How To: Insteon Garage Door, with multiple Controls

[Irakandjii]

Hi Folks I thought I would share this how-to for a "complex" Garage door set-up.

 

Problem: Multi-story home sometimes the garage door is left open by the kids and we had to go downstairs to check.

 

Objective:  Have the status of the Garage door display on multiple keypads with the ability close the door from all outlets, but only open from specific locations.

 

Assumptions:

• Use the safety features of the door (Infrared LoS sensors) to prevent closure on people, cars or other blockages.  (May consider a camera later.)
• Insteon 2040 installed inside to keep above 10 degrees C
• Lit LED's on the keypads sufficient to notify of "Door Open" status.  (might do a dedicated lamp later)
• "Open Notification Button" means a keypad button that glows when the garage door is open (Sensor Indication)
• "Door Close Button"  Button dedicated to closing the door.
• "Door Open Button"  Button dedicated to opening the door.

Operation:

 

When Garage Door is Open

• LED's turn "on" for all associated buttons (devices) using the sensor data.
• When an operator presses an "Open Notification button" or "Door Close Button" :
  • Close the garage door
  • Once the door closes, turn off the LEDs
  • If the door does not close (LED remains lit), allows re-try.
  • Once the door is closed.  The LEDs turn Off
  • You cannot use the button to open the garage.

When Garage Door is Closed

• Pressing an "Door Open button" will
  • Open the Garage Door
  • Set all LED's appropriately.
  • Multiple open commands have no effect.

Design Note: Do not use toggles on your buttons you can create an unknown state.

 

 

Physical setup, In my case:

1. The garage door opener needs a "momentary on" to initiate opening or closing. So the 2450 I/O controller is wired as a normally open relay.
2. The sensor components (magnets) is set to the top of the door and are in close proximity when the door is closed.
3. Install the 2450 using the normal ISY procedure it will show up as:
   1. XX.XX.XX Relay and,
   2. XX.XX.XX Sensor

Since the sensor is at the top of the door,  ensure the following are checked in Options.  (Note: you may have to scroll down to see all options)

• LED on Tx
• Trigger Reverse
• Momentary C: Trigger based on Sensor Input
• All others unchecked

Now make the scene, for example I have:

1. a 2487S Keypad with Button D set as an "Open Notification Button"
   • set button D  XX.XX.XX - D -> Toggle Button Mode as "Non-Toggle [Off]" (it will not send an "On")
2. a 2444A RemoteLink2  button D as Open/Close   <left> "Off button" and <right> "On button" ("off" closes and "on" opens)

Add to the Scene using the normal tools and create: (I called mine Garage Alert)

 

            Garage Alert

(Controller)   XX.XX.XX - Sensor

(Responder) XX.XX.XX - Relay

(Controller)   XX.XX.XX - 2487S.D  (This is my Den wall KeyPad)

(Controller)   XX.XX.XX - RemoteLink2.D (This is the D button on the RemoteLink)

 

And that is it!  I will be adding more 2487S "Open Notification Buttons" as I roll out the network

 

I hope this helps someone. 

 

 

 

 

[MWareman]

Before implementing remote closing, consider the safety implications. Plenty of kids have got seriously hurt by closing garage doors even when the IR LOS safety devices are working fine. Doors usually have a power based auto-reverse as well - but it’s when this fails that the chance of injury rises significantly.

 

My choice is not to do this without a camera to visually verify that the door closing area is clear - and add a closing siren (such as the MyQ system does).

[elvisimprsntr]

Seems like your setup is not UL or code compliant. You have been advised.

 

 

 

https://www.cepro.com/article/potential_legal_liabilities_for_integrating_garage_doors_with_home_automati

[Irakandjii]

Seems like your setup is not UL or code compliant. You have been advised.

 

 

 

https://www.cepro.com/article/potential_legal_liabilities_for_integrating_garage_doors_with_home_automati

The article is about setting up the Scenes and programming, NOT about legal issues which are location (Country, State, County, City) dependent.  It is incumbent on the user to check these based on their local requirements.

 

That being said, Thanks for the advice and I followed up by reading the link. 

The associated legal opinion clearly states the UL compliance is not a legal requirement.  The article is biased towards the USA.  Readers within the USA may have issues with their setup depending on their state and local laws, so this reference may be helpful to them. 

in Canada we are not as litigation imbalanced as in the USA and spurious lawsuits are not encouraged or tolerated. 

 

The IR system that is in place is more than adequate to prevent operation if children or objects are in the way.  It has been tested as effective for this purpose.  

 

To be clear.  My system meets the minimum UL requirement  and is consistent with my local building codes.

 

The Siren is a good idea, I will consider that, mainly to scare off the odd cat or racoon trespasser.

[elvisimprsntr]

I think the siren and flashing light are for people with disabilities, not to chase away animals.

[dsstrainer]

On 1/23/2018 at 4:14 AM, elvisimprsntr said:

I think the siren and flashing light are for people with disabilities, not to chase away animals.

Honestly though probably good for anyone.. I have had a similar setup for the past 2 years without siren where I autoclose the garage every 20 mins ... and I've had a close call where I was actively backing out of my garage right as it triggered the auto-close. It is a quiet opener so I didn't hear it as I started to back out of the garage and I couldn't yet see the door coming down in my rear view. The door luckily pushed down on top of my car and went back up... had it been down 2 more inches though, it would have caught my luggage rack and I would have likely pulled down the door.