Ohmconnect Alerts

[ohmconnect]

Hey UD Users,

 

We noticed the Flex Alert site that communicates with the ISY994i has been inactive for awhile now. When this was brought to our attention, we got in touch with the engineers at UD and created a solution to restore the Flex Alert functionality with our software, Ohmconnect.

 

Ohmconnect is a software-only demand response provider that actually pays you for participating in our energy alerts, which we call #OhmHour. It’s free and it uses existing hardware at your home, the smart meter, to track your energy use. We send about 1-2 notifications each week letting you know when to reduce your power, which will send a signal to the ISY994i. Each time your participate in #OhmHour events, you will see points stack up in the application, which equate to real money that you can cash out at anytime via PayPal or Venmo.

 

Here are a few things we recommend you turn off or postpone using:

• central AC (or increase temperature a few degrees)
• space heaters
• kitchen counter appliances
• room air conditioners
• televisions, computers, and unnecessary electronics
• ceiling fans
• unnecessary lights

It’s free to use. To get started, click here. Once you’re up and running with Ohmconnect, simply monitor this URL with the ISY994i. We’re excited to bring back this service and provide a new level of energy optimization.

 

The Ohmconnect Team

Edited August 11, 2014 by ohmconnect

[Teken]

Too bad this sort of service is not available in Canada. 

[ohmconnect]

Yes, we are currently only in California for now. Apologize for those outside California - but we encourage you to shoot us a note on where you would like us to be deployed next!

[Teken]

Yes, we are currently only in California for now. Apologize for those outside California - but we encourage you to shoot us a note on where you would like us to be deployed next!

 

Hello Ohmconnect,

 

This isn't so much your fine company and the service you offer. Its this old, *** backwards town I live in. While everyone is living in 2014 with current tools, technology, and things that could make a difference.

 

Some parts of the Government and those services which deal with electricity, water, gas, etc when dealing with on demand, or load shedding, are not something this town has ever thought about or considered.

 

Same thing with how most of the 50 States has a energy rebate (solar) to help reduce our carbon foot print. While also off setting the load on the electrical grid.

 

To be fair, our Hydro electric is first rate and will never run out of power. We export more electrical power across the 49th parallel to other parts of the United States because we generate a lot more than we can ever consume.

 

I will have to sit back and watch from afar as others enjoy the benefit of your great service! 

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply back.

[jtara92101]

The documentation on the website suggests that alerts are not state-wide, but tailored to specific locations.

 

If I sign-up, am I supplied a different URL, so that it can send alerts specific to my location? And/or does the server try to guess based on IP address?

[curtistongue]

Hi Jtara - 

 

Yes, our alerts are specific to your location. We'll send you a specific email / SMS alerting you of the beginning and end to our demand response events. You could perhaps have you system distinguish between these two emails, since we send out the beginning of our DR events from dirty@ohmconnect.com and the end from clean@ohmconnect.com

 

Cheers,

Curt

[jtara92101]

 We'll send you a specific email / SMS alerting you of the beginning and end to our demand response events. 

 

 

I don't mean the email or SMS messages, though. I mean the "fake flex alert" XML page that is polled by the ISY. Since I am not signed-up with your service, I am using the URL that was provided in the first post of this thread. What kind of alerts does that provide? Once we sign-up, are we provided with a more-specific URL?

 

Yes, I suppose I could develop some sort of workflow on my desktop computer or some server. Look for a matching email, run some AppleScript or similar to set an ISY variable using the REST interface. And, yes, would be more timely than polling. But also would be re-inventing the wheel for almost every user. (Multiple computer platforms, multiple email clients, may or may not have an always-on computer, etc. etc. etc.)

[stevesreed]

I don't mean the email or SMS messages, though. I mean the "fake flex alert" XML page that is polled by the ISY. Since I am not signed-up with your service, I am using the URL that was provided in the first post of this thread. What kind of alerts does that provide? Once we sign-up, are we provided with a more-specific URL?

Just to follow up (I'm a Ohmconnect user and just ordered the an ISY994i ZW Pro), yes there is a specific html link for your account so the alerts are localized.

 

Once you have an Ohmconnect account set up (you can use my link, ohmc.co/f7e149, and we both get $5 in credit ), the html link is at the bottom of the settings page.

[cmccartney]

stevesreed,

 

What version of ISY firmware are you using? I am on 4.4.2 and am unable to find the configuration page to enter the URL for flex alerts. Was it removed in later versions?

 

Craig

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Craig,

 

You need the dashboard:

http://isy.universal-devices.com/994i/4.4.3/dashboard.jnlp... wrench icon at the top right | Flex Alert.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[stevesreed]

I have not verified that the personal link works yet with the ISY. I just got mine yesterday, so I'm setting everything up today.

The personal URL's XML entries differ form the old FlexAlert XML layout. I'm talking to Ohmconnect to see if they can add the <flexalert> data to there personalize url XML data, then, fingers crossed, it will "just work"

Edited February 6, 2016 by stevesreed

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi stevesreed,

 

As long as they have true/false it should work.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[cmccartney]

It worked for me yesterday

[stevesreed]

It worked for me yesterday

Are you using the general Flexalert URL, or the personalized one that is for Ohmhours specific to your location?

 

Edited February 9, 2016 by stevesreed

[cmccartney]

The personalized one.

[stevesreed]

Just to followup, since this is the pinned thread, and I had some problems getting it working with the personalized link.

The link at the bottom of the ohmconnect.com settings page is the plain http version. It redirects to the https page, but the ISY does not seem to like the redirect.  

You need to add the https version for the ISY Dashboard "Flex Your Power" URL setting. I used 60 second polling, but you could probably check less often than that.

Once that's setup, you can follow Craig's samples here: http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/14130-examples-for-flex-alerts/?do=findComment&comment=117576, for some ISY controlled, ohmhour fun.

[cmccartney]

stevesreed,

 

Oops. I did not realize there was a redirect. I did not copy the link directly from the ohmconncet page; I clicked on it and it opened in a browser. I then copied the URL from the browser and pasted into the ISY dashboard. So it worked!

 

Mea culpa for the confusion.

 

Craig

[stevesreed]

OhmConnect has been working great with my ISY994iZW. I really like being able to turn off a bunch of things automatically during the alerts, then only turn them back on if they are supposed to be on that time of day (landscape light, fountain pump, etc) by running their control programs from the OhmHour over program. It makes it much easier to reduce electricity usage during the alerts.

 

I also the program trigger an Aeon Labs ZW080-A17 siren for 2 seconds at the start of the hour, to let everyone know to keep electric usage low for the next hour. It's more effective than the txt alerts, since sometimes we don't have our phones with at home.

If you are in California, I highly recommend signing up for OhmConnect. You can sign up directly via OhmConnect.com, of use a referral link like mine (http://ohm.co/8423b1), which until the end of April will give you 2000 points ($20) which you can cash in after participating in at least one OhmHour alert (I also get 2000 point if you use the link).