mine stemmed from when relocating my plm into a tight spot, the set button on the plm was inadvetantly pressed thus resetting the plm. I ended up spending a whole weekend re-programming everyone of my numerous devices for state changes to show in the isy when changed locally. Seach my name thru previous threads as others suggested alternate "easier" ways to get it to work again than what I did.

Thanks for the suggestions...tried them out but some problems continue. When the coach lights are either at half brightness or completely off, opening either garage door will cause the lights to start coming on to full brightness but then quickly shut back off again. Weird. I just can't figure out where the problematic line is.

I had posted earlier for some advice about a few different programs to control my front coach lights under different circumstances. I'm still having some issues with this and am hoping others can help me iron out the problems. My Goals 1.) Have the front coach lights turn on at half-brightness 20 mins after sunset and then turn off at 11pm that same night every night 2.) I have two garage doors each with I/O lincs and open sensors. I want the front coach lights to turn on to full brightness for 5 mins when either of the two garage doors is opened from 20 mins after sunset until 20 mins AFTER sunrise the following morning. (Currently, this only works for one of my garage doors, not the main door!) 2a.) If the time is between 20 mins after sunset and 11pm, the coach lights are already at 45% (as per #1 above), but if the garage doors were opened, the coach lights would turn on full brightness for the 5 mins and then revert back to the half-brightness setting once the 5 mins is up assuming it's still between 20 mins after sunset and 11pm. 3.) I have a light controlled via insteon inside the garage. Whenever the garage doors are opened, I want the lights to stay on 5 mins NO MATTER WHAT, meaning, even if the garage doors are closed within 5 mins, the lights still remain on for the full 5 mins and then shut off (currently, the lights turn off if the garage door is closed within 5 mins). 4.) I have a keypad near the garage entrance where one button controls a "trash" scene for when we want to take out the trash. This scene involves turning on the garage overhead lights (mentioned in #4) and the ffront coach lights. Again, based on the conditions for the front coach lights, if the "trash" scene is turned on, the front coach lights turn on full brightness and then revert back to half-brightness if/when switched off, otherwise they should turn off automatically at 11pm. Currently, activation of the "trash" scene does not turn the coach lights on at all, and if it is between the times of sunset +20 mins and 11pm, the coach lights only stay at half brightness. 5.) I have yet another program to ENSURE that all outside lights are to remain off even if they were inadvertently switched on. This program runs from sunset +20 mins to sunrise +20 mins (next day) and does not work for all my lights. The respective programs are listed below. 1.) Coach lights turning on half-brightness during set times nightly If From Sunset + 20 minutes To 11:00:00PM (same day) Then Set 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' 45% Else Set 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' Off 2.) Coach lights on FULL brightness while it's dark outside no matter what time (again, as long as it's dark outside) If From Sunset + 20 minutes To Sunrise + 20 minutes (next day) And ( Control 'Garage / Main Garage Door Sensor' is switched On Or Control 'Garage / Small Garage Door Sensor' is switched On ) Then Set 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' On Wait 5 minutes Run Program 'Coach Lights Night' (If) Else Set 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' Off 3.) Garage overhead lights to stay on FIVE mins if either garage door is opened regardless if the garage door is closed within this time frame If Status 'Garage / Main Garage Door Sensor' is On Or Status 'Garage / Small Garage Door Sensor' is On Then Set Scene 'Garage / Garage Overhead Lights' On Wait 5 minutes Set Scene 'Garage / Garage Overhead Lights' Off Else Set Scene 'Garage / Garage Overhead Lights' Off 4.) Program for "Trash" scene to be turned on via keypad and staying on 8 mins, then turning those lights off automatically if not switched off manually within the 8 mins If From Sunset + 20 minutes To Sunrise + 20 minutes (next day) And Control 'Main Hallway / Main Hallway Garage Keypad C' is switched On Then Set 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' 99% Set Scene 'Side Garage / Garbage Night' On Wait 8 minutes Run Program 'Garbage Lights Off' (Then Path) Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') If From Sunset + 20 minutes To Sunrise + 20 minutes (next day) And Control 'Main Hallway / Main Hallway Garage Keypad C' is switched Off Then Set Scene 'Side Garage / Garbage Night' Off Set 'Side Garage / Side Garage Door Light' Off Set Scene 'Garage / Garage Overhead Lights' Off Run Program 'Coach Lights Night' (If) Run Program 'Motion Floods Night On' (If) Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') 5.) Having all outdoor lights turn OFF automatically if inadvertently switched on during daylight hours only by any means If From Sunrise + 21 minutes To Sunset + 17 minutes (same day) And Status 'Side Garage / Side Garage Door Light' is On And Status 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' is On And Status 'Front Yard / Front Yard Holiday Lights' is On And Status 'Backyard / Backyard Fan Lights' is On And Status 'Backyard / Backyard Hut Lights' is On And Status 'Front Yard / Front Landscape Lights' is On And Status 'Backyard / Back Landscape Lights' is On And Status 'Backyard / Back Landscape Lights 2' is On And Status 'Side Garage / Side Garage Motion Flood' is On And Status 'Side Master / Side Master Motion Flood Clos' is On And Status 'Side Master / Side Master Motion Flood Dist' is On Then Set Scene 'Outside Lights WITH Landscape' Fast Off Set Scene 'Outside Flood Lights' Fast Off Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') Thanks so much guys for any assistance you can provide.

