Sensor, Switch, and PLM Suggestions

[leecast]

Hi Folks, I have been using UD for a number of years and have over 100 Insteon devices in my home. I now run an eisy, and am looking to get into temperature sensors and possibly light switches that contain motion sensors. I'd like to avoid battery devices as much as possible as  have more batteries to swap out than I care to going forward, but I am very open to all ideas battery-powered or not. What have you used and seen good luck with reliability, usefulness, and compatibility?

I am also wondering if there are any advantages or disadvantages among the various Insteon PLM models where one might be faster or better than another. I am currently running a serial version and have adapted a headshell and connected to USB on the eisy. It works fine, but I am always looking for what works best.

Thanks in advance for any expert guidance on these items.

Dr. S

[Brian H]

2413S and 2413U are both the same performance wise. Different interface to the outside world. 2413U has the USB interface inside the PLM.

2412S and 2412U are the older power  line only ones and have slower link memory.

The new PLM in the FCC Database will probably be later this year if at all.

[leecast]

On 2/11/2023 at 2:09 PM, Brian H said:

2413S and 2413U are both the same performance wise. Different interface to the outside world. 2413U has the USB interface inside the PLM.

2412S and 2412U are the older power  line only ones and have slower link memory.

The new PLM in the FCC Database will probably be later this year if at all.

Thank you, Brian!

[Bumbershoot]

On 2/11/2023 at 8:34 AM, leecast said:

I now run an eisy, and am looking to get into temperature sensors and possibly light switches that contain motion sensors.

These use Z-Wave, but in the latest IoX firmware (5.5.6 currently), these switches/dimmers work fine.  They aren't the latest/greatest Z-Wave version, however.

https://www.amazon.com/GE-Occupancy-Required-SmartThings-26931/dp/B07226MG2T/ref=asc_df_B07226MG2T?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80745502739840&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584345029627392&psc=1

[leecast]

15 minutes ago, Bumbershoot said:

These use Z-Wave, but in the latest IoX firmware (5.5.6 currently), these switches/dimmers work fine.  They aren't the latest/greatest Z-Wave version, however.

https://www.amazon.com/GE-Occupancy-Required-SmartThings-26931/dp/B07226MG2T/ref=asc_df_B07226MG2T?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80745502739840&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584345029627392&psc=1

Thanks very much! I had look and this was the only option I found. Just ordered it. 

Lee

[Bumbershoot]

3 hours ago, leecast said:

Thanks very much! I had look and this was the only option I found. Just ordered it. 

Lee

They're not the best looking things in the world, but they're fairly configurable and very reliable.  I have some in occupancy mode - where they turn on the attached load, and others in manual mode - where they send a motion signal to IoX but don't turn on the load.  They respond very quickly to motion, I've found.

On 2/11/2023 at 8:34 AM, leecast said:

I have been using UD for a number of years and have over 100 Insteon devices in my home.

I wish Insteon would produce something like these.  I really prefer Insteon for lighting, and they make a motion sensor...

[leecast]

17 hours ago, Bumbershoot said:

They're not the best looking things in the world, but they're fairly configurable and very reliable.  I have some in occupancy mode - where they turn on the attached load, and others in manual mode - where they send a motion signal to IoX but don't turn on the load.  They respond very quickly to motion, I've found.

I wish Insteon would produce something like these.  I really prefer Insteon for lighting, and they make a motion sensor...

Yeah, it would be nice to see some additional, quality options for such an animal out there, but excited to get this one tomorrow and have something new with which to play!

[ShawnW]

On 2/11/2023 at 11:34 AM, leecast said:

Hi Folks, I have been using UD for a number of years and have over 100 Insteon devices in my home. I now run an eisy, and am looking to get into temperature sensors and possibly light switches that contain motion sensors. I'd like to avoid battery devices as much as possible as  have more batteries to swap out than I care to going forward, but I am very open to all ideas battery-powered or not. What have you used and seen good luck with reliability, usefulness, and compatibility?

Hi @leecast . Last year I too wanted to program based on temperature for several powered items such as heating wires in my sump pump lines and I purchased a "Strips Comfort" by Sensative. They're quite unique compared to most items out there - they're long and very skinny about 1/2" wide, about the thickness of a credit card, and about 7" long. They're white and can be mounted with included  adhesive, or screwed with a mounting plate. The coolest part I think is the lifetime battery that is claimed for up to ten years. Obviously I can't test that fully, but I've had 3 of them for a year now and all three are still at 100% battery. 

  OH, and the best part is I use them outside through cold Canadian winters - most temp sensors are not rated to go anywhere near that cold. I also have them at a decent distance with no nearby Z-Wave items and they don't have communication issues. So overall I'm very happy with them. Two more things - these "Comfort" versions also have light measuring sensors that I don't use but clearly work, and there is another version available that also has a moisture sensor (ie. water leak) built in. 

Good luck!

Shawn

[leecast]

16 hours ago, ShawnW said:

Hi @leecast . Last year I too wanted to program based on temperature for several powered items such as heating wires in my sump pump lines and I purchased a "Strips Comfort" by Sensative. They're quite unique compared to most items out there - they're long and very skinny about 1/2" wide, about the thickness of a credit card, and about 7" long. They're white and can be mounted with included  adhesive, or screwed with a mounting plate. The coolest part I think is the lifetime battery that is claimed for up to ten years. Obviously I can't test that fully, but I've had 3 of them for a year now and all three are still at 100% battery. 

