Monitering AC Power

[ldragon99]

After the recent blackouts it got me thinking, what is the point of home aoutomation if I can't use it to moniter my household AC and notify me of problems and possible switch to DC power for essentials. Fridge, emergency lights, Nikki(Home Seer).
I was just wondering what others are doing. Both script and hardware wise.

[huggy591]

Typically the backup power system has the sensing and switching capabilities built in, such as a UPS for a PC, or an automatic generator start and switch service over after X seconds of power loss (usually 30-120 seconds or so) to avoid kicking the generator on during a small power glitch).

I have several PCs, network gear, and a couple A/V equipment stacks protected by multiple UPS. I have one "smart" UPS running APC software, which contacts a central machine (my HS server). Other UPS are hooked into local machines and those machines run a listening agent to determine when to power down. Some UPS protecting non-networked systems are completely on their own and will run until a certain battery discharge level is reached, then shut off.

I also poll the central UPS regularly with RRD (every 5 minutes) and graph the power stats on it to the web. My systems are set up so that if power goes out, the UPS alarms sound, and there is a small waiting period. Once the waiting period has expired and power is still out, the UPS signals the central server to initiate a network message telling other systems to initiate their shut down protocols/scripts. I have a multi-level design so that non-essential systems are shut down first, then middle tier, network infrastructure, and finally, if necessary, the HS server itself (last one standing).

I should say that all of the above is being done with the various APC software solutions which are available from their web site free of charge (but of course you need their UPS' to make it work).

Critical systems, such as the alarm system, have their own batteries even though they are on a UPS.

We have a freezer with an over-temp alarm, but this depends on AC power being available. One of these days I'll add a 1-wire temp sensor to it and have that in HS as a safeguard.

Luckily I've only had the complete outage experience while testing the system - to-date I have not had an outage long enough for anything except the first level to shut down (2-3 hours).

BTW, I don't put any monitors on the UPS battery-backed outlets except for my main monitor. That helps extend battery life a bit longer during an outage.

- Gordon

"When I finally found a spam filter that worked, I no longer received any email!"

PS> Since a lot of people use X-10 for control, remember: when you have no power, you have no X-10, so doing anything AFTER the power has gone out has to be done without X-10 signaling. ;-)

[ldragon99]

That sounds like the real joy of home automation. I have never expereanced a long term power outage untill last week. However I loke to think of myself as a boy scout.(Be Prepared) and I also pride myself on my toys. So.. well I guess you can figure out the rest. I mean we are all using HS as a toy, just as much as an asset.

[htsource]

Gordon,

Sounds like you're familar with the APC software? I just bought a new SmartUPS 1000VA for my Homeseer server which I hook it up to the USB port.

I'm running the PowerChute Business Edition 6.22 software which IMO, not as informative as the older PowerChute Plus. I wonder if the agent can be installed on NON APC powered computers such as laptops?

I have 2 laptops in the house which I'd like to manage them via the APC console.

Thanks,

Simon

[huggy591]

There are a couple ways to go, depending on your needs and hardware/software capabilities. I have a Smart-UPS 1400 with an SNMP (management) module, so I use that system which connects with network shutdown agents on the various PC's.

However, your choice may be to use the Powerchute Business Edition on your USB-connected machine. I believe that will allow you to manage the local UPS AND allow remote machines to be notified by that PC in the case of an outage. I think they all need to run the same Business Edition package, configured to talk to the machine with the UPS. Yes, that is how I did it here until I got the SNMP module.

In any case, APC's software doesn't allow exporting the UPS data so it is difficult to do anything like integrate with HS at that level. Since I have the SNMP module, I use RRDTool (a derivative of MRTG) to poll and graph info (outside HS) and just throw up some web pages based on that info. I have suggested and asked APC to allow exporting the data their software collects on some periodic basis to allow integration with other packages like HS, but I haven't checked back to see if they have added it to their software.

Since the SNMP module also has a web server in it, I suppose I could use hs.geturl and parse it out to put info into the HS system, but i have to use a name and password to access the UPS config, and I don't want that exposed to HS.

If you need help, holler, I'll be happy to help.

- Gordon

"When I finally found a spam filter that worked, I no longer received any email!"

[htsource]

Gordon,

Thanks for your response.

I found out there's a datalog file from the agent directory where it's a text file. See this thread for more information:

http://ubb.homeseer.com/6/ubb.x?a=tp...4&m=6176029993

There's also a file called EventLog but this one is in binary format.

After some thought, I don't think I can do what I thought was possible (at least not for now). My other two laptops are on the wireless LAN which if power fails, the WAP will get cut which in turns, no shut down signals can be sent to them anyway. I can put the WAP on an UPS but it won't reach the new one I bought and I don't want to buy another UPS just for this.

I've been window shopping on the APC site for accessories, oh boy, there are many of them to choose from. The ones that caught my eyes were the environmental and SNMP modules. I'd assume once the SNMP module is installed, the UPS will be treated as another network node on the network? Actually this would be nice as I've configured my trickled down APC UPS for my other PC but I won't get any data from the console if the PC is off.

Thanks,

Simon

[huggy591]

Yes, with the SNMP module (actually, it's more that just SNMP), the UPS is a network node. Using SNMP, you can poll periodically from some other system (HS?) for values available within the UPS. The module also has a web interface for config and management.

Here are example screenshots of my RRDTool web display (RRDTool polls this and my 1-wire temp sensors), and one of the APC SNMP module web pages:





I don't know how much the small UPS are in Canada, but at CompUSA.com an APC Back-UPS ES 350 is going for $36 after rebate. That's a good little unit for routers, hubs, switches, WAP, even a PC.

Fun!

- Gordon

"When I finally found a spam filter that worked, I no longer received any email!"