Thanks for the replies. I will try out the suggestions and report back if something is not working.

So I've created several programs for my home network and most of them work. The more advanced programs involve my garage door. I am trying to achieve a few things with the garage door status. I continue to have issues with some of the programs despite trying different things. 1.) Front coach lights are dimmed at 50% each night between 6pm-11pm with the following program If From Sunset + 20 minutes To 11:00:00PM (same day) Then Set 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' 45% Else Set 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' Off This program works fine. However, I use this as a "base" program for other programs to refer to when I want the behavior of the coach lights to be changed depending on different situations, and then revert back to this program once conditions of the special behavior programs are met and completed. One such example is when the garage door is opened (garage sensor reports ON status). I want the coach lights to turn onto full brightness for 5 mins and then, if the time were between 6p-11pm, the lights would revert back to 50% (even if the garage door remained open or if it were closed). If the time was not between 6pm-11pm (but it was after sunset and before sunrise), 3am for example, I want the lights to turn on full brightness (from off since the program above would not otherwise apply), wait 5 mins, then revert back to off. What I currrently experience is once a garage door is opened, the coach lights stay on full brightness until they're told to shut off at 11pm or if the garage door was opened after 11pm, the coach lights stay on all night until another program I wrote tells ALL outside lights to be off after sunrise. Here is the program telling the coach lights to turn on with garage door opening: If From Sunset + 20 minutes To Sunrise + 20 minutes (next day) And ( Status 'Garage / Main Garage Door Sensor' is On Or Status 'Garage / Small Garage Door Sensor' is On ) Then Set 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' On Wait 5 minutes Run Program 'Coach Lights Night' (If) Run Program 'Coach Lights Night' (Then Path) Run Program 'Coach Lights Night' (Else Path) Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') I've tried different things where I will say "run program if" only or "run program then" only, and also have not used the parenthesis for "if." Nothing seems to get this to work properly. This leads into my other question of "run program" commands...if I specify only "Run program If" under "Then," will the ISY run If, Then and Else of that program or JUST If? Thanks

Weird. When I had SmartLinc (for under a week before ordering an ISY), the morninglinc worked perfectly. Once I started using the ISY the ML became sketchy. It ended up never responding to commands again and I am replacing it with a new one. Will update once the new one comes. I plan to use it with a KPL button to open our guest room which is outside the front door of our regular part of the house. I am hoping to use "OFF" as a responder so that the KPL button allows entry into the room and once inside, it can be manually locked. Too bad the ML lock doesn't allow discreet status so we can tell if the door is locked or unlocked.

Thanks for the respones. Really helps to clear things up and ensure everything is behaving by design.

