Update: Our Wiki has a page dedicated to the HSM100 with more information:
http://www.homeseer.com/wiki/index.php/HomeSeer_HSM100
Hello,
For you HSM100 owners out there, I thought a little "leg up" on how to use them would be a good idea. Since they are so popular, I only got one a couple of months ago, so I was a little green on them myself, but I definitely understood the HomeSeer side of things...
Before I get into my examples, let me discuss some of the principles of HomeSeer (triggers/conditions) that are important to understand:
Additionally, it will help to understand some things about the HSM100 which are different from an X-10 or hardwired motion detector and how those would be used with HomeSeer:
If you were using the HSM100's motion detector to light a room, you'll note that you wouldn't need to use delayed device actions and removing delayed device actions because the HSM100's design eliminates the need for this - an event when there is motion, and an event when there is no motion and you're done!
OK, so with those key pieces of information, let's look at how I used the HSM100 to automate the lights and ceiling fan in my home office:
The first four events run the ceiling fan. There are three events covering three situations where I want the fan turned off if it is on - when the temperature comes down, when the security system is armed (we are away), or when there is no motion in the office (I have left). The interesting two events are the ones that turn the fan on and off by temperature, as they show how one of the variants of the device value trigger can be used. In the case of turning off the fan, there was a couple of ways (at least) that I could have done it, but I chose the one that makes less sense just to have something different to show you - value ranges. Normally, I would have just entered a trigger of the value being less than 800 (80 degrees), but by saying it is NOT in the range of 800 to 999 (80 to 99.9 degrees), I am able to show you how a device value range trigger is set up.
The event for turning on the fan could have been set up as several events using triggers, just like the off events, but there was no reason to have the fan turned off instantly when the sensors dictate, so I was able to use a condition to get everything into one event. Conditions being evaluated at least once a minute was good enough for this since: A) the HSM100 sends signals at most every 6 minutes, and B) when the HSM100 wakes up to report something and HomeSeer updates the associated devices, it will force all of the conditions in this event to be evaluated. With this arrangement, this condition trigger behaves almost as quickly as a regular trigger based event.
The last three events dealing with the light actually has an error - did you catch it? One event turns off the light if the light level gets above 19% and there is no motion, but that is not needed since there is an event that turns off the light when there is no longer motion. It does, at least, show you yet another way to use the device value triggers. The way this came about is an exercise in "duh". Originally the event worked fine, but then after I got everything set up the way I wanted, I moved the multi sensor to its permanent location in the office, but there it was getting the direct light from the light that was being automated -- yep, you guessed it - darkness would cause the light to be turned on, then the light would cause it to be turned back off! So, I added the condition to check motion without thinking about the event I already had in place to turn off the light when there was no longer motion. The "on" event is pretty straightforward, but you might wonder why (again) it uses a value range for the light sensor rather than a "less than" condition? The answer is simple - conditions do not have value greater than or less than conditions!
I hope this helps - feel free to post your questions and I'll do my best to answer them.
http://www.homeseer.com/wiki/index.php/HomeSeer_HSM100
Hello,
For you HSM100 owners out there, I thought a little "leg up" on how to use them would be a good idea. Since they are so popular, I only got one a couple of months ago, so I was a little green on them myself, but I definitely understood the HomeSeer side of things...
Before I get into my examples, let me discuss some of the principles of HomeSeer (triggers/conditions) that are important to understand:
- Triggers are instantaneous - when the trigger item changes, HomeSeer immediately evaluates any conditions on the event, and if they are satisfied, the event's actions are run.
- Conditions are able to be used in conjunction with triggers, or by themselves acting as a trigger, but when they are the trigger, they act differently. Conditions as a trigger are evaluated approximately once a minute, at least, although if one of the conditions change, the entire set is evaluated immediately. This is best understood with an example - if you have 3 conditions, one of which is that the office light is off, this condition set is evaluated about once a minute. Now let's say a different event changes the state of the office light - the conditions in this event are all evaluated immediately because one of the conditions references the office light, which just changed.
Additionally, it will help to understand some things about the HSM100 which are different from an X-10 or hardwired motion detector and how those would be used with HomeSeer:
- The HSM100 does not report each time there is motion - it only reports motion once, and then it reports no motion after the time period you specify has gone by without any motion. The detector keeps tracking motion, but with this arrangement, it only has to turn on the Z-Wave radio once in a while which helps reduce battery consumption.
- Temperature and Light Levels are not reported whenever they change either - they are reported at an interval you set, which was also by design so that battery consumption can be somewhat determined by you, the end user.
- The HomeSeer devices created all operate using device value changes - the displayed status text is updated in some cases by status/value pairs (motion/no motion), and in other cases the text is set after the value is set - values, however, are what you want to use for all of your events referencing these devices.
If you were using the HSM100's motion detector to light a room, you'll note that you wouldn't need to use delayed device actions and removing delayed device actions because the HSM100's design eliminates the need for this - an event when there is motion, and an event when there is no motion and you're done!
OK, so with those key pieces of information, let's look at how I used the HSM100 to automate the lights and ceiling fan in my home office:
The first four events run the ceiling fan. There are three events covering three situations where I want the fan turned off if it is on - when the temperature comes down, when the security system is armed (we are away), or when there is no motion in the office (I have left). The interesting two events are the ones that turn the fan on and off by temperature, as they show how one of the variants of the device value trigger can be used. In the case of turning off the fan, there was a couple of ways (at least) that I could have done it, but I chose the one that makes less sense just to have something different to show you - value ranges. Normally, I would have just entered a trigger of the value being less than 800 (80 degrees), but by saying it is NOT in the range of 800 to 999 (80 to 99.9 degrees), I am able to show you how a device value range trigger is set up.
The event for turning on the fan could have been set up as several events using triggers, just like the off events, but there was no reason to have the fan turned off instantly when the sensors dictate, so I was able to use a condition to get everything into one event. Conditions being evaluated at least once a minute was good enough for this since: A) the HSM100 sends signals at most every 6 minutes, and B) when the HSM100 wakes up to report something and HomeSeer updates the associated devices, it will force all of the conditions in this event to be evaluated. With this arrangement, this condition trigger behaves almost as quickly as a regular trigger based event.
The last three events dealing with the light actually has an error - did you catch it? One event turns off the light if the light level gets above 19% and there is no motion, but that is not needed since there is an event that turns off the light when there is no longer motion. It does, at least, show you yet another way to use the device value triggers. The way this came about is an exercise in "duh". Originally the event worked fine, but then after I got everything set up the way I wanted, I moved the multi sensor to its permanent location in the office, but there it was getting the direct light from the light that was being automated -- yep, you guessed it - darkness would cause the light to be turned on, then the light would cause it to be turned back off! So, I added the condition to check motion without thinking about the event I already had in place to turn off the light when there was no longer motion. The "on" event is pretty straightforward, but you might wonder why (again) it uses a value range for the light sensor rather than a "less than" condition? The answer is simple - conditions do not have value greater than or less than conditions!
I hope this helps - feel free to post your questions and I'll do my best to answer them.
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