Is there a 15A GFCI that can send us a notification if it’s tripped? We don’t care about controlling any devices that are connected to it, we just need to know right away if it has tripped, as it’s for our home humidifier and condensate pump.
I’ve found several “smart” GFCIs but they don’t give any indication that they’ll notify if tripped, only that they can be used to control connected devices.
Edited to clarify: I know that a tripped GFCI cuts power to the circuit. I was hoping that someone had come up with one that had an integrated battery device of some kind that would allow a notice to be sent. If nothing like that exists, then I’d appreciate suggestions for the smallest possible power outage monitor that could be plugged into it.
Fortunately nothing at all is currently plugged into the GFCI, as it’s mounted on an outside wall (to control the line for HVAC-related equipment that’s in the crawl space) and we don’t use it for anything else.
Unfortunately it’s in a fairly small weatherproof box, so there’s not a lot of room to plug something in and keep the box closed.
I can switch out the box if needed, but I’d appreciate help finding the smallest possible power outage monitor so that I can minimize the size of this box.
That’s not possible because the whole point of a GFCI is to instantly cut all current going through that outlet, so there’s nothing left to power a radio to send a notification.
If you have an open socket on the outlet, there are devices you can plug-in which will switch over from Mains power to battery power when power is lost, so they can use the battery power to send a notification. So you use your regular dumb outlet and plug in the power outage monitoring device.
Thanks! I was hoping that there was one that had an integrated battery to do this. I’ll clarify that in my original post.
Fortunately nothing at all is plugged into the GFCI, as it’s mounted on an outside wall (to control the line for equipment that’s in the crawl pace, and we don’t use it for anything else.
Unfortunately its at least currently in a fairly small weatherproof box, so there’s not a lot of room to plug something in and keep the box closed.
I can switch out the box if needed, but do you happen to have a small power outage monitor that you’d recommend, so that I can minimize the size of the box?
You are unlikely to find one that’s affordable since it’s generally a fire hazard to put a battery inside a wall so there has to be a lot of additional engineering in those kind of devices. You do sometimes see them for industrial use, but not in a price range that most smartthings customers would be looking for.
Just to get it out-of-the-way, is this a shared circuit? If it’s the only device on a circuit branch, there are some energy monitors you could put at the circuit box, but that doesn’t help if there are a lot of things on the same branch.
You should be able to put the plug into the socket and run the cord out of the box and then put the signal device in a separate box close by. So it’s just the plug and the cord that are in the original box with the humidifier plug. I don’t know if that helps.
That only works if this is an isolated circuit branch. Same issue I mentioned previously. There are less expensive devices which do work with smartthings which can monitor the circuit breaker, but if there are additional devices on the same circuit it won’t help.
You could buid your own sensor and connect a dry contact relay to a sensor like this one with external connectors. If the power goes away, it will open the dry contact relay and change the sensor state.