  OH, and the best part is I use them outside through cold Canadian winters - most temp sensors are not rated to go anywhere near that cold. I also have them at a decent distance with no nearby Z-Wave items and they don't have communication issues. So overall I'm very happy with them. Two more things - these "Comfort" versions also have light measuring sensors that I don't use but clearly work, and there is another version available that also has a moisture sensor (ie. water leak) built in. 

Good luck!

Shawn

Thanks, Shawn! I will check them out right away.

Cheers,

Lee

[leecast]

On 2/16/2023 at 11:07 PM, Bumbershoot said:

They're not the best looking things in the world, but they're fairly configurable and very reliable.  I have some in occupancy mode - where they turn on the attached load, and others in manual mode - where they send a motion signal to IoX but don't turn on the load.  They respond very quickly to motion, I've found.

I wish Insteon would produce something like these.  I really prefer Insteon for lighting, and they make a motion sensor...

Got it and installed. Still playing around with things a good bit. Would you mind sharing how you have yours configured and any scene or program info with which you have had success? I am using this in a powder room in place of a Lutron occupancy sensor. I played with having it in manual mode and using the motion state to give a turn on command and timed turn off all from esy. I tried a scene with a related program. Moderate success, but not perfect at all. I then went back to occupancy mode on the Jasc switch, set a long timeout, and have a program doing a shut off based on time elapsed without motion. It works so-so. I see there seems to be two sets of motion sensors and switches reported through the Z-wave connection. Perhaps one logical and one physical? Again, still playing around. Limited documentation found so far. Thanks again! 

Lee

[Bumbershoot]

1 hour ago, leecast said:

Again, still playing around. Limited documentation found so far. Thanks again! 

I understand.  Mine were so-so as well, until I adjusted the motion sensitivity up to "High".  That fixed it for my purposes.

 

[brians]

I have two of these and have same issue with the motion sensors triggering when adjacent switch is turned on/off, and same thing in two different locations. I personally don't like them and will eventually change them out if something new ever comes out. I have mitigated the issue somewhat with programs, disabling the motions sensor while turning fan on/off etc. but now and then I still see light turn on in bathroom randomly so something is still messed up in my programming.

 

See this thread. I also list some parameters in programs may be interested in eg. parameter 13 set to 1 is motion sensitivity high.

 

 

[brians]

Here is PDF I had that lists all the parameters.

Still had to experiment with it a bit to understand the meaning behind some of them and how it actually works in reality.

Also a doc fix which may be simpler to follow.

Jasco In-Wall Motion.pdf

GE Jasco 26931 ZW4006 In-Wall Smart Motion Switch.docx

Edited February 20, 2023 by brians

[Bumbershoot]

7 hours ago, brians said:

I have two of these and have same issue with the motion sensors triggering when adjacent switch is turned on/off

Sorry, I missed your thread about this.  I've never seen this behavior, though I'll look for it.

I have one where parameter 3 is set to 1 (motion sensor in manual mode), and it shares a junction box with a Homeseer Z-Wave dimmer.  I use the seven Homeseer LED's as security sentinels (colors change as external doors open and close), so I'm changing parameters on that switch frequently.  I'll look in the logs for motion activation when I write to the Homeseer.  

I have two other switches in their own junction boxes and they work very reliably.

There's new firmware, but it doesn't address the issue you're describing.

https://github.com/jascoproducts/firmware/tree/main/zwave/Enbrighten-GE/ZW4006/26931 - In-Wall Motion Switch%2C 500S/5.39

 

[leecast]

9 hours ago, brians said:

Here is PDF I had that lists all the parameters.

Still had to experiment with it a bit to understand the meaning behind some of them and how it actually works in reality.

Also a doc fix which may be simpler to follow.

Jasco In-Wall Motion.pdf 257.95 kB · 2 downloads

GE Jasco 26931 ZW4006 In-Wall Smart Motion Switch.docx 17.44 kB · 2 downloads

Thanks!

Lee

[brians]

6 hours ago, Bumbershoot said:

Sorry, I missed your thread about this.  I've never seen this behavior, though I'll look for it.

I have one where parameter 3 is set to 1 (motion sensor in manual mode), and it shares a junction box with a Homeseer Z-Wave dimmer.  I use the seven Homeseer LED's as security sentinels (colors change as external doors open and close), so I'm changing parameters on that switch frequently.  I'll look in the logs for motion activation when I write to the Homeseer.  

I have two other switches in their own junction boxes and they work very reliably.

There's new firmware, but it doesn't address the issue you're describing.

https://github.com/jascoproducts/firmware/tree/main/zwave/Enbrighten-GE/ZW4006/26931 - In-Wall Motion Switch%2C 500S/5.39

 

I replaced it today with a Zen51 and a decora switch converted to momentary... still same issue as last two switches (Zen71 and a GE ZWave switch can't remember exact model). Ill update my thread with details but have a feeling I am talking to myself sometimes LOL.