Honeywell Vista 20p (15p) Integration (NOT IOT CONNECTED: security concerned users)

This is to illustrate a recent project where I integrated my Monitored Vista 20p alarm panel with Smartthings, allowing ST to monitor the Vista panel but NOT communicate with it.

First off, this can be done with different approachs all together. For purposes of making it easy to follow, those methods are boxed just below, but they do allow for ST to (possibly) communicate to the monitored Vista panel. If that’s what you’re lookig to do, you can see a lot more and utilize all your individual security sensors in ST. That is NOT what I wanted to do.

  1. Using Alarm Decoder (AD2USB, AD2Pi) or an Envisalink Module, you can use ST to control your alarm (arming/disarming) directly or via routines. There is quite a bit of documentation on how to accomplish this.
    This approach will work with a monitored panel, or a non-monitored panel just the same.
  1. There’s also another approach using an ESP8266 with Node. This will utilize all your wired sensors, but they won’t be connected to a panel, they will connect to the ESP board. and there is no way to wire the sensors in series between the ESP and Vista boards as the vista boards always have resistors inline with the sensors.

The method I used is completely different for a very specific reason. I am wary of any type of network security intrusion, in my network, or the ST cloud where any possibility of bypassing/deactivating my alarm can happen from outside my home by an enterprising hacker.
What I want is ST to see the current condition of my alarm and run routines based on it, BUT not be able to communicate with my Vista Panel.

I accomplished that by wiring and programming an Ademco 4204 Relay Module to my Vista panel.
(you can use a 4204cf, or 4219 module, but those have some different functionality, and only provide 2 relays. the 4204 provides 4 relays).
From the 4 dry contact relays, I wired 4 (gocontrol) zwave wireless door/window sensors.
Those sensors open for a (relay opens for 15sec) duration.
I have routines programmed that any time one of the 4 sensors Opens, it runs specific actions. and set both SHM and a couple virtual devices to on/locked and off/unlocked.

The 4 conditions I chose to monitor were:
Arming-Away
Arming-Stay
Disarming
Any Burglar alarm

You will need to address and program the 4204 module. This can be found in the Vista 15p/20p programming manual under section 6: Output Device programming

You will need zwave or zigbee contact sensors, or as I referenced above, an ESP8266 running node to monitor the 4 relays. You pick your implementation. I used GoControl Door sensors.

Then setup your routines and presto.
1. Have all your stuff shutoff when you arm away.
2. Have your entry lights tuen on when you disarm.
3. When you run goodnight routine, check that alarm is armed (virtual switch on when alarm is on, and off when alarm is disarmed) and notify with sound or color lights if alarm is not armed.
4. Get alerts when the burglar alarm goes off instantenously before the couple minute delay for the monitor company to call you.
5. Trigger your cameras to all record if Burg alarm goes off
6. Etc…

Watch the video below to see the functionality and a walkthrough of the setup.

Also I’d like to thank:
Jeff F. (from the Wink User Group on Facebook) for giving me this idea in the first place.

Scott Hendrickson @Lowvolt of Advanced Electric and Alarm of Spokane for helping me with the programming of the vista relay module. Scott is absolutely awesome for his help in determining configuration of the relays and programming them. Check him out if you need help in Eastern WA.

Kevin @krlaframboise for his awesome work on the Gocontrol door/window Sensor Multifunction DTH. You could use this and only have to use 2 sensors on the 4 relays.

2 Likes

Nice work! Great detailed video. I wish more people would post detailed videos like this.

Just wanted to provide a small correction about the AlarmDecoder AD2Pi/AD2USB. Those devices basically act as another keypad on your alarm panel and like any keypad, a code is required to arm, disarm, program your alarm system. So you don’t have to program SmartThings with your alarm code and it will not have access to perform these functions. However the advantage of using them is you will have access to the status of your alarm panel as well as knowing which zones have faulted. So you will not only be able to integrate SHM, but also setup virtual motion and contact sensors for your alarm zones.

I had previously found that I was duplicating motions and contacts before integrating the AD2Pi with my alarm system and not I moved those devices to other areas of my home without hard wired alarm sensors.