GEM configuration to ISY-994iZ IR Pro

[Michel Kohanim]

1. Can you include the value of 0 for the wattage. Right now it starts off at 1 watt.

Yes.

 

2. Can the options to select the power, kwh, current, voltage, also include a entry box to allow a number not predefined. The one reason is for voltage and the only option is the defined values in the drop down list.

Not that easy based on the current UI. What values do you have in mind that are NOT represented in the list?

 

3. What is the best method to create a program that does not send repeated notifications once a set threshold has been met? For example I set my ISY to send a text & e-mail once the power was 370 watts. The system continued to send these alerts for hours because the solar power was above 370 watts for 4 hours. So it didn't matter if it was 371, 410, 1200 watts. If it was above 370 watts it would send this notification.

These are statuses just like status of lights. If you need to have a threshold, then you need to create state variables for the thresholds. Set the variables based on the the value (either 1 or 0) and then send the notification if and only if variable is 1. To be more accurate, you can add a wait before sending notification.

 

4. Is there a method to reset all of the daily KWH consumed in a program for one channel / all channels?

We did add support for resetting everything but not in programs simply because we have not been able to test them. Click on the Set Option on one of the nodes and then please do let us know if reset does indeed work

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Teken]

1. Can you include the value of 0 for the wattage. Right now it starts off at 1 watt.

Yes.

 

2. Can the options to select the power, kwh, current, voltage, also include a entry box to allow a number not predefined. The one reason is for voltage and the only option is the defined values in the drop down list.

Not that easy based on the current UI. What values do you have in mind that are NOT represented in the list?

 

3. What is the best method to create a program that does not send repeated notifications once a set threshold has been met? For example I set my ISY to send a text & e-mail once the power was 370 watts. The system continued to send these alerts for hours because the solar power was above 370 watts for 4 hours. So it didn't matter if it was 371, 410, 1200 watts. If it was above 370 watts it would send this notification.

These are statuses just like status of lights. If you need to have a threshold, then you need to create state variables for the thresholds. Set the variables based on the the value (either 1 or 0) and then send the notification if and only if variable is 1. To be more accurate, you can add a wait before sending notification.

 

4. Is there a method to reset all of the daily KWH consumed in a program for one channel / all channels?

We did add support for resetting everything but not in programs simply because we have not been able to test them. Click on the Set Option on one of the nodes and then please do let us know if reset does indeed work

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Using the Set Option does indeed work. Observations: There is a delay from the time you click on the clear the *seconds counter* and gather the system is just waiting for the next GEM update. One strange thing that seems to appear is that the *Current Power* displays some really huge numbers. Like 9233387, after the next GEM update this values are reset correctly. I do know there is also a option to clear all channels seconds counters.

 

I am simply looking for a method to select this option via a program and set the time to do so. The intent is to match the same reset time as the SEG. This will allow me to compare both data sets and know the consumptions values are accurate and reflective of the time it was reset.

 

With respect to the voltage: If its easier for you to add in the options for these values. Could you please add in 0 to 10 volts, so it would be 0,1,2,3 up to 10. The next range would be 110, 111, 112, up to 120. The next range would be 120, 121, 122 up to 130 volts. Last 230, 231, 232 up to 260 volts. Having these values to select from the drop down list will help tremendously to monitor, track, and create programs to react to the environment that is in place now.

 

As you can see it would be much easier if these values could simply be entered in to a empty field box. But, I understand the current ISY firmware is not designed this way so this will have to do.

 

Lastly, could you please supply an example of the state variable for me to review.

 

I thank you so much!

 

EDIT: Here is an example of performing a reset. Once you do this, the current power jumps to some insane value. After the next update / push of data the current power values are restored to normal.

 

Teken . . .

[Teken]

I also wanted to let you know from time to time this *Title / Name* issue appears? Once in awhile when you select, scroll down the list of nodes the title appears to shrink? Going up, or down, or simply selecting another node, than returning back to the trouble node will restore the *Title / Name*

 

This minor problem happens on XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8

 

Teken . . .

