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    #16
    I have 2 of my wireless phones set to charge only 3 hrs a day while we are out. Works pretty good. saving 21 hours of charging and have yet to have the phones complain about not having enough power.
    Won't they stop charging when the batteries are fully charged?

    Comment


      #17
      Originally posted by DC View Post
      Won't they stop charging when the batteries are fully charged?
      yes.... they will but they are still plugged in...

      I have my craftsman lawn mower hooked up on an appliance module.. so I turn on a virtual device... and in 18hrs an event shuts it off..... it is convenient....
      HW - i5 4570T @2.9ghz runs @11w | 8gb ram | 128gb ssd OS - Win10 x64

      HS - HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.435

      Plugins - BLRF 2.0.94.0 | Concord 4 3.1.13.10 | HSBuddy 3.9.605.5 | HSTouch Server 3.0.0.68 | RFXCOM 30.0.0.36 | X10 3.0.0.36 | Z-Wave 3.0.1.190

      Hardware - EdgePort/4 DB9 Serial | RFXCOM 433MHz USB Transceiver | Superbus 2000 for Concord 4 | TI103 X-10 Interface | WGL Designs W800 RF | Z-Net Z-Wave Interface

      Comment


        #18
        Nobody has touched on HVAC yet - big savings there!

        I have a heat pump system, and so big changes in the temperature setpoint ends up costing you more. The way around that is that when the security system is armed in away mode, a flag is set, and the temperature is set back only a small amount. If the flag is set for more than an hour, then the temperature is set back more (the theory being that if we are gone for an hour, we might be gone for quite a while).

        Also, when the security system is armed in night mode, and since the only time somebody is sleeping on the main floor is when we have somebody in a guest room, then the temperature on the main floor is set back quite a bit and so we are only heating/cooling the upstairs.

        Also using the security system, if somebody fails to close a door completely (or opens a window without turning off the AC) then after 5 minutes of that, HomeSeer turns off the thermostats until that is corrected, then it will resume the AC.

        We have a hot water dispenser (my wife likes her hot tea) and HomeSeer turns that on a bit before she might use it in the morning, then off during the daytime, and then back on in the evening until bedtime. Saves a good deal of electricity on that one since heating water takes quite a bit.

        There is also a third pipe hot water circulating system since without it, we would waste a HUGE amount of water waiting for the hot stuff to make it to the showers on the upstairs floor, but circulating the hot water all the time just makes the water heater work more, so here again HomeSeer turns them on just a bit before they will be needed, off during the day, back on in the evening, etc.

        My water heaters are the kind that have a forced air vent, and the heater will not operate if the power vent is not working. That gave me a GREAT way to control my water heaters without having to mess with gas lines. When we are away, one of the heaters is turned off - if we are away on vacation, then both are turned off. This is another great savings area.

        Taking care of the really "green" air actually takes a little green but... If you are in a bathroom and the light has been on for more than 2 minutes, then chances are you are in there making some toxic green clouds of gas. So, HomeSeer turns on the exhaust fan, and then 5 minutes after the light is turned off, it turns off the exhaust fan. How is this green? Well, people who are considerate enough to turn ON the exhaust fan manually may not remember to go back and turn it off later, so this takes care of that.

        There are other lights in the house where the kids would notoriously leave them on, so these have HomeSeer monitor them and turn them off. In case they are still being used, it first dims them to 50% or so, and then 8-10 seconds later it turns them off.

        That is it off the top of my head!
        Regards,

        Rick Tinker (a.k.a. "Tink")

        Comment


          #19
          Originally posted by Rick Tinker View Post
          In case they are still being used, it first dims them to 50% or so, and then 8-10 seconds later it turns them off.
          WOW I didnt think of that... I need to add that to mine!!!!! few times i have walked out of the garage and back in... and the lights shut off while I made it 1/2 way in.... this is because of the ms14a taking some time until it detects motion again (think I read every 10 seconds it checks)... so I have to wave my arms so I dont trip.... and the lights are back on!!!
          HW - i5 4570T @2.9ghz runs @11w | 8gb ram | 128gb ssd OS - Win10 x64

          HS - HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.435

          Plugins - BLRF 2.0.94.0 | Concord 4 3.1.13.10 | HSBuddy 3.9.605.5 | HSTouch Server 3.0.0.68 | RFXCOM 30.0.0.36 | X10 3.0.0.36 | Z-Wave 3.0.1.190

          Hardware - EdgePort/4 DB9 Serial | RFXCOM 433MHz USB Transceiver | Superbus 2000 for Concord 4 | TI103 X-10 Interface | WGL Designs W800 RF | Z-Net Z-Wave Interface

          Comment


            #20
            yes.... they will but they are still plugged in...
            But, if they aren't charging, they aren't consuming any power, right? Maybe a tiny amount for the LED that indicates the battery is fully charged but that would be negligable.

