sfhutchi Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 My alarm panel (not tied into my Insteon setup with ISY) can output to ZWave devices. I would like to figure out a way to get a notification to my ISY configuration when the system is armed, disarmed, etc. Has anyone come up with a low cost way to provide a bridge? I was thinking about plugging a Zwave light module into an Insteon SynchroLinc with some load (probably a light). This way I could detect the change driven by the Zwave device and use this for my input on the ISY. Not a very elegant solution... but it might work. Any other ideas or suggestions? I am guessing that others have been in this same situation.
Hurting2Ride Posted September 10, 2011 Posted September 10, 2011 Hard to say w/o knowing more about your alarm system but the option you mentioned is possible, probably the least difficult, least expensive and most basic. Others include: - A standalone device that can bridge Zwave and Insteon, such as Vera 2. Could be overkill. http://www.micasaverde.com/vera.php- Software that can bridge Zwave and Insteon, such as Homeseer, Linux MCE, etc. Again, possibly overkill and requires a PC or equivalent device. - If your alarm system can set generic relays (as most can), you could relay power to the input of an IOLinc Your decision probably has a lot to do with just how much information you want to pass back and forth. Simply armed/disarmed? Then the Synchrolinc or relays are pretty simple and inexpensive. If you want to pass more information w/o going as far as bridging software or hardware, you could use something like a iMeter instead of the Synchrolinc. Then assuming you can set a dim level of the Zwave device, you could use the wattage reading of the iMeter to pass a bit more info but still keep the integration itself pretty lightweight. Hope that helps.
sfhutchi Posted September 10, 2011 Author Posted September 10, 2011 Good suggestions. Thanks. I am just looking mainly for status... I will also look at imeter to learn more about it.
sfhutchi Posted November 6, 2011 Author Posted November 6, 2011 Any luck with this? To be honest, I haven't made it a priority. I have an unused Zwave light module that I can trigger with my alarm system... but haven't gotten around to buying an insteon module to plug into it as a trigger.
mfranzel Posted March 6, 2013 Posted March 6, 2013 Hi, I know this is an old topic, but I was trying to do the same thing with my GE Simon XTi alarm through Alarm.com. Please see my original post here: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=10901&p=83700#p83700 I got this all sorted out... not the "prettiest" way, but it works. I simply needed to have my alarm turn off ALL lights in my home when I "Arm Away" and turn on the foyer light and living room lights when I disarm the alarm... aka coming back home. I did this by using an I/O linc and a Z-Wave module from GE (http://www.amazon.com/GE-45603-Technolo ... rds=z-wave) and an old 5V power adapter I had laying around. I plugged the positive wire of the power adapter into the SENSE port of the I/O linc and the ground wire into the GROUND port of the I/O linc. I then plugged the power adapter into the Z-Wave module. I set my alarm up so that when I arm the alarm AWAY, the module turns on, therefore activating the I/O linc. And when I disarm the alarm, the module turns off, therefore deactivation ght I/O linc. I then have the proper rules set up in my ISY to turn the lights on and off. Now, this simply turns my lights on and off when I leave and get home. It doesn't do anything for alarms etc. I supposed you could use another setup the same way and program it so when the alarm goes off, it activates the 2nd Z-wave module, then the I/O linc and then a rule in the I/O linc to flash certain lights. Like I said, this setup isn't easy, but it works for exactly what I need it to do.
NewbieTri100 Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 I too have an alarm system that controls z-wave devices. There is a Z-wave device that is similar to IO linc. I saw it about a month ago. I was planning on using the two devices as a bridge between the alarm system and the ISY. My thought was to wire the two devices together so that the alarm system closed the circuit when I armed the system. The IO linc would then send a signal to the ISY when the z-wave device open and closed the circuit. From there I could trigger programs every time the alarm system is armed or disarmed. I was going to add another pair of devices so I can distinguish between Armed Away and Armed Stay. That being said, when I found out that ISY was going to support z-wave, I scratched the idea and signed up for the alpha program. I'm still working through the process to get it working using a z-wave appliance module as the Alarm Status indicator. Also, I can't seem to find the z-wave device that has the same functionality as the IO linc anymore. I knew I should have book marked it when I saw it!!!!
Xathros Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 How about this:http://www.fortrezz.com/mimo.html Not exactly an IOlinc - maybe better! -Xathros
NewbieTri100 Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 How about this:http://www.fortrezz.com/mimo.html Not exactly an IOlinc - maybe better! -Xathros That has potential. So I assume that I would wire the device to a IOlinc (or 2) to bridge the alarm system to my Inteon network.
Xathros Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 That would do it. Unless you can tie some output of your alarm system to the inputs of this device and instead pair this to the ISY if/when it gets Zwave support for this type of device. -Xathros
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