paulbates

The "Alexa set the <timer name> timer for 5 minute" is a new feature that has appeared very recently for me.. I caught it just a few days ago. All of the other words other than your timer name are known to alexa, you need to be sure she can hear you well for the timer name. I've not had a problem with it using words like "Rice", "Oven", etc. Its better for the whole family this way, if the alarm goes off when you're not right there, someone else knows what the timer is for. Paul

The advantages of putting polyglot on the unix box and connecting the ISY are: Integration with other things... If someone opens our family room doorwall, after x minutes the thermostats are set to off and the attic dampers are opened. Or if the attic fan is turned on.. dampers opened, HVAC systems set to off. I also cancel HVAC fan cycling during those events. Also, a keypad key sets "away" mode for the house, that includes HVAC and other things. Integrated notifications. I have the ISY send pushover notifications, and HVAC activities is one pushover "app" as well as sprinklers, garage door, etc Paul

Hi Some things to consider: AC not running when its called: Some power companies provide interrupt-able power service at a reduced cost. I have this. When an particular grid has a peak power demand, they have the right to remotely cut your air off (usually a few times a season max). You would probably know that you have this feature, usually there are 2 meters and two entries on the bil, but the symptoms that you are documenting support this hypothesis AC systems can have an X minute safeguard built in so they don't run continuously. This is also an explanation for your symptoms, especially if its leaked coolant and working harder than normal. Nest: The Nest is a cloud only API; a cloud service is called no matter what mechanism you choose to integrate it with. Solutions that integrate the Nest with the ISY require a system-in-the-middle that can run python. There is a python based Nest app for the ISY's Polyglot framework. I believe most users have RaspberryPi (or equivalent) computer in the middle: ISY <-> Polyglot (on Pi) <-> Nest Cloud API Paul

Changing modes is not part of the skill yet. This thread discussed the up-to-date set of features from Amazon. My recollection is that Benoit has updated the ISY skill set to support all of these. Paul

Yep, a keypad key or remotelinc. I gave one to the lawncutting service so he can kill a program if its running when he shows up. The rainmachine has direct alexa integration too. You turn it on settings / system settings and rediscovering, there is no skill to load. You can kill programs by name with it, which may suit your purpose. I've use individual zones to herd the squirrels and rabbits

I've had the rainmachine for about a year, too. With V5, I integrate it with the ISY via Nodelink (see screenshots). Its a great solution. io_guy is great about considering enhancements, he's added several for me.I have a couple of functions that are helped by the ISY. To your point, it's does most of the work on its own as opposed to a lot of effort put into the ez. Paul

I've used the ezflora and its pump/master valve feature. The Pump/master valve will be managed by the EZflora based on when you turn a zone on. You configure that with the ISY Admin Console, and Zone 8 is lost as a zone to operate the pump / master valve. Only 7 usable zone connections are left when configuring this.. giving you one extra zone for your future expansion. You can use multiple ezfloras; because my system has 14 zones and 2 master valves, I used 2 Ezfloras. You'll need to write your own ISY programs. I spent a lot of time on this, from using a rain sensor to cancel an upcoming cycle, to programs to validate if either ezflora had failed. I also have the optional ISY Climate module, I used that to prevent an upcoming cycle if it was very likely to rain enough. Instead of the rain sensor, you can purchase the ISY Irrigation Module which I believe also requires the optional ISY Climate module. Paul

When I bought my backup on 5/16/16, it was a current manufacturing run, only a few weeks old. The sticker indicates that it was manufactured in the 17th Week of 2016. (April 25th - May 1st) The low price is more of a "keep your eyeballs on amazon" tactic, and not pushing old product. I guess the learning is wait for May to buy a backup PLM. "Should it be a fixed version?" Yes. My understanding is that it was 2.2 "Is it fixed?".. great question and depends on when the first 2.2 versions were installed and the 2 year failure clock is started. My current PLM (not the backup mentioned above), which was a 'refurb', is about on its 3rd birthday. Paul

Nope, you're good. I waited for one of these specials to purchase my backup PLM a few years ago. Paul

Hi- Here is a summary: http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/19333-all-my-insteon-lights-and-devices-came-on-what-should-i-do/ Paul