By 3 lights I mean I have 3 separate motion sensing flood lights located around the perimeter of the home. Each unit has the typical 2 bulbs and one sensor. What I did was house black to motion sensor black and in-line linc black, house white to motion sensor white, inline linc white and bulb whites. Then I connected the motion red and insteon reds to the bulb black wires for signaling. This way, the motion sensor and in line linc are always powered. I have done only some basic testing. When no motion had been sensed for 5 mins, the lights are off. If I send an insteon "on" command the unit turns on, off turns off lights as expected. They will stay on for as long as I need them to and are under manual control (and I will write a program to shut them off automatically after 5 mins). Howeever, if motion sensor turns on the lights the on/off status are not updated and insteon thinks the lights are off, but the lights turn off after 5 mins in that regard (as set on the motion sensor relay itself). The other unit I wired conventionally...where house black and house white go through the inline linc and the red inlinelinc goes to the flood lights black wire. In this case, the unit is always "on" regardless of the actual lights being on or off. If I send an off command, the entire unit doest not turn on. If I send an on command, the unit stays on for a few mins thenlights shut off and goes into motion sense mode. Regret not getting the "sense" ones now (and not sure why I didn't in the first place), but I'm going to prob go with wiring the motion sensor separatey to get better manual control at night of the lights. I didn't want to have the units be a controller for any lights bec of the large number of falsely turning on.

I have 3 outdoor motion sensing flood lights. I recently changed all 3 of them to models accepting a flood LED lamp (previous was halogen-only (proprietary). Today I received my 3 in-line linc dimmers (non-sensing). I wired 2 of the 3 lights with the inline lincs. First light was wired such that only the black, white and red (load wire) along with ground were connected. This lets me set schedules where during certain nighttime hours the unit can flick on with motion. I wired the 2nd of 3 lights differently. I separated the motion sensor so that only the motion sensor is conected to direct line power. All teh white wires of course are tied together. The red wire coming out of motion sensor is linked up wiht black wires coming from each flood lamp. This way, the motion sensor is always powered and I can flick lights on/off whenver I needed to. Have to get on the ladder to do the 3rd light but wondering what everyone recommends as best way to do this?

I stop the door half-way or partial way to air out the garage or if I didn't need to open it all the way. I do this via the control (KPL, factory remote, etc). It is when I use the KPL that the light turns off, turns back on again (door doesn't move), then press same KPL button a 3rd time to get the door to close. I suspect something is not right with my setup. I have two garage doors and have the garage kit on both of them. The instructions packed with the kit say to use the green and black wires. I did that but my sensor kept saying the door was open when it was in fact closed. Then I used the black and red wires and now the sensor reads correct (off for closed, on for open). However, my relay reads random things, sometimes on, sometimes off. I'm momentary C and no other options checked (no reversal, etc). Many times, my sensor will say door is closed (off) but the relay will be "on", this usually happens when I use a remote other than the insteon one (usually happens when I use the factory remote). Today, I pressed "off" on my ISY control panel and despite being in Momentary C, the garage door opened. I know we're not supposed to use direct commands but that was weird.

I will obviously let the more experienced guys on here chime in but I would guess that this is less of an issue with how the program is written. I know my programs do have a bit of a latency...but it is not disturbingly long for what I need it to do...maybe half a second to a second at most?

On the note of garage doors, I have my KPL set up as recommended. However, I've noticed that when I press the KPL button to open the door, the light turns on (as it normally should). If I hit the KPL button again when the door is only half-open, the light turns off and the door stops in its current position (half-open). I hit the same KPL button again, and the light turns back on but the door doesn't do anything. I hit the button a 3rd time and the light shuts off and the door begins to close. Is there any way around this so that the KPL button behaves like the factory button and while the door is paused in half-open position, the KPL light still remains "ON" to confirm the status of the open door?

Thanks to everyone who helped me along with this process. Everything is up and running. I still have some minor quirks here and there but it has nothing to do with the accidental resetting of the PLM. Thumbs up to the UDI guys who gave me a call today to make sure everything was working fine. Excellent support/customer service for sure (hard to find that these days). The PLM and ISY are now going relocated in my structured wiring cabinets where hopefully nobody will open them or touch the set button!

