One of my big fears is that I’m going to spring a leak somewhere in my house while I’m gone and I’ll flood some part of the house.
I could put water sensors everywhere and have them notify me if a leak is detected. I would need a fair number of water sensors to monitor all possible locations (I have one in my basement floor drain right now).
I could automate my main water valve, but they are pricey.
I’d be happy with a simple notification if my well pump is running while SHM is in Armed/Away mode. There’s no reason my well pump should run at all while I’m away from the house.
Has anyone figured a creative way to notify if a well pump is running?
I’ve used RIB relays on 24VAC thermostat wires, coupled with a dry contact, to send me notifications about some of my HVAC items, but I’m reluctant to wire up a relay to the 220VAC controls on my pump…
Might a vibration sensor on the well pump pressure switch work?
This will measure power usage… So whenever the pump is ON it draws power and when its off there is no power. Moreover it is contact less solution so 220v AC is not an issue.
I’ve been eyeing those up and will probably purchase two (I have 400A service on two separate panels) at some point.
But they would not be specific - meaning, if the HVAC came on, I would not necessarily be able to distinguish it from the well pump running. Unless I monitored only the well pump line with the energy meter.
I think that is what he meant. Guessing that this pump has a dedicated circuit so you would just clamp around the wires in the circuit breaker. While in there add another for the whole house I have been eyeing them too.
I saw a sump pump monitor that used a ST multi-sensor and detected vibrations from the sump pump output pipe to indicate when pump was running. Here it is…
If you just want to check pump on or off the pump control panel will have a set of dry contacts that you can interface with a z-wave relay. Most pump controls have contacts for remote access, but I have seen some that don’t. And the Multisensor idea works it shows vibration of pipe which means running.
Not sure if your pump bumps or shakes when it runs, but a Multi sensor has worked flawlessly for logging my septic pump activity to Thingspeak and sending alerts if it fails to run for a day. Alerts for running (acceleration) while away would be easy in default smatapps or SHM.
Could you coonect a mimo relay to trip when the pump goes on or off? You could use the relay’s being tripped to send you a message as well as enable other devices. I kind of have my house recirc pump setup this way. I get both on and off messages sent to me.
Hi mooch. I am interested in doing this same thing. I would like to get an alert every time my well pump turns on/off while my status is set to away. I noticed this was an older post and wondered if you ever got this set up, and if so what you decided on?
If it we’re me I would use a CT sensor 20-30 bucks and the input of the mimo.
I use the input for my rain sensor and have it send me a push notification it raining and sprinklers off. It has not skipped a beat. Very dependable.
I also have a well pump, and was thinking of ways to stop the water flow if my water sensors detected a problem.
Any reason I just couldn’t put in a switch, instead of a valve? No moving parts, and could just wire it at the pressure switch regulator. Not sure if my submersible usv250 or 120 but not hard to check. Guess I would need an appliance switch to Handel the load.
What I have implemented, hopefully temporarily, is a multipurpose sensor on the well pump pressure switch. The multipurpose sensor senses vibration of the switch.
Unfortunately i do not have a device on the well system that vibrates continuously when the pump is in use. The switch will “click” on to turn on the pump and click “off” to turn it off. Each of those clicks is registered as an independent vibration.
I have a virtual switch set up that is set, via Webcore, to toggle state each time vibration is sensed.
It has been working well so long as the virtual switch stays in sync with the pump state.
I’d like something that shows a more definitive on/off, so I am working up a plan to integrate a RIB relay in the pump control circuit that will have its dry contacts connected to a contact sensor configured for external activation (Monopricw/Ecolink). I’m not much of a 220V AC guy (220, 221, whatever it takes), so it’s taking me a while to plan it out. If anyone has done anything similar, please let me know.
Has anyone tried using a HD smart switch like this to monitor well? Not sure if the well is powered from the well controller or if the controller just uses a relay to turn it on and off.
I have the GE/Jasco/Enbrighten 14285 on my well pump, and it can immediately sense the power draw from the well pump when it switches on. These have been discontinued by Jasco, and you can only get them now from eBay or other sellers on the internet. There is a recent discussion about this below.
The Aeotec model you linked to would also work, but the build quality of it is not the best, and the way the wires go through the plastic wire channels is not optimal.
I have been eyeing them too.