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New Home Construction, All Insteon outlets/switches, few getting started questions

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    #31
    Thanks Mark, i threw the filterlinc on the garbage disposal since it was literally the only device in the house that i could actually use it on at this point. With that said, i will just save them for the various power strips and more hungry electrical devices once i actually start moving in.

    Tonight i will take a look at the homeseer events to accomplish the delayed fan off..This is in homeseer itself and not specifically your plugin correct?

    Currently i have between 80-90 insteon devices and that is literally all just lighting control(and that does not include my shop and my garage which i still plan to upgrade to insteon dimmers). I have about a couple hundred outletlics that I may or may not be bringing under management. I also have open/close sensors that i would like to incorporate with the windows, hidden door sensors that i plan to place on all of the exterior doors, as well as a couple leak detection sensors, garage door kits etc. so If i brought everything online which will take quite some time i think i would be between 300-400 devices.... Mark, as i work through my system and come up with some other questions....if i cant find the answer already here is it better for me to make a new post with each question or can i keep replying here?

    Thanks for your help!

    Comment


      #32
      I'm sure you know, but your help is very much appreciated Mark! Your plugin puts the homeseer provided one to shame and to actually see you on here responding to everyone's questions is pretty awesome!

      I removed the links for the bath fan and setup events in a group and within a few minutes i had the bathroom fan turning on with the can lights and then waiting 10 minutes to turn off, just perfect!

      We just got our inspection and Certificate of Occupancy today before i got off work and my contractor swapped the standard switches in the garage for insteon at my request but he put dimmers in for the fluorescent lights. So even though i hate doing electrical, i swapped the 4 switches this evening in my garage for insteon on/off switches and didn't manage to kill myself so, yay me. I do want to switch my garage and utility room back to dimmers eventually, but i need to figure out the best 4 foot LED tube replacement thats dimmable and then also remove the ballasts from the fixtures; another project.

      There is an issue in my kitchen that id like your input on if its actually a hazard in anyway....I ended up with outletlincs in my cabinets,frankly not where i wanted them,but i was under the impression they were not working as i hadnt seen them with power yet....until my contractor figured out that they were wired to the dimmer switch for the overhead can light...so as i dim the can light i see all sorts of flickers from the outletlinc led's well because you cant ramp dim an outletlinc....I dont plan on plugging anything into them based on their location, and i also plan to have them rewired so that the cabinet outlets are NOT on a switch. In the interim time if someone dims that switch thats connected to the outletlincs is it going to cause any safety issues?

      Lastly, does anyone know of a source for a 3 gang wall plate that would have a blank, preferably in the middle? Next to my sink ive got 3 switches, sink can light, overhead kitchen lights,and you probably didnt guess it....the disposal! Now I have granite counter tops and there is a dedicated button to turn on the disposal and ideally i wouldn't have it connected to a switch at all. I'm thinking it might work to change out the on/off switch for an inline on/off module and then just leave it on in the software and then hide the link with the 3 way including a blank?

      Lastly, talking with the contractor who built but not wired my house about the breaker upstairs blowing....he said with new home construction they started requiring ARC Fault breakers in bedrooms and they are much more sensitive. He said actually in our little island town code changed in the last couple years where they are requiring all breakers in new construction to now be arc fault. He said i might consider just swapping out the particular breaker thats blowing for a standard non arc fault. To me, it seems like there would be a problem that could be addressed and not just bandaided with a non arc fault breaker? I cant imagine that everyone that builds a new home deals with random breakers blowing all the time just because they are arc fault?

      Comment


        #33
        and just reading a bit about arc fault breakers and yeah looots of people are having random tripping issues. This is brand spanking new construction and as i have replaced a handful of the switches so far, i know that none of them are at least backstabbed..I'm thinking that i should have an alternate electrician come and at least give a shot at troubleshooting the circuit upstairs....having the all lights on command ramp instead of go straight on seems to have greatly helped the tripping issue but it still flips on that occasional trigger. I'm not sure if i mentioned it at the start of my post, but i lost my entire house to a fire last year and state farm was great, but i dont want to give them an out in the future by replacing code required breakers with something else unless its absolutely necessary.

        Comment


          #34
          Please use the 'display interface database' function to determine how many links you have used in the PLM. The PLM is limited to about 1000 links. Check for the smarthome site for the exact number.

          the plugin currently has an artificial limit of 255 devices; i can raise this but keep it in mind.

          You can keep replying here with questions; no need to start new threads

          I use fluorescents in the garage and workshop with on/off switchlincs without issue.

          i can't comment on the safety issue related to wiring an outletlinc to a dimmer, but I'm sure its not a good idea for the health of outletlinc even if its not a safety issue. the outletlinc is expecting a hot line anything less will have a negative effect.

          you probably won't find that custom wallplate; just buy a 3 gang decora style plate and put a single decora blank over the opening you want to cover/fill.

          i have arc fault breakers in all my bedrooms as well. I do have all the lights for 3 rooms linked to a keypadlinc (kpl) button so i can turn them all on/off at once. I've never tripped a breaker in this scenario.

