Power Outage Notification

[sballoz (fabrizio)]

Hi,

I was wondering if there is a way to get notified of a power Outage If I am not at home.

thanks

[mechanimal82]

I guess you would only know that by polling or pinging your hub/router and notifying if it fails to connect.

If you have no power your router would not be powered and connected to the Internet to send a message

[sballoz (fabrizio)]

Hi,

My internet connection is always on even in case of a power outage.
Considering that V2 hub has battery there must be a way on the hub to know that is using battery instead of the power cable.

Thanks
Fab

[mechanimal82]

Do you have one of the outlets? I’m not aware the hub is contextually aware itself, there maybe something in the ide but I’m new to smartthings and still learning.

If you have an outlet plugged into something always on then I guess you could have the ‘notify if’ app send a notification if the power consumption drops to 0 or the plug becomes inactive (as there is no power).

[Lgkahn (Larry)]

yes I have cable modem switches and router on ups’s… I have an aeon home energy monitor hooked up… there is a smart app to show power outage… if reading on monitor is less than some amount… I just realilzed I need to put batteries in that however so it reports when the power is out.

[sidjohn1]

Yes,

This is awesome! Power is Out based on state of v1 Motion Sensor

Here in the Sierra, power outages are a way of life. They can be caused by heavy rain or wind, ice and snow, or some flatlander thinking he can drive his shiny new 4WD on icy/snowy mountain roads the same way he does in the city. Didn’t even know this capability existed… thanks Jesse Ziegler! /** * Power Is Out * * Copyright 2014 Jesse Ziegler * */ definition( name: "Power Is Out", namespace: "smartthings", author: "Jesse Ziegler", description: "Alert me of power loss using motion detector's change from wired-power to battery-power. SmartThings hub and internet connection must be working! You can connect the hub and internet connection device (e.g. modem, router, etc.) to a battery backup power strip so that the motion detector and detect the loss and the hub and …

[scottinpollock (Scott)]

@sidjohn1

Yes

Alas, they broke this in v2. I am trying to get a resolution from support, @slagle etc., but it is going on two months now with no answer.

[sidjohn1]

I just got it to work with this version of the devicetype.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SmartThingsCommunity/SmartThingsPublic/6ad3c4fd7a616582f2a9cbb6ae24070ec31474a7/devicetypes/smartthings/smartsense-motion.src/smartsense-motion.groovy

[scottinpollock (Scott)]

@sidjohn1

I just got it to work with this version of the devicetype.

Thanks so much!!!

So they update the stock deviceType, which breaks it. You report it broken, and no one has a clue as to why (“we’re gonna have to have engineering look into it”). Little wonder things are as screwed up as they are. Again my thanks, this was pretty darned important to me where I live (which I mentioned numerous times to support).

[imbrian]

Pretty much exploiting the same logic, I’ve been using this elegantly simple app by @twack https://github.com/twack/smarthings-apps/blob/master/SocketPowerIsOut.app.groovy

I’m running the v1 hub powered off the USB port of my router that’s hooked to a UPS.

[dbclark (chip clark)]

The solutions I have found in the forums exploit the V1 motion sensor (specifically the usb-power to battery-power switching), which seems hard to come by these days. All new motion sensors are strictly battery powered now, and ebay has yet to notice the value inherent in the vintage motion sensors. Anyone noticed other posts with alternative solutions to power outage reporting?

[twack (Todd Wackford)]

You can use the Fortezz MimoLite. It actually will send a notice when it looses power. Look at my doorbell project and with a little editing you’re there.

Bug me if you need additional help.

[DaWeav]

Since Smartthings V2 missed the boat and can’t even alert/notify when the Hub goes on and off of internal battery power, you would think that they would at least enable the USB ports so I could connect a UPS to the Hub and the Hub could then sense if power is out from the connected UPS via the USB port. How about doing this?

[eleedom]

Is it possible that this is still not available in the v2 hub? this seems like the most basic of all home automation features. i am going to hazard a guess that power outages happen far more often than break ins. i have been searching the forums to see if the solution is just posted on a different thread but have not been able to find any. has there been any update since june?

[sballoz (fabrizio)]

No solution as far as I know
I solved with my android tablet (which is being used with smarttiles) with the android battery channel on ifttt

[David_Van]

Thanks, this is the easiest solution I have seen on here

[eleedom]

@sballoz

h the android battery channe

did you create an applet for this on ifttt

[sballoz (fabrizio)]

Yes it sends me a pushover notification when the android tablet lose power

[Crussell (Chris)]

Ted 5000 or Ted Pro Home, both work great
http://www.theenergydetective.com/compare

[Scott_Barton (Scott)]

I used $10 Aeon Labs Energy Meter.

Cheap and easy Power Outage Notifications

Got the 1st Gen Aeon Labs whole house energy meter for $9.99. It reports total kWh used (increments) as well as current Wattage being used (fluctuates). Using Core setup 2 Pistons: Using Capability: Power Meter (not Energy Meter) Drops below 25W send Power Outage alert Raises Above 25W send Power Back Up alert Or Without Core, use Energy Alert SmartApp: Go into Marketplace → SmartApps → Energy Management → Energy Alerts Setup an Power Outage Alert for when it Reports Below 25W and when it Reports Above 25W. This meter can run on batteries or AC power. It will report every 5 minutes on AC power and every 10 minutes on battery power. It will transition to battery power if it loses AC power. The caveat is that once it transitions from AC power to battery power, it won’t go back to…