toddhutch Posted October 17, 2019 Posted October 17, 2019 I'll start off with a little background on this new installation- I've wire our new house by treating everything as a one way switch for all of the lights, and each location that I wanted to have 3 way switches pull one of the one way switches to that location. Then have just have the additional boxes, or spaces for the number of 3 /4 way switches that I wanted to have at that location. It just happened to work out perfect that all of the locations that I wanted to have a switch we actually wanted more then one. (Skip down if you get what I'm saying I'm going to throw out a couple examples) So imaging if you have a door in the master bedroom going outside. You'd like to have a switch to turn the light on that is on the patio, but you'd also like to be able to switch the flood lights on in the backyard from that same location, and you'd like to be able to turn the lights on in the master bedroom when you come into the bedroom from the patio or turn them off when going to the hot tub outside. Solution have the switch to the patio there and I have two other boxes that only have hot, neutral and ground wires (Coming from the patio wiring). (In this case it's a box that can handle 3 switches) So I put 3 2477D Insteon devices in that location, one controls the patio light, and the other two are hooked up to power, and then set each one of those to control the respective switch that is located elsewhere in the house. So switch two sends on off commands to the flood lights, and switch three sends on off commands to the master bedroom. So my question is, I have about 75 to 100 2477D insteon switches that are being installed. When using an ISY994i and a PLM, any suggestions on the installation? With this many devices, do any of the PROs out there have suggestions on how to do this and save some time? This saved money on the wiring side of things, the electrical contractor let me put as many boxes in as I wanted, and nicely ran the wires in the box for me. (Since he had no three way switches to wire or money spent on the extra wire required to do 3 way hardwired)
larryllix Posted October 17, 2019 Posted October 17, 2019 Put a piece of tape on each switch plate with the Insteon address written on each. as you link them into ISY, rename them clearly and rip the tape off. 2
toddhutch Posted October 17, 2019 Author Posted October 17, 2019 (edited) Ohh... Great advice, do you normally just rename via laptop or mobile device? Edited October 17, 2019 by toddhutch
larryllix Posted October 17, 2019 Posted October 17, 2019 (edited) 16 minutes ago, toddhutch said: Ohh... Great advice, do you normally just rename via laptop or mobile device? Renaming can only be done via the Admin Console and that only functions with java. That means PC or Apple, no cells. The scenes to create 3-ways are added later by drag and drop, in the Admin Console, with the final named devices. Edited October 17, 2019 by larryllix
lilyoyo1 Posted October 17, 2019 Posted October 17, 2019 (edited) When it comes to wiring a house, I still wire it as a dummy home then add automation on top of it. Since automation is built on existing infrastructure, I know however things turn out down the road, devices will always work. I've found this is especially important since homes are constantly sold and not everyone wants automation. It allows you to put standard switches in and move on. For me, there are no time saving methods at startup. This is when I put the most work in to save time later on. When I set up an ISY, I only use the pro version. This allows me to turn off linking until all devices are ready. I add my devices to the isy prior to installation. This allows me to factory reset each one, and verify that devices work. This way, if something goes wrong, I know I'm not troubleshooting a dead device. I label the devices for my electrician and add it to the rooms it's supposed to be in in the ISY. I then make a backup of my system. This allows me to "reset" the system down the road without starting completely over. After all that I create my scenes. Creating 3ways, adding devices to Keypads etc. while they are being installed. I can even work on programming should I choose. I don't use all standard switches. Each room gets a keypad so that I can control multiple things from a single location. The only switches Ina room are for that room itself. The kpl has my scenes for that room. This allows me to set the mood when I walk in vs. having to use the individual switches. I can also control other locations should I choose. Since keypad buttons can be labeled, it lets guests know exactly what's what vs trying to figure out what a switch goes to Edited October 21, 2019 by lilyoyo1
Brian H Posted October 17, 2019 Posted October 17, 2019 I put each of my Insteon Modules six digit ID numbers. In a notebook along with its location in the home.