            I'm asking because I have a lot of chargers in my shop that stay plugged in all the time. Maybe I need to plug them into a Kill-A-Watt to see what they pull when charging vs not charging.

            Comment


              #21
              Hi All. We're putting together a July newsletter now and want to includes some tips for 'greening up' with HomeSeer. Any and all ideas that result in some kind of energy saving would be good.
              I've been thinking about this but I think for me HA is all about security and convenience and results in little, if any, energy savings. In fact, it probably actually increases my energy consumption a little! The reason is all the "stuff" that runs 24 x 7 (HomeTroller, Ocelot and all the modules, motion detectors, cameras). HS does turn off all the lights in the house when we leave or go to bed but I don't know if that saves any energy because we would do that anyway manually. The flip side to HS making it easy to turn all the lights off is that it also makes it easy to turn them on! My wife likes light (she says a dark house is depressing like a cave) so HS turns on a lot of lamps when we wake up and they stay on until we leave or go to bed. Not green, I know, but it definitely makes the house more cheery.

              The one thing that HS may do to offset the increased energy consumption is that it turns off the electric water heater when we go to bed or leave. We have two water heaters -- one gas and one electric. The gas one is always on, of course, but I turn the electric one off with an ELK 30 amp relay switch when it's not needed. Maybe the savings in power there offsets the increased consumption from all the HA stuff that runs 24 x 7!

              Comment


                #22
                Automated a Window AC Unit

                Since most window units don't have setback thermostats (i think that should be standard now, nevertheless), i added IR automation (a usb-uirt) to my window ac unit.

                I use HS to
                (1) set the temperature up in morning and down in the evening, and way up when we are on vacation.
                (2) monitor the runtime of the compressor using a DS10a

                now, no one has to touch the unit and we only cool the space when needed.
                Mark

                HS3 Pro 4.2.19.5
                Hardware: Insteon Serial PLM | AD2USB for Vista Alarm | HAI Omnistat2 | 1-Wire HA7E | RFXrec433 | Dahua Cameras | LiftMaster Internet Gateway | Tuya Smart Plugs
                Plugins: Insteon (mine) | Vista Alarm (mine) | Omnistat 3 | Ultra1Wire3 | RFXCOM | HS MyQ | BLRadar | BLDenon | Tuya | Jon00 Charting | Jon00 Links
                Platform: Windows Server 2022 Standard, i5-12600K/3.7GHz/10 core, 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD

                Comment


                  #23
                  Originally posted by macromark View Post
                  Hi All. We're putting together a July newsletter now and want to includes some tips for 'greening up' with HomeSeer. Any and all ideas that result in some kind of energy saving would be good. So, if you have any tips or tricks you'd like to share with the world, please post them here. We'll include the best ones in the next newsletter.

                  Thanks!

                  -Mark
                  How about a seperate thread category for "Green" ideas - "Homeseer Green".
                  People could post any and all energy saving ideas.

                  Steve Q
                  HomeSeer Version: HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.368, Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 - Home, Number of Devices: 373, Number of Events: 666, Enabled Plug-Ins
                  2.0.83.0: BLRF, 2.0.10.0: BLUSBUIRT, 3.0.0.75: HSTouch Server, 3.0.0.58: mcsXap, 3.0.0.11: NetCAM, 3.0.0.36: X10, 3.0.1.25: Z-Wave,Alexa,HomeKit

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Originally posted by DC View Post
                    I've been thinking about this but I think for me HA is all about security and convenience and results in little, if any, energy savings. In fact, it probably actually increases my energy consumption a little! The reason is all the "stuff" that runs 24 x 7 (HomeTroller, Ocelot and all the modules, motion detectors, cameras). HS does turn off all the lights in the house when we leave or go to bed but I don't know if that saves any energy because we would do that anyway manually.
                    Actually that was a consideration of mine, why automate if you can't save electricity. 1 major factor was my family does not know what the bottom section of a switch is. No matter how hard I tried they just don't turn anything off ( UGH !!! ). Even with almost the entire house with CFL's if every light is left on that is still a lot.