[Teken]

There was also some random alert notification which made me jump out of my skin. This only happen once so I don't know why this occurred. As you're aware 347527.00 watts is pretty impressive to say the least!

 

Its safe to say my current solar array is no where close to being that powerful!

 

Teken . . .

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Teken,

 

Too many intertwining issues and requests and problems which makes it very difficult for us to address efficiently.

 

1. Voltage range, yes, done in 4.0.4

2. Example Program:

Threshold Program:
If
       Status  'GEM 0013A200 - Main / GEM 0013A200 - CH10' >= 184 Watts (Current Power)

Then
       $Threshold  = 1

Else
       $Threshold  = 0

Notify Program:
If
       $Threshold is 1

Then
       Wait  30 seconds
       Send Notification to 'Default'

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

UI issues will be addressed once everything else is addressed. Adding reset in programs, medium priority bug# 104.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Teken]

Hello Michel,

 

Updated the ISY to the 4.04 RC with out a hitch. I did notice that the following values were duplicated.

 

50 amps, 260 volts, 500 watts.

 

Teken . . .

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Teken, thank you!

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Teken]

Hello Michel,

 

I wanted to confirm that the latest firmware 4.05 does indeed support the GEM's current / amps. Brultech has just released a Beta COM / Engine release which supports the current / amps data. I have appended the screen capture of the current / VA that are now available from the GEM.

 

Please let me know if there is anything that needs to be adjusted or done in the ISY to see and use these new values. Also, could you let me know when the *Reset Counter* option will be available for use in programs.

 

Teken . . .

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Teken,

 

Thank you. If the packet structure has not changed, then ISY should report them.

 

As far as program, currently way down on our list.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Teken]

Michel,

 

Most excellent and thank you about the reset for the programs. If something in the future can be bumped off, it would be great if this feature could be incorporated in future releases.

 

Teken . . .

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Teken,

 

Absolutely ... we just need more demand and more people using this integration. That would certainly make things much more urgent.

 

Thanks again for the feedback and active role in this integration.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[madcodger]

Michel, Teken -

 

First, thank you for staying on top of - and pioneering - these capabilities. I plan to purchase a GEM in the next few months, but need to complete a few other home projects first.

 

One question re "reset", though: Is this somehow designed to help with tracking daily or periodic usage of electricity by ISY (e.g., reset values to 0 at midnight) or something else? I ask because I use that function within my Elk for a similar purpose (using relays to trigger zones, and counting "on" time) and could use that logic when I move to a new ISY and add a GEM.

 

Joe

[Teken]

Michel, Teken -

 

First, thank you for staying on top of - and pioneering - these capabilities. I plan to purchase a GEM in the next few months, but need to complete a few other home projects first.

 

One question re "reset", though: Is this somehow designed to help with tracking daily or periodic usage of electricity by ISY (e.g., reset values to 0 at midnight) or something else? I ask because I use that function within my Elk for a similar purpose (using relays to trigger zones, and counting "on" time) and could use that logic when I move to a new ISY and add a GEM.

 

Joe

 

Hello Joe,

 

That would be the same intent as you use it for the ELK. Right now the ISY can reset the *All Counters* *All Seconds Counters* *This Channels Seconds Counters* *Pulse Channel 1-4* *All Pulse Counters*

 

Right now the user must reset the counters manually. Having the ability to reset individual channels would allow the user to track and record important data germain to him / her based on their scheduled need(s). Currently, I have set a reminder on my iPhone to inform me its time to reset XX channel, or pulse channels. Not ideal but its all I have for now to keep on top of the accumulated watts / KWH.

 

For your future reference I have been working hard with Paul / Ben at Brultech to develop both the GEM / Dash Box. Both products on their basic level are rock solid. With the great support and dedication of Brultech, we have been able to develop both the GEM / DB into a power house and incorporated many feature sets that all can enjoy and appreciate.

