How do I connect to a building on a separate meter?

[dronning]

I would like to control everything from the same eisy.  Is this possible?  The shop is a metal building and on a separate electrical meter about 150' from the house.  The house and shop are on the same WiFi.

What are my options?  Thanks.

- Dave

[Techman]

You can try using two plug in modules, either a lamplinc or on/off module,, one at each location.  Mount them as high up as possible and as close to each other as possible. If they are within RF range then you should be able to control the Insteon modules in the shop from the house.

[oberkc]

What kinds of devices do you want o control in your shop?  What do you use in the house?  (Insteon?  Zwave?  Zigbee?  Matter?  Other?)

[dronning]

I should have said I'll be running mostly Insteon, but I'm open to other options.  The house has 90% insteon with some Zwave locks.  Right now I'm installing lighting in the shop using spare Insteon switches.  I want to do fan control as well in the shop which is a 40x80' metal building.

Edited yesterday at 12:22 PM by dronning

[DennisC]

Try using Yolink and the Plugin for eisy control. Yolink has a solid 1/4 mile range.

[oberkc]

If your desire and intent is to ise insteon swithes, I know of no options other than to rely on the wireless communication of insteon.  It may require some strategic placement of something like a couple of range extenders or similar type devices. 
 

I do not recall that there is a way to link multiple PLMs or multiple ISYs together.

[Guy Lavoie]

2 minutes ago, oberkc said:

I do not recall that there is a way to link multiple PLMs or multiple ISYs together.

Well, if the distance is too great for the technology desired (Insteon or zwave for example) but you have wifi or wired ethernet, you could set up a separate controller (like a ISY994i) and have your master controller, like a eisy, send commands to it using REST commands. That might be a useable solution if the number of devices to be controlled is small. Tracking status would be more difficult however.

[paulbates]

Is there an outlet that is between the buildings, or any electrical lines to something like a lamppost where an outlet could be added and a dualband device like a lamp module could be plugged in and put in a weatherproof box?

Dual band lamp type modules will repeat the insteon traffic in both directions. If the power drop is close enough to both buildings it's plausible that it will work.

Edited 5 hours ago by paulbates

[Brian H]

The 2992-222 Range Extender when being sold. Was actually a 2457D2  LampLinc with the dimming parts not installed and a different firmware. Most now use the 2457D2 for both dimmer control and range extending. So that is a possibility. Depending on the exact situation.

[apostolakisl]

I did this very thing with great success for 10 years.  I buried a 120vac wire between the two buildings and put an outlet on the side of the other building where I plugged in an old Insteon hub.  The Insteon hub has a very strong radio interface.  The powerline carried the signal to the hub and the hub converted it to radio that my insteon devices in building 2 connected to.  It worked flawlessly, almost better than in the primary building.  My buildings were over 100 feet apart as well.  You could potentially only run the buried wire part of the way, just getting it close enough for the radio on the Insteon device to get a good signal in building 2.  You can always test things out by just running an extension cord to various locations.