I am trying to figure out how to create a routine that if my first alert smoke alarm goes off, it will automatically turn off my inovelli 2-channel plug that I have my 3d printer plugged into (the hypothetical source of the smoke).
How do I do that? When I try to setup the routine it doesn’t recognize the first alert as having the ability to do that.
Thanks so much for any help!
You can’t trigger a routine with a smoke alarm.
But you can accomplish this in a couple of steps. First create a virtual momentary switch. Then in your smart home monitor settings you set that virtual switch to turn on when a smoke alert goes off. Last you create a routine that turns off your 3D printer switch, and set the trigger for that routine to be your virtual switch turning on.
Instead of a routine, you can also do the same thing in the last step with the smartlighting smartapp.
This is awesome, thanks so much! Now how do I create a virtual momentary switch? My 30 minutes of searching led me down unsuccessful paths. I tried to create a new device, but it says my device has to have a location or hub, but when I try to select anything it just shows a check mark and I can’t enter anything into the field?
you might be logging into the wrong shard? You should be able to select your hub from that dropdown menu when creating a new device.
If you can sort that out, this post explains how to create a virtual device. You probably want to use the “momentary button tile” device.
You were absolutely right, I got it all setup! Thank you so much. Last question, is there any damage in setting up both the routine and the doing it in the smartlighting smartapp? Is one one option better than the other?
Well I just tried it by using the test button on the smoke alarm and I got the push notification texted to me as well as the app notification, but the printer didn’t actually shut off??? I tested the virtual switch by turning it on by itself and that turned the printer off. Maybe I have to let the alarm go off for longer? The other alerts worked though.
I don’t think there’s any harm in doing both, but I don’t think you really need to. Theoretically one benefit of smartlighting is that it’s capable of running automations with certain devices even if your hub has lost its internet connection. However in this case, I don’t think that applies; I’m pretty sure virtual devices aren’t eligible to run locally.
ST knows when you’re testing your smoke detector, but that’s not the same as a smart home monitor alert. It won’t actually perform the actions you’ve setup when you push the test button. You’d have to get some smoke in a can to really test it.
How do I pay you? Seriously, you make my life easier.
I was then going to ask the follow up question if there is a way to set a trigger to also turn off the printer incase my hub loses it’s internet connection, but then I realized the inherent impossibility of that based on what you just said. I’m guessing there isn’t a “no connection detected” trigger or something. Anyways