 

Currently, I am working with Ben to develop the current / amps in the DB (Dash Box). Many other features are on the road map to ensure fail over and over lapping support on all plat forms. My ultimate goal is to be able to monitor energy consumption. Next, is to gather that energy consumption via the ISY / DB. From there to use that stored information or live data and act upon it via the Insteon network.

 

Thus far, many things have been accomplished on all fronts. Slow and steady is the game as I know all parties have many priorities and tasks which take precedence. My goal is to drive this feature which to its full potential and with the assistance of Ben / Paul at Brultech, Micheal & UDI Team, Sam at SEG, and last but not least, Insteon.

 

The average Joe will be able to monitor, control, and act on their environment on a reasonable budget. If you have not had the chance to review my install thread at the Garage Journal please do: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/show ... p?t=162749

 

Many facets of the ISY, GEM, SEG, DB, Insteon, and other related items are listed there. At some point the entire thread and documents will be posted on a web site I am creating to show case all of the vendors and their respective technologies. Maybe by years end there will also be a short news article on my home as my friend who works in the broadcast industry thought this was a news worthy article to publish and air on TV.

 

I have asked him to defer the news cast until such time as I am comfortable that all aspects of the HA (Home Automation) is at its full potential and ready to be show cased. I hope the feed back is helpful and please do let me know your progress for the GEM.

 

Teken . . .

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello Teken, thanks again for the details.

 

We'll surely be working on this requirement.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[bsobel]

3. What is the best method to create a program that does not send repeated notifications once a set threshold has been met? For example I set my ISY to send a text & e-mail once the power was 370 watts. The system continued to send these alerts for hours because the solar power was above 370 watts for 4 hours. So it didn't matter if it was 371, 410, 1200 watts. If it was above 370 watts it would send this notification.

 

Do you have (or are you willing to add) a low power linux server into your mix (perhaps a Raspberry Pi)? I feed all my email based notifications from my ISY through my RaspberryPi and wrote a very light weight SMTP proxy that will do rate limiting based on the message. As an example, if I set a notification subject line to @@POWERNOTE:5m then any other message with the tag 'POWERNOTE' will be throttled for 5m (swallowed and not sent). @@POWERNOTE:1h does it for an hour (etc). I have almost all my SMTP enabled devices using this server (which then pushes out to my home automation gmail account for the messages that need to go live). This allowed me to greatly offload the throttling logic from the ISY and maintain it all within the notifications by editing the subjects as needed.

 

LMK if you want to play with it.

 

Bill

[Teken]

3. What is the best method to create a program that does not send repeated notifications once a set threshold has been met? For example I set my ISY to send a text & e-mail once the power was 370 watts. The system continued to send these alerts for hours because the solar power was above 370 watts for 4 hours. So it didn't matter if it was 371, 410, 1200 watts. If it was above 370 watts it would send this notification.

 

Do you have (or are you willing to add) a low power linux server into your mix (perhaps a Raspberry Pi)? I feed all my email based notifications from my ISY through my RaspberryPi and wrote a very light weight SMTP proxy that will do rate limiting based on the message. As an example, if I set a notification subject line to @@POWERNOTE:5m then any other message with the tag 'POWERNOTE' will be throttled for 5m (swallowed and not sent). @@POWERNOTE:1h does it for an hour (etc). I have almost all my SMTP enabled devices using this server (which then pushes out to my home automation gmail account for the messages that need to go live). This allowed me to greatly offload the throttling logic from the ISY and maintain it all within the notifications by editing the subjects as needed.

 

LMK if you want to play with it.

 

Bill

 

Hello Bill,

 

That sounds like a great idea! This might push me to purchasing the Pi as I have been waiting for a more stable platform for the unit. How would your system handle the problem I have presented above in practice?

