[coming from iris] Shut off outlet when SHM Alarm is disabled? (V2, Not ADT model)

As the tile says, I’m thinking about coming over to the SmartThings world from Iris. In testing out the v2 hub i’m having some trouble with the security side of things.

If the alarm is triggered I have specific smart plugs that turn on (siren attached to plug). When the alarm is disabled and the alert is dismissed I would like the hub to restore things to their pre-alert state. In this case, turn off the smart plug…

I chatted with ST support they said that would not be possible unless I purchase the ADT hub/panel. It’s my understanding that the ADT security alert cannot trigger smart plugs, nor will they “alarm” which non-ADT sensors.

On the flip side, when the alarm is set (enabled) I would like certain devices to be turned on. Based on alarm status not routines.

If you’re using the new app (icon is 6 circles) then you do this with the custom automation creator on the automations tab.

This can get really confusing real fast. There are actually two versions of SHM. I believe the version that runs on the old app can do part of what you are asking by creating a routine that runs at alarm mode change. The example would be turn on switch a and be when turned in Armed Say and then turn off switch c and d when disarmed. But that doesn’t help with turning on a siren when a event occurs.

The problem with the siren. Is that you want a security function in SHM to activate a non security item as a alert. When code is written for Smartthings typically the program is written to use devices of certain capabilities( ie alarm or switch). It helps keep clarity to make sure you are using the right device. It isn’t that it can’t be done, but that it will likely require a cuatom DTH that is basically for the given smartplug, but has the alarm capability added.

Could you point me in the right direction? I only see based on time of day, device status, member location or location mode. I don’t see anything based on security. Am I missing something?

What about this example: could I set my blinds to close when the alarm is triggered? Since blinds are not a security device?

Have you setup Smart Home Monitor yet? It shows up in that list once it’s setup.

In many cases, you can accomplish something like what you are describing by creating a virtual lightbulb, turning that virtual device on from the security side using the “notify with lights” option, and then setting up a regular home automation rule so that when that virtual light comes on other things happen. That may even be able to run locally if you use the official “smart lighting” feature to connect the virtual device to the physical device

Many people trigger third-party sirens, for example, in this fashion.

And if you’re willing to use code that runs in the cloud, you can then use this method to trigger anything that smartthings can do. The virtual light comes on, and then other events happen.

But I don’t know if you can use that for something like the notification being dismissed. Most of the previous requests have been how to turn other things on, not to turn them off again. I just don’t know enough of the details about how it works to know what’s exposed to the system at that moment.

I am also coming from Iris and had a very similar set up as yours. When the alarm was triggered, a specified smart outlet would turn on. Plugged into that oulet was a very loud, exterior rated siren that is hidden in the attic vent. Then I set up a custom scene (or rule or some other term I can’t remember) that turned off the outlet when I disabled/cancelled the alarm. Worked perfectly.

What is a “custom DTH”? How do you set it up? Other suggestions? Not being able to accomplish this is likely to be a deal breaker for me and SmartThings. Any help would be very appreciated!

This is very easy with a normal (non-adt) hub and Smart Home Monitor.

Thanks for replying. Can you be more specific? I can see the options for turning on lights but not a smart plug/outlet. Conditions can be set up based on security mode (when you press ‘armed’), but not when the alarm is aurally trigger. And there does not seem to be a way to hook into an alarm dismissal to turn off the smart outlet. Am I missing something?

Ah darn, I forgot SHM in the new app looks for the “light” capability, so some outlets don’t show on the list to choose. Which kind of outlet are you using? Might be able to switch the type assigned to it to one with light capability.

Triggering based off SHM disarm would be the easiest way to turn things off. Can do that via custom automation creator.

@SopranoCastle, you found a way to turn on an outlet when the alarm is triggered? I cant find an “alarm triggered” trigger anywhere, including in the old app. I can probably live with having to manually turn off the outlet to silence the alarm (as opposed to a dismiss or disarm trigger), but not turning on this siren is a problem.

I looked thru some of the options in the IDE and there are some alarm related triggers (like arming and disarming) but I didn’t find one for when the alarm actually get set off. It seems to me that many ppl would want to control more devices than the ones presented to you in the app when their alarm gets set off. Is there really no ‘out of the box’ way to do this? If that’s correct, Samsung, this is a much needed trigger! This was quite straight forward to do with Iris. It’s pretty ironic that Lowes was more advanced in this regard than on of the largest tech companies on the planet!

In the Classic app, the alert with lights option for Smart Home Monitor allows turning on an outlet.

Thank you that was super helpful! The SmartThings rep told me I had to buy an ADT Controller to do that! :man_facepalming:

Alex, I was able to get the outlet to turn on. Just like Jimmy said. It’s in the classic app.


There you can add the individual outlet.

The problem: Lights trigger immediately when a contact sensor is opened. So this doesn’t give you a delay before your outlet is triggered…

The new app suggests that it can delay, however this is not the case for “lights”…

I’m curious if this delay could work for lights??? JIMMY, any suggestions? @Automated_House

The delay is only for the siren. The new app SHM does allow you to setup reminders to arm/disarm based on mobile presence. I also find it best to create a scene called “alarm lights off” or similar that provides an easy way to turn off all the lights in the case of an accidental tripping of SHM.

Thank you guys. I finally figured out something that works. Although I didn’t want to dive so deep into ST, but it works…

At first, I created a “Simulated Alarm” inside “SmartThings IDE”. Then I created a custom automation

  1. Based on Device Status,
  2. Simulated Alarm → Alarm → Siren and Strobe (If “Siren & Strobe”)

Then:

  1. Control a Device
  2. Iris Smart Plug [ON]

I created another automation for it to turn off. It worked fine.

A while later, I read a bit about device handlers and I started playing around a bit. I followed what this post said: (Although I had to learn the hard way that Handlers need to have OAuth enabled, and a few other things…)

This allowed me to get the siren to work, delay, and turn itself off when the alert was dismissed or the alarm was disarmed.