INSTEON support - trying to start a central thread for request

Interesting… How would you control fan speed, though?

@brianlees

Full speed. We could add one of these with two resisters:

http://www.fibaro.com/manuals/en/FGS221-Relay-Switch-2x1.5kW/FGS221-Relay-Switch-2x1.5kW-en-2.1-2.3.pdf.

Anyone else with an idea how to build a Z-Wave or Zigbee Fanlinc?

Yes the Levitons are a wall switch. The FanLinc is the only inline module that controls the speed of a motor that I know of. The Aeon Labs micro modules work but will not control motor speed, on off only. If you try anything else you will either burn out the motor or have a loud humming noise. Obviously its possible, Smarthome did it, but dimming an inductive load is not easy.

X-10 makes an inductive dimmer as well which will control fan speed you just need a noise filter as well to help alleviate some of the noise created by cutting the sine wave. Its not an inline fixture module either though, its a wall switch.

@haworld

Do you happen to know the Leviton dimensions? Maybe I can find enough room in the fan canopy.

Its a standard wall switch, I can measure one up for you, same as the others but how will you mount a switch inside a ceiling fixture junction box or canopy?

@haworld

Very carefully?

Instead of FanLinc in the canopy, I was thinking about using the Leviton there only to control the fan through SmartThings. And with some luck, there may be room for a light dimmer. I could get a junction box extender to make more room.

Definitely a kludge.

I don’t have the VRF in stock right now but I have measured another Leviton rocker, they are 4.25" long at the front plate where you attach it to a wall box, and about 2.5" x 2.5". It should not be much bigger than that so I am sure you are safe if you can fit that into the canopy.

One suggestion…Can you just add a j box in your attic or space above the ceiling fan? Just wire one inline and put the switch in that, almost like an inline cutoff switch. That would be a lot safer and most likely would work better than jamming it into the canopy. Plus you really should put it inside a j-box - J boxes are closed up so there is less air inside if there is a fire and even so, the spark should be contained. Better than a ceiling fan canopy I would think.

@haworld

I have a cathedral ceiling which reduces my options. I’ll have to get the ladder out and check the dimensions…

Ahh yes cathedral ceiling. Can you just extend your switching to an accessible location along the circuit? Just run the wires direct from the fan and its j box to another j-box (even if you have to add it) where you can properly install the dummy switch? I have done that before in my vaulted ceilings, I just installed a new junction box further along the circuit and did my switching there. Again, safer than installing switches inside a canopy. Well, just some suggestions, good luck!

This sounds awesome. I have mostly Z-wav devices but I am using a fanlinc with one of my ceiling fans and an insteon mini-remote to control it. I am currently using a veraLite but would love to with to smart things. It is just the insteon that is holding me back.

So I have the insteon PLM conneced to my veramate via USB… Is this the “smartlinc” that you are referring to or do I need a different device in order to control my insteon gear via IP?

Ok so I answered my own question - Looks like the PLM is different from the smartlinc. The smartlinc is no longer available from Smarthome but can be found on ebay. The smarlink gives you an IP interface (Network Jack on the device) to insteon. Ok I’m up to speed now.

So the next question is how would I go about adding the IP based devices to smart things?

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That’s the question I’ve been waiting to have answered for a loooong time… Only thing keeping me from SmartThings. I calculated that I have $550.85 worth of Insteon devices in my home and don’t want to replace everything.

Also I just can’t find an equivalent replacement from any other vendor for their 6 or 8 button KeypadLinc. I’m in an old house so my lights are literally all independent from switches due to difficulty of installing numerous switches so they all have in-line dimmer’s connected to 2 central KeypadLinc’s.

If there were clear guidelines on adding IP devices it would be great. Insteon has well documented IP based calls for their devices.

Just read the Time magazine article and was pretty excited about ST until the “no support for Insteon” realization. Its not just the cash we already spent - we have 30 plus devices, but that is a big part of it. Almost all of our devices are built-in, switches, outlets, fan lincs, garage linc, etc.

We bought the Insteon hub and were not too impressed, so looking for a smart device that will handle any smart home technology out there. My first thought on having to find “suitable” replacements for all the devices that work in our home now is that nagging feeling that the replacement device will come with a short life-span of compatibility as well. Plus - there are many Insteon devices we have that there is no replacement, never mind one that starts with: Step 1. Remove the cover plate, remove screws and wire nuts, pull the $60 switch out of the wall throw it in the garbage.

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Same here. Just read the time article. 9 months ago installed 15 or so insteon items … wall switches, keypad ounces, hub, and mini remotes. I really don’t want todon’t replace $1500 worth of gear.

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Sadly, until SmartThings gets big enough to be able to dedicate resources to add Insteon support, I think they are going to continue to lose customers who already have Insteon hardware installed to competitors like Revolv.
I will say this - I am glad they are being honest and upfront about not having it on the roadmap for anytime soon rather than just saying “sometime in the future.” I feel like there are a lot of companies that would just string you along saying they don’t comment on future support/products/etc.

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Good point. I will have to look into Revolv.

Hi Irfan. I recently got a Revolv hub and had to return it. While it’s great overall, the catch with their Insteon support is that they are only supporting very few Insteon devices that are latest gen. So if you for example bought a switch or outlet a year ago, it might not work. Out of my 14-15 devices, only 2 worked as promised, another 2 were recognized (8-button in wall switches) but only 1 button was switchable and the rest never linked whatever I did. This is a known issue and to Revolv’s defense they are adding devices over time but the priority is on newer ones.

Also they are a “closed” system at this point, so it’s not like developers can use their API to write device profiles. I’m sure it will be a great system at some point, but it’s way to limited right now.

I’m still hoping that someone on here will add devices for Insteon using the Insteon Hub and regular IP calls which is possible. I’m not expecting Smartthings to have native support but there is no reason it can’t talk to an Insteon hub. If one or two examples were created by someone knowledgable on these threads, a skill I lack, we could replicate the whole Insteon catalog.

You can talk to one today, but I have yet to see anything in the API that includes discovery. This means you need to supply the device ID manually. It is possible there is something available for discovery but unfortunately, Insteon has chosen to make access to developer materials a profit center (with a minimum $200 entry fee).

What is (unofficially) documented on the web is that the API is cumbersome at best.

I’m curious… for those of you with Insteon gear… what are you using now to control it (ISY, HouseLinc, Indigo, etc.)?

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Do you mean initial setup of the devices or something for true two-way communication? If for initial setup, It’s really not that big of an issue in my book… If I’m thinking about the right thing, Insteon devices tend to have their addresses printed on them, I’m willing to pull out every switch & outlet out of my walls to get at the info if it means I can add the devices to Smartthings. I also think you can get at them through the Insteon Hub.

Currently I have no Hub. I have almost everything Insteon linked to each other for “scenes”, all controlled off of two 8-button in-wall switches. So motion detector linked to patio lights which are also linked to a button on 8-button switch, etc. The two 8-button switches are also linked to each other on 2 of the buttons so they act as a virtual 3-way switch. What I’m really missing is a Hub to bring this all together, add smart functions like geofencing and expand to other devices.

@sxt173 You’d have to have some discovery process available from the hub to create the child devices (the switches, etc.). Without this, you could have an app that sends commands to the hub, but for each one you’d have to enter the device’s ID (it would be part of the prefs setup).

My old x10 and Insteon stuff are still controlled via Indigo. I wrote/use HAM Bridge to communicate with it from SmartThings.

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