 

As the problem I have is that once my solar generated power reaches a set threshold the e-mail alert continues to stream in. I have attempted to deploy the program Michele has illustrated but it doesn't seem to work as I would hope. My novel idea within the ISY would be to have an option box to select a specific message should only be sent once, when required.

 

Teken . . .

[arw01]

How about instead of having your power level send out a message each time, have it set a variable as a flag value

 

Then a second program sends the message, starts a wait timer and then resets the variable to zero again.

 

This would cause only 1 message to be sent in X wait period, and until that wait runs out, no matter what the flag gets set too it won't trigger again. E.g. if you use a value of 0 for default and only allow a value of 1 for sending the notification, then in your program that compares the power to your value you just have it += the value so it can continue to count up over time. Because it does not equal 1, it does not cause the program to retrigger the if statement.

 

Alan

[Teken]

How about instead of having your power level send out a message each time, have it set a variable as a flag value

 

Then a second program sends the message, starts a wait timer and then resets the variable to zero again.

 

This would cause only 1 message to be sent in X wait period, and until that wait runs out, no matter what the flag gets set too it won't trigger again. E.g. if you use a value of 0 for default and only allow a value of 1 for sending the notification, then in your program that compares the power to your value you just have it += the value so it can continue to count up over time. Because it does not equal 1, it does not cause the program to retrigger the if statement.

 

Alan

 

Hello Alan,

 

Could you craft an example for me to follow? So, for example I would like to know when the solar power reaches 400 watts, 425 watts, 475 watts, but only send one e-mail message. I would also like to monitor the line voltage when it reaches 0, below 120, and above 125 volts. Any insight and the steps to do this in the ISY is greatly appreciated.

 

As the variable programming is not my strong suite!

 

Teken . . .

[LeeG]

Teken

 

You should document that part of the requirement that addresses when the email should be restored. It is easy to issue a single email when power reaches 400 watts, another single email when power reaches 425 watts, etc.

 

When should emails resume?

 

The next 24 hour period, when power drops below 400 watts and goes back to 400 watts for the 400 watt check, some combination of conditions?

 

Suppressing additional messages is simple, knowing what condition(s) has to exist to turn them back on is needed to design the correct programming.

[Teken]

Teken

 

You should document that part of the requirement that addresses when the email should be restored. It is easy to issue a single email when power reaches 400 watts, another single email when power reaches 425 watts, etc.

 

When should emails resume?

 

The next 24 hour period, when power drops below 400 watts and goes back to 400 watts for the 400 watt check, some combination of conditions?

 

Suppressing additional messages is simple, knowing what condition(s) has to exist to turn them back on is needed to design the correct programming.

 

LeeG,

 

As always your insight is greatly appreciated! Let me consider how I want to craft these alerts and reply back. Right now I simply want a simple fire and forget single e-mail alert. My intent is to use my iPhone and assign this email a priority alert so I know its important and requires my attention.

 

If someone can provide me a simple *How To* from start to finish it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Teken . . .

[LeeG]

Using Programs | Variables | Integer define variable i400wattmsg, setting Init and Value to 0.

 

This program will issue the Notify only once.

 

 

If
       Status  'GEM 0013A200 - Main / GEM 0013A200 - CH10' >= 400 Watts (Current Power)

And $i400wattmsg = 0

Then

Notify .........

$i400wattmsg Init to 1
$i400wattmsg = 1

Else

 

If/When it is decided to restore the Notify with some programming the variable would be set to 0 to allow another Notify.

[wwat]

If/When it is decided to restore the Notify with some programming the variable would be set to 0 to allow another Notify.

 

I noticed that you need to place the notify command after the two variable updates otherwise the program will just fire again and again.

 

Regards, Wayne

 

i.e.

 

If
       Status  'GEM 0013A200 - Main / GEM 0013A200 - CH10' >= 400 Watts (Current Power)

And $i400wattmsg = 0

Then

$i400wattmsg Init to 1
$i400wattmsg = 1

Notify .........

Else