Local control for a z-wave water valve

Wiki Ideas and Suggestions
1

Pretty new to this stuff, so please forgive my ignorance. I have a house that sits unoccupied for long periods, and while I’m gone I leave the main water valve turned off. The valve is a little difficult to get to, so I’m installing a z-wave controlled actuated valve (leak gopher) on the incoming water line. When I need to open and close the valve I can do so from my phone, but I also need to figure out a way to control this valve locally as I need an easy way for caretakers (inspectors, contractors, housekeeping …) to turn the water on when they arrive and off when they leave. Ideally, I’d like to mount a switch or pushbutton by the front door, preferably with a light that shows valve state, that could be activated upon entry / exit. There are no wired inputs on my valve actuator for this local control, so the signal from this local switch would need to operate the actuator via the z-wave network.

The leak gopher has a pushbutton on / off switch and I’ve been told that it can be located up to about 30 feet from the actuator, but its not exactly something I’d like to have hanging in the entryway of my home. In addition, the lights on the unit indicating open / closed are not intuitive.

I’ve considered installing an “add on” type switch (GE 12723) which I think could signal the hub to open / close the valve, but from what I’ve read I’m concerned there might be a time lag between the time the switch is moved and the activation of the actuator, which could cause some confusion.

Any thoughts as to an easy way to accomplish this goal. Thanks.

2

GE add-on switches do not have a radio in them so they will only work when wired to a GE smart switch. It doesn’t appear that the gopher supports direct association so you will have to connect a smart switch through SmartThings.

You can use any smart switch with a radio and use the built in led on the switch to notify if the water is on or off. CoRE would be a good way to “connect” them together. Since you don’t need a load, I’d recommend the WT00Z-1 Linear (GoControl) switch. Note it has a green LED.

3

So long as you have hub powered and active, any Button or Smart switch will work. You could even set t up with motion or door sensor. If somebody opens door or there is motion open the valve ( of course this would be a big problem if there is a bused pipe) If no motion for XX time the valve closes.
AS @jhamstead said the GE add-on is NOT a smart switch, it just relays button press to the main switch, which reports back to the hub.

4

Any know how to get the Leak Detector to report it’s status (e.g. it goes off line, etc…) I’ve been told they unit has the ability to report it’s status (not just valve open and closed.) I’ll try to figure it out through trial and error, but thought I’d ask. On the same subject, does anyone use a power back-up on this so it still works during an outage?