          My understanding of when an arc fault breaker is supposed to trip is when one plugs or unplugs something from an outlet and you get that little spark like with a vacuum cleaner. I don't think they should be tripping when you turn on/off lights. You might do a little research on the smarthome forum on this topic.
          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


            #35
            some additional thoughts:

            Regarding the upstairs/master bedroom breaker tripping, try removing different bulbs or disabling different switches (pull the set btn to temporarily take it offline) and retesting. You just need to issolate the issue then the electrician can deal with it.

            i'm wonder if the outletlincs are somehow tripping the arc fault breakers. this might be a smarthome question. although the outletlincs are probably not on the lights group.

            i had an issue in my basement workshop where i had a GFI outlet (on a dedicated circuit) that that kept tripping every time the gas furnace (on a separate breaker) would startup. I swapped out the GFI outlet for a regular outlet. the only reason the electrician put in the GFI was because its in the basement where water might get to it. the outlet is 4 ft off the floor. If i get 4 feet of water in my basement; i got bigger problems than a GFI not tripping.
            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


              #36
              So it looks like I am currently at 330 links to take care of lighting, minus my shop which I believe will add 7 more switches to the system. I will be adding some of the outletlincs to the system here in the next month or so as I get moved in but I just cant forsee any reason to add the majority of them. Probably wont have time to further test the circuit upstairs until this weekend.

              I did however take a stab at installing the Insteon garage door & status kit tonight. I have a liftmaster 8500 with a wireless 3 button keypad and a wired keypad with controls for a light(did not install a light)and lock. From what i briefly read online it sounded like this would be using the MyQ system which would cause problems with the insteon kit. I tested by shorting the wires at the keypad side and the door unlocks and opens, and then closes and locks. I simpy pushed the insteon sensor " motor " wires into the connection ports on the liftmaster control board where the keypad wires connect and voila, i was opening and closing the door with my laptop. The trickiest part was finding where to mount the open/close status sensor away from the track.

              Comment


                #37
                Ok on the link count. that seems reasonable at this point.

                that's interesting you were able to use the insteon iolinc to control your liftmaster 8500. I have a myq 85xx series opener and had to get the internet gateway and myq hs plugin to control the door.

                can you post a pic of how you have the the wires connected to the liftmaster control board
                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


                  #38
                  Originally posted by mnsandler View Post
                  Ok on the link count. that seems reasonable at this point.

                  that's interesting you were able to use the insteon iolinc to control your liftmaster 8500. I have a myq 85xx series opener and had to get the internet gateway and myq hs plugin to control the door.

                  can you post a pic of how you have the the wires connected to the liftmaster control board
                  Ditto on pic of wiring. I too had to go the gateway/plugin route. Although I'd have done it that way anyways in addition to HS/Insteon. Anything that changes the security posture of my home has two methods of monitoring/control. Having the independent notification of Garage Door open/close/left open gives me the "Belt and suspenders" level of redundancy that I prefer.
                  My home is smarter than your honor roll student.

                  Comment


                    #39
                    I will get a pic of my wiring this evening, but i can say that i just stuck the two io link wires into the same connections on the garage door control board as the myq wall panel and i havent seen any issues. I havent dove into the touch side of the homeseer configuration yet, but i am able to open and close my liftmaster 8500 through the homeseer interface via laptop. My installer did try hooking up two of the myQ wall panels and i determined that it just does not work...with two hooked up both panels are in a sort of connection loop and never fully get connected. The manual says that there is not enough voltage to support two wall panels so when i removed one panel, the other completes its sync.

                    Right now i am drilling holes in my doorframes for the insteon hidden door sensors. Is there a trick to getting the hidden door sensors to add via the plugin? I try tap adding them and they beep but the plugin does not seem to detect them. I realize i should try linking them at their desired location, but they do not seem to link even when right next to my hometroller. Thanks!

                    Comment


                      #40
                      and I think that i'm good with the door sensors...i'm adding the device manually via its address and then as long as its in link mode it seems to program automatically just fine. I think i recall having to add via address on the non hidden door sensors that i was testing in my other home.

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Originally posted by alaskan84 View Post
                        and I think that i'm good with the door sensors...i'm adding the device manually via its address and then as long as its in link mode it seems to program automatically just fine. I think i recall having to add via address on the non hidden door sensors that i was testing in my other home.
                        yep, you have the right approach. All battery powered devices require being put into linking mode before being manually registered with the plugin
                        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

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