I have a Generac generator to power the house during utility company outages.
I would like to know the state of the Generator: ON or OFF.
I would like to get an alert when this state changes.
I thought the easiest way would be to use the outlet on the Generac itself: it is powered only when the device is running.
I assume this requires some kind of polling of a device like a smart plug plugged into the Generac, which could generate (no pun intended) the required alert when the state of the device changes (online/offline).
Thereās a number of devices that will monitor power usage directly off your breaker panel. You could put one on the lines coming from your power company, and another on the lines coming from the generator. Based on which one is showing ā0ā youād know which source youāre running on.
The only problem there is I have to mess around with the transfer switch (which feeds the breaker panel from the appropriate source as required)ā¦I would like to first try a simple solution that does not require an electrician!
You can definitely do this, itās the same as a power outage alert but in reverse.
Iām tired now, but basically you just want to set up a notification for when a pocket socket plugged into that outlet comes on. You might have to plug-in nightlight into it so there is an actual power draw. It shouldnāt be too hard to find something appropriate.
The main questions are likely to be environmental: how far away is the generator and is it in a metal shed?
Use contact sensors, with wire capability. I really like the Ecolink DWZWAVE2.5-ECO model. These will show ācontact closedā if the wires are shorted together and āopenā of they are open.
Then you can either find the appropriate alarm contacts on your Automatic Transfer Switch and or generator or you can make then yourself using relays. I use an ASCO 300G Automatic Transfer Switch with REX module that has those contacts native. Your Generac may or not have them.
If using relays, hereās how to do itā¦
On the utility side of your ATS use a 120 volt relay. wire it to the contact sensor āutility power availableā
Do the same thing on the generator side of the ATS with a contact called āgenerator power available
Add a third relay on the load side of the ATS, call this āload power available.
If you want to get snazzy you can create a virtual switch called āhouse on generator powerā use automations to set the state of that switch to be On IF both āgenerator power availableā and āload power availableā are CLOSED.
Hereās how I displayed the alarms using Actiontiles
I know this is an older thread but Iāve been running GenMon on a RaspPi and have fiddled over the years trying to integrate it with SmartThings. Iāve given up multiple times but Iām sure a real developer could whip an integration up easily. At least Iāve got generator monitoring w/ GenMon.