Hi and welcome to the UDI forums! Here are 2 bookmark methods. I'm pretty sure UDI does not want the credentials to be auto entered from the internet through the portal. I have a shortcut on my iphone that takes me directly to my custom had page, ....but I must authenticate with my portal credentials https://isy.io/isy/<yourISYkey>/USER/WEB/INDEX.HTM ..or substitute your own page names stored on the isy and replace INDEX.HTM with their names I also use a browser link on my iphone to call IFTTT Maker to do really simple things. No credentials are passed in this case. The appropriate config needs to be completed in Maker with the correct key provided by the ISY Portal, and a Device/Scene/Variable/Program configured on ISY Portal to execute the desired function.: Example: https://maker.ifttt.come/trigger/GarageDoor/with/key/<key> Neither are very sophisticated, but I rarely need to manually trigger anything with my phone. In the first example, I have custom HAD pages that give me a house status, but I pretty much do that with pushover these days. Mobilinc and/or tasker both offer much more sophisticated ways of doing this that provided status feedback, if you need that. Paul

Hi Bill Can you repeat that with the admin console's event view set to level 3? That will give more details about the communications between it and the switch As a guess, the comms at that end are really bad: What is the load to be switched on and off? (LED lights, Fan, Low voltage lighting...) Was the switch off when attempting to link? Try it turned off if so. Paul

I suppose another option would be no If statement, and mark it as "Run on Startup"

Hi This is the general idea but you'll need to test it If From 12:00:00AM To 12:00:00PM (same day) Then Repeat Every 6 minutes Set 'Pump' On Wait 1 minutes Set 'Pump' Off Paul

To add to Brian's answer, If the devices quit working locally, it sounds like a power blip. Are are the devices, especially the keypads, buzzing, chirping or experiencing unexpected behavior when pressing the buttons? Paul

Many virus protection packags (Norton, Mcafee, etc) take a dim view of any java app. Can you temporarily turn that off and retry? If that's it, usually there is a way to tell the virus package to not evaluate certain apps, eg the admin console Paul

I like all my ISY notifications in one place with pushover. It creates a single house log of events to review.

The update states that "my.locativ.io has been shutdown, cloud features have been removed". The link still sends to the ISY portal when geofences are crossed. Its still a great solution for geofence notification that works with the V5.10 and ISY Portal Paul

You need to always install new devices that will be shared to the isy first. It's install process typically wipes out the existing links in the device. My suggestion would be to only link as few devices as necessary for testing, and/or use spares for testing if you have them. Paul Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's a very slippery slope. Add/change/delete devices or scenes with test software could have unintended impacts, as the ISY could get out of sync with its last view of the PLM configuration. Not being able to make those changes may defeat your purpose of testing. The ISY will need to be unplugged, and then restarted after testing. Since PLMs have historically died often around the 2 year mark, another suggestion is to get a second serial PLM for testing, and also have it on hand as your back up when the primary dies. PLMs occaisionaly go on sale on Amazon, I got my backup PLM there for ~$30, Paul

Hi Phil In the ISY Portal, go to Select tool, Connectivity, Amazon Echo Click on an individual spoken on the list, on the right side. You can type in several different alternatives for each under the list Alternate spokens Paul

I make a backup after I either add/delete devices/scenes or 'qa' new program changes. Backups all go in a network folder, and I modify the name to briefly document what's new. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Some devices can provide the interface to the skill locally by discovering devices and not installing a skill on the website, the rainmachine does this too. You can probably also say "What is the (thermostat name) temperature" Paul

Hi Mike, welcome to the UDI forums! Groups of insteon lights and buttons are controlled together by scenes. So you'll want to create a scene (Link Management menu in the admin console, last choice on the menu) that includes the buttons you want to light up in the scene with the switches. If the the buttons that light up are also expected to turn the lights back off, include them as a controller when you add them to the scene. If you have programs that control these too, then use "Set scene" on and off, and not control the devices directly. It takes a little practice, but you'll get it) Paul

Hi. There's this http://www.smarthome.com/insteon-2401wh6-6-button-change-kit-for-keypadlinc-white.html Toss the keys and use the new frame, Potentially the coloring may be a tad off.. This probably the only thing that says "keypadlinc" that's less than $50 Paul