Bumbershoot Posted October 17, 2019 Posted October 17, 2019 I find it useful to document devices in my ISY as well, using the "Notes" function (right click on the device, and select "Notes" in the AC). Probably not a time saver, though...
ulrick65 Posted October 21, 2019 Posted October 21, 2019 On 10/17/2019 at 9:02 AM, Bumbershoot said: I find it useful to document devices in my ISY as well, using the "Notes" function (right click on the device, and select "Notes" in the AC). Probably not a time saver, though... I did this too and went a step further in the Notes Section, I added: Circuit: 12 Phase: B This means that this device is powered from Circuit breaker 12 and is on the B phase. I did this because it makes it really easy to find the breaker if I need to shut something off and the phase is useful when I have issues from one phase or another. Not critical, but helpful...you could say "well odd breakers are one phase and even are the other" but not so if you have piggy back breakers (which I don't, but might if things fill up). On another note, I agree with @lilyoyo1 on the initial build. If you ever try to sell that house, you may wish you had hardwired it such that things work without ISY and Insteon. That will be a deal breaker for a lot of people (even me, I would not mind it while I owned it...but I wouldn't buy it because of the ability to resell it). Now, trust me...you will have a very easy time setting up your system compared to me...I had to replace everything in my entire house with Insteon enabled devices and it wasn't fun in some cases. 3 and 4 gang boxes may seem like they have a ton of room, but start tying together 4 or 5 incoming and outgoing cables, capping off the ones you don't need, and stuffing dimmers and keypads in there and it gets pretty cramped. However, I "can" go back if I want to sell and the buyer doesn't want it...I kept drawings of every single box I opened. I also factory reset and test each device, and add it to ISY before I install it. I built a little simply test pigtail that works like a charm. Clip it on and away you go (be safe about it, don't forget it can be very "shocking" if not done safely!). Thanks.
toddhutch Posted October 27, 2019 Author Posted October 27, 2019 Thank you for all the input, I thought I would share some things that I've found with my research. First, it turns out there is an application for both Android and iOS that will allow you to add devices, so I'm planning on walking through the house and added the devices that way. https://www.agaveha.com/packages/ I didn't know that there were more options with the Pro version, that is news to me. I'm going to try and research the Pro features, seems like this would be something very useful. We're in an area that just about everyone has home automation, we're going all in it. I've used a couple of these switchbots, and I can't wait to try the SwitchBot Curtains.
Techman Posted October 27, 2019 Posted October 27, 2019 On 10/17/2019 at 3:20 AM, Brian H said: I put each of my Insteon Modules six digit ID numbers. In a notebook along with its location in the home. All that info is contained in the ISY Topology report. No notebook required. 1
Brian H Posted October 27, 2019 Posted October 27, 2019 8 hours ago, Techman said: All that info is contained in the ISY Topology report. No notebook required. Thanks for the information. My Insteon use started well before the ISY line of products where designed. So I got use to my old fashioned notebook. I also don't use more than maybe 20% of the features, I could get use in my ISSY994i. I never even have used Topology. Basically I have been doing on added automation in many years.
Techman Posted October 27, 2019 Posted October 27, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, Brian H said: Thanks for the information. My Insteon use started well before the ISY line of products where designed. So I got use to my old fashioned notebook. I also don't use more than maybe 20% of the features, I could get use in my ISSY994i. I never even have used Topology. Basically I have been doing on added automation in many years. If you populate the Comment/Note field for each device with any pertinent information then that info is also displayed in the Topology report. The Topology report is saved in the same location as your ISY backups and can easily be printed out. Edited October 27, 2019 by Techman
apostolakisl Posted October 27, 2019 Posted October 27, 2019 18 hours ago, toddhutch said: Thank you for all the input, I thought I would share some things that I've found with my research. First, it turns out there is an application for both Android and iOS that will allow you to add devices, so I'm planning on walking through the house and added the devices that way. https://www.agaveha.com/packages/ I didn't know that there were more options with the Pro version, that is news to me. I'm going to try and research the Pro features, seems like this would be something very useful. We're in an area that just about everyone has home automation, we're going all in it. I've used a couple of these switchbots, and I can't wait to try the SwitchBot Curtains. That is pretty clever. And I love all their other stuff that pretends to be a person pushing buttons. Looks like $179 gets you what you need delivered for a typical two sided set of curtains to be on the internet. It appears they use bluetooth, so that would be why the hub is needed. For the $179 you also get two add-ons, but I can't find a list of add-ons. I do see they have a little remote control and a solar panel as add-ons, not sure what else they may have.
Brian H Posted October 27, 2019 Posted October 27, 2019 3 hours ago, Techman said: If you populate the Comment/Note field for each device with any pertinent information then that info is also displayed in the Topology report. The Topology report is saved in the same location as your ISY backups and can easily be printed out. Thank you for the very helpful information.
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