Elk newbie

[MikeB]

Finally got my Elk up and running after a couple months of it sitting on my bench.

 

What is everyone doing with their Elk/ISY setup?

[upstatemike]

My Elk is still halfway installed (eveything is mounted) but I have put that on hold because I am having too much fun integrating my ISY with my Stargate controller. I am using the X10 features of the ISY and so far it is working very well.

 

If Stargate sees the garage door is open after dark it sends an X10 on command to the ISY. The ISY turns on a scene that includes the garage light switch and 3 companion switches. (They always used to get out of sync if I tried to blast them with just X10) Now if I come home after dark and open the garage door or if it got dark while already being open, I don't have to sumble in the garage.

 

Stargate sends the ISY the X10 Off code if the garege door is closed AND the little courtesy light on the opener goes off, ensuring the lights get shut off... but not too quickly that I get caught still getting out ogf the car.

 

My interior motion sensors are connected to Stargate. When activated Stargate sends and X10 address to operate the light for each sensor. My Insteon switches that are operated by motion sensors are programmed with X10 addresses. Usually the lights respond immediately from the X10 signal sent by Stargate but if they miss it, the ISY also sends an Insteon On or Off command. This way I get fast reponse from the direct X10 command and good backup reliability from the Insteon followup.

 

I have a lot of other examples but you get the idea. With an Elk it should be even easier since you don't need the X10 part. Just have the M1 send Insteon commands directly via the ISY.