Ok so I painstakingly used the whole day to delete each device, manually copy down all the properties of each one, and then re-added them back to the ISY. For the most part almost every device instantaneously updates in ISY when controlled manually. Some things I'm still not sure about and maybe you guys can tell me if this is by design: 1.) ISY status does NOT change when my ICON dimmer and on/off plug-in modules' "set" button is toggled (toggling the on/off status manually). Some of the modules behave differently also, some will flash the lights on then off quickly, other modules do stay on. Weird, seeing they're all the same version. 2.) I have a 6-way switch (5 switches controlling one set of hallway lights). All switches report status correctly when manually toggled and/or dimmed. When I adjust any of the switches NOT directly connected to the load via the ISY, the statuses all get messed up each one varying from the other. The same is true with my 3-way switches. I imagine this is by design. After doing all this, I saved the backup again. I'm afraid that if I were to ever restore the backup the same problem would happen again. Am I supposed to delete the PLM and re-add the PLM again BEFORE restoring ISY with the backup file? Or do I factory reset the PLM, delete, then restore PLM before restoring ISY? Thanks again, I hope this doesn't happen again!

Ok I did the restore PLM and it only worked for some devices. I am realizing I still have many devices that are not updating in the ISY when toggled while some of the others are. This is happening on with devices on the same phase also. After restoring PLM, I did delete one device (that is not a member of many scenes) and re-added it back. It did update instantly (which fixed the problem). Rather than renaming it back to it's original and manually adding it back to all the scenes (from my own memory, albiet only a few scenes for this particular device), I instead restored a backup I created just prior to deleting the device. Now, none of my devices show statuses and many of them do not respond to ISY commands. This is a replay of what happened when my PLM inadvertently reset when plugging in. Only some devices respond but very slowly, and I'm now getting riddled with error messages such as "Failed" or "Cannot access Errorlog" Kinda getting frustrated. It won't do anything when I try "restore PLM" or "restore all devices." I don't want to have to erase the ISY and add-back my numerous insteon devices and re-do all the scenes and programming from my own memory (because I thought that's what the ISY backup was all about)!

I think you're right. Last week when attempting to relocate my PLM/ISY to another location, I used an awkward multitap to plug it back into its current location and I believe the "SET"button on the PLM had been pressed and possibly reverted back to factory settings (no longer have it plugged into that). It was subsequent to that when none of my ISY commands wouldn't do anything and I went back and re-did each scene. However, since that time, I have various 3-way switches and a 6-way switch that are frequently out of sync. Now that I realize statuses for devices should be updated instantly and that's not happening on my network, I need to re-establish things. Problem is, I deleted the devices from a bunch of those scenes and then re-did them again after the "SET" button fiasco. Do I now have open (dead) links that are still carried along from the previous linking? I have a lot of programs and scenes set up now in the ISY, I do regular backups but I'm hoping I don't just re-instate those dead links if I were to clean everything off and restore the backup. How should I go about doing this?

ok, I made an "outside lights" scene as suggested (and did the bedside controlinc for myself and the wife, thanks for that one also)...now, I also tried to compare and restore the links for the switches that don't automatically update in ISY when toggled on/off. Comparing showed one extra link for my coach light, and then I did restore device. When I re-tried toggling on/off it still doesn't update. Then I added the coach light switch to it's own scene. Without adding this scene to the program for auto off, it DOES now work. Why is this the case? Some switches work on their own, others are not working. Thanks.

Sorry, I wasn't clear about this before, but the only scene KPL button C controls is the "Garbage Night" scene which contains the coach lights and side light. Since it's day time, I'm trying to figure out the program I mentioned above to have any outdoor light automatically switched off. The program is pasted below, but my issue is that regardless of what my program says, my ISY does not update the status of the light I'm testing unless I manually query the light. Once I manually query the light, then the program recognizes the light is on and shuts it off based on my program settings. Is this a communication issue or a drawback to the ISY? If From Sunrise To Sunset Or Status 'Side Garage / Side Garage Door Light' is not switched Off Or Status 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' is not switched Off Or Status 'Front Yard / Front Landscape Light' is not switched Off Or Status 'Front Yard / Front Yard Holiday Lights' is not switched Off Or Status 'Backyard / Backyard Hut Lights' is not switched Off Or Status 'Backyard / Backyard Fan Lights' is not switched Off Or Status 'Backyard / Backyard Fan Lights' is not switched Off Then Set 'Side Garage / Side Garage Door Light' Off Set 'Front Yard / Front Coach Lights' Off Set 'Front Yard / Front Landscape Light' Off Set 'Front Yard / Front Yard Holiday Lights' Off Set 'Backyard / Backyard Hut Lights' Off Set 'Backyard / Backyard Fan Lights' Off Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')