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    How would you solve this?

    I have a second home in the Colorado mountains. It is nicely fitted out with all kinds of automated protection that alarms, alerts, fixes, stops, etc. Frozen pipes are always a concern, so I have lots of sensors for temp and moisture and they are all tied to a main water cut-off. HOWEVER, this weekend I learned that none of these great protections work when the power fails as it did for 24-hours on Saturday; no heat and no way to turn off the water. Thankfully, all survived, but what do I do going forward? I am considering a small UPS on the Homeseer CPU and a small UPS on the water valve and, if I lose power for more than X minutes, turn off the water. But what is the trigger for power loss? I don't have any energy monitoring, so what can I use to recognize that the power is off?
    HS4Pro on Windows 10
    One install with 2 Ethernet Z-nets
    2nd install with 1 Ethernet Z-net
    300 devices, 250 events, 8 scripts
    6 CT-100 tstats
    Serial IT-100 interface to DSC Panel with 8 wired zones
    18 Fortrezz water sensors & two valve controls

    #2
    Originally posted by Sheriff View Post
    I have a second home in the Colorado mountains. It is nicely fitted out with all kinds of automated protection that alarms, alerts, fixes, stops, etc. Frozen pipes are always a concern, so I have lots of sensors for temp and moisture and they are all tied to a main water cut-off. HOWEVER, this weekend I learned that none of these great protections work when the power fails as it did for 24-hours on Saturday; no heat and no way to turn off the water. Thankfully, all survived, but what do I do going forward? I am considering a small UPS on the Homeseer CPU and a small UPS on the water valve and, if I lose power for more than X minutes, turn off the water. But what is the trigger for power loss? I don't have any energy monitoring, so what can I use to recognize that the power is off?
    You could use Blade's BLUPS to trigger events when the UPS is on battery power.

    Is there any reason the water needs to be on while you are not in the house?
    HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Sheriff View Post
      I have a second home in the Colorado mountains. It is nicely fitted out with all kinds of automated protection that alarms, alerts, fixes, stops, etc. Frozen pipes are always a concern, so I have lots of sensors for temp and moisture and they are all tied to a main water cut-off. HOWEVER, this weekend I learned that none of these great protections work when the power fails as it did for 24-hours on Saturday; no heat and no way to turn off the water. Thankfully, all survived, but what do I do going forward? I am considering a small UPS on the Homeseer CPU and a small UPS on the water valve and, if I lose power for more than X minutes, turn off the water. But what is the trigger for power loss? I don't have any energy monitoring, so what can I use to recognize that the power is off?
      Shutting off the water will stop a huge mess but if the pipes freeze there will still be a mess. In this instance I would use the UPS warning to alert you and call a neighbor if this is possible. If you have gas logs or an alternate heat source they could turn that on to prevent a mess.
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        #4
        You might not need anything this complex, if you want the water to shut off if the power turns off then why not just have a solenoid valve, with a wall wart plugged in and a relay that is wired to keep the valve open when the power is on. You lose the power then it closes the valve. You could put a timer into this if you wanted, I would have a manual valve in series with anything electronic though in case you need to open the valve without power.

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          #5
          I would add to get a couple of those power operated valves. If you have a sump pit or something that would be perfect - you can put one of these valves at the lowest point in your plumbing and one on your pressure tank so you can drain these in the event of a power failure. A UPS to give it some time to act on this would work... I'm assuming of course you're on a well..
          HS3PRO 3.0.0.500 as a Fire Daemon service, Windows 2016 Server Std Intel Core i5 PC HTPC Slim SFF 4GB, 120GB SSD drive, WLG800, RFXCom, TI103,NetCam, UltraNetcam3, BLBackup, CurrentCost 3P Rain8Net, MCsSprinker, HSTouch, Ademco Security plugin/AD2USB, JowiHue, various Oregon Scientific temp/humidity sensors, Z-Net, Zsmoke, Aeron Labs micro switches, Amazon Echo Dots, WS+, WD+ ... on and on.

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            #6
            Thank you all. I don't turn off water for convenience; I have intermittent visitors. Gas logs have an electric gas solenoid; I can overcome it if I'm there, but not anxious to fiddle with it remotely. Good thought on draining, but no to well. I do have a sink in the basement that I could open.
            HS4Pro on Windows 10
            One install with 2 Ethernet Z-nets
            2nd install with 1 Ethernet Z-net
            300 devices, 250 events, 8 scripts
            6 CT-100 tstats
            Serial IT-100 interface to DSC Panel with 8 wired zones
            18 Fortrezz water sensors & two valve controls

            Comment


              #7
              Yeah. Power goes out, your valve shuts off, pipes freeze and burst, power comes back on, valve opens and the house is flooded.

              Tear out the copper and replace it with PEX that doesn't burst as easily? Unless you can drain the plumbing or fill it with antifreeze you're still going to be hosed.
              Originally posted by rprade
              There is no rhyme or reason to the anarchy a defective Z-Wave device can cause

              Comment


                #8
                Automatic backup generator big enough to run the heat?

                Comment


                  #9
                  The generator idea is the Gold Standard; it actually would not take much power. I intend to check into that further.
                  HS4Pro on Windows 10
                  One install with 2 Ethernet Z-nets
                  2nd install with 1 Ethernet Z-net
                  300 devices, 250 events, 8 scripts
                  6 CT-100 tstats
                  Serial IT-100 interface to DSC Panel with 8 wired zones
                  18 Fortrezz water sensors & two valve controls

                  Comment

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