I have used both the Halo App and ST app with a Halo and Halo + smoke alarms and have noticed some difference in functionality. Just curious which one most users like better.
What have you noticed that’s different?
Obviously when paired with SmartThings, you can use it like any other connected smoke/CO alarm and trigger other actions, like shut off HVAC, turn on lights, etc.
That would be the main advantage of pairing it to the hub, I think.
That’s possible to do even when not paired directly with SmartThings, through IFTTT. Although it takes an extra step through the cloud unnecessarily, and probably requires a virtual switch too.
ST app displays temp and humidity, Halo app doesn’t. For the Halo +, the ST app has many more items you can select to have the weather radio alert for (or not alert).
The Halo app shows the % the battery is charged, the ST app only displays if it’s on AC or battery power. I had an instance where the battery in one of the units quit charging and I didn’t know it until the power went off. After talking with the Halo support, they said this occasionally happens and they way to get it charging again is to remove the power then back on. Using the Halo app, you can monitor the battery charge. If I had an actual fire in the case I described above with the power off, that unit would not have worked.
I’ve had 2 occasions where I had to contact Halo support. In order for them to diagnose, I had to remove the units from ST and pair to the Halo app. It was a PITA.
Even though I have OTA enabled on ST, my experience is that firmware updates didn’t happen. The units had to be on the Halo app to get the updates.
Just some observations.
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Did you get wireless interconnect to work between two or more Halos when using the ST app? I have two Halos and have them connected to ST but need to figure out how to get the wireless interconnect working via ST. The Halo cloud is now off the air and no longer facilitates wireless interconnect via the Halo app.
Yes, I was able to connect 3 HALOs to ST. My house is wired already for interconnected smoke alarms and I was able to install the HALOs via the wired interconnect. Not sure if this is your question, but my 3 HALOs are interconnected with the other 8 “regular” smoke alarms I have in the house.
Perhaps my original communication was not clear. I bought two Halos last summer to replace two old hard-wired smokes, one in an upstairs hallway and the other in the basement stairwell. The old ones were not interconnected because codes when the house was built did not require that. Both Halos worked and interconnected wirelessly via the Halo app when the Halo Cloud was working. When that went off the air, wireless interconnect stopped working. I recently bought a SmartThings Hub V3 for the Halos and also daisy chained 4 hard-wired Kidde smokes in the upstairs bedrooms with wired interconnect to the upstairs Halo aiming to satisfy the current code which requires all smokes to be interconnected.
Problem #1: The upstairs Halo triggers the regular smokes fine during a test cycle. However, the regular smokes don’t trigger the Halo. Is there anything I can do via ST to trigger the upstairs Halo’s interconnect line from a Kidde smoke while also having the interconnect in place for the Halo to trigger the interconnected smokes? Or perhaps a solution for the Kidde’s to trigger the upstairs Halo could still enable the upstairs Halo to trigger the Kidde smokes.
Problem #2: My second Halo in the basement stairwell is not currently interconnected with the upstairs Halo and Kidde smokes as current building code requires. Is there any way to enable wireless triggering of the interconnect between the two Halos or am I stuck finding some way to run an interconnect line?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
OK, I understand your issue now. Answers below to your 2 questions.
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I’m not sure why your regular smokes don’t trigger one interconnected HALO that’s wired. Is this just when testing the regular smokes or have you actually tried to put smoke on a regular and see if that will actually trigger the HALO? Whenever I test my regular smokes (Kidde), my wired interconnected HALOs will also test. I did have an issue at first with this and HALO pushed an update to the HALOs. This was basically my first post in this thread. I realize HALO is out of business so this isn’t an option. Give the smoke try on a regular smoke and see if it triggers the wired HALO to sound.
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ST is an intergration system. Meaning, you have to “tell” ST what to do with devices. For example, turn on a light at sunset. The HALO app automatically wirelessly interconnected all the HALOs on the system because that’s what it was designed for. You’ll need to build a custom piston (action) in ST. I’m sure you can build a piston (with WebCoRE) that will trigger one HALO if the other one is triggered. For example, if the HALO that’s wired changes state (ie, it sounds), then trigger the basement HALO to also sound. You’d need another piston to do the same if the basement HALO senses smoke to sound the upstairs HALO. For example, I built a piston that closes the main water shutoff valve in my house if certain temperature sensors go below 50 degrees.
Here’s a link to the webcore info on the forum. There are installation videos, etc, that are very helpful. Plus, that forum is outstanding. Introducing the new webCoRE Community Forum
Hope this helps.