                    The only HA device running on household power is the HS server. The Ocelot, Cameras, Security DVR, motion detectors, Airpanels, Routers, Vonage, 2 - 26 inch tv's, lawn sprinklers and some lighting is all run off of Solar. ( Just about anything that will run on 12 volts ).

                    I sometimes wonder how much all those Z-wave modules in the house are using all together.

                    StevenE
                    Why oh why didn't I just leave things alone, they had been working.

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Anyone have any hard data on HVAC or water heater setback savings ??
                      It would be nice to know setpoints vs savings.

                      To try & shave some load I had my entertainment center (TV, stereo, media center PC, tivo, Wii) shut off at 11 pm & on again at noon.
                      It was transparent to my wife & I was happy 'till the kids came home to visit for a few days. They had me out of bed in a hurry.

                      Seems their idea of bedtime & mine differ.

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Much like stevene I also use as much solar as possible. I use solar panels on the roof to charge batteries and then run off of those. As I've increased devices running off the batteries I've increased the amount of batteries and panels.

                        I've converted all display lighting, indoor and outdoor to 12vdc and use LED lights, they run off the batteries now. Attic vent fans, window candles, all wall warts, automation devices, phones, power supplies of all sorts also get run from the batteries.

                        Also like others I'm using appliance modules on big ticket items like A/V systems, TV's, Coffee pots, etc, anything that I could find that pulls power even when off.

                        Since I don't monitor electric usage yet I have to rely on my electric bill and it has dropped significantly, green or not that makes me happy.
                        Marty
                        ------
                        XPpro SP3 /w HS Standard 2.5.0.80, HSTouch Server - 1.0.0.70, HSTouch Client 1.0.0.73 HSTouch Android - 1.0.0.2, HSTouch iPhone - 1.0.0.2
                        Playing with HS3 a bit but it's just play at this point.

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Originally posted by stevene View Post
                          The only HA device running on household power is the HS server. The Ocelot, Cameras, Security DVR, motion detectors, Airpanels, Routers, Vonage, 2 - 26 inch tv's, lawn sprinklers and some lighting is all run off of Solar. ( Just about anything that will run on 12 volts ).
                          StevenE

                          Steven - Could you give specific detail in your setup. What kind of Solar Panel and battery and how you do the wal warts for devices, e.g. Ocelot, Cameras, Security etc. This sounds like something others might want to duplicate.

                          Comment


                            #28
                            I'd be interested in seeing some KwH comparisons.
                            What do you use on average per month?
                            I am at about 825KwH. I work at home. I think that is pretty good.
                            ______________________________
                            Skibumsplace - Locate Me

                            Comment


                              #29
                              Originally posted by Skibum View Post
                              I'd be interested in seeing some KwH comparisons.
                              What do you use on average per month?
                              I am at about 825KwH. I work at home. I think that is pretty good.

                              This thread is worth a quick read.... given that the night should be quiet... I figure that it has the highest chance of savings.... or so I thought...

                              http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=129203
                              ---------------------------------------------------http://weather.penicuik.org

                              Comment


                                #30
                                Originally posted by jgary View Post
                                Steven - Could you give specific detail in your setup. What kind of Solar Panel and battery and how you do the wal warts for devices, e.g. Ocelot, Cameras, Security etc. This sounds like something others might want to duplicate.

                                Currently I have 6 - 75 watt solar panels, I purchased used about 8 years ago and they charge 4 125AH batteries ( when there is sun ).
                                There is a 13.8 volt buck/boost regulator that provices stable/filtered power to the equipment from the batteries.
                                From the 13.8 volts there is a 12 volt regulator and a 9 volt regulator.

                                No walwarts, all the walwarts have been removed and the devices are powered directly from the above supplied voltages. Each device has a power wire running from the room with the equipment to each device throughout the house.

                                The Airpanels do not have the batteries installed and run fine from 13.8vdc.
                                The 2 - 26 inch lcd tv's came with external powers supply's that are not used and run directly from the 13.8 VDC.

                                Ocelot, Cameras, Security DVR, motion detectors, Routers and vonage run from the 12VDc power.

                                The Lawn sprinklers and Sprinkler pump(also 12 VDC ) run directly from the Batteries. ( The pump pulls the water from a shallow well to water the lawn and flower beds. )

                                Everything is monitored or controlled by HS. Including the amps coming from the solar panel and the amps used from the batteries.

                                StevenE
                                Why oh why didn't I just leave things alone, they had been working.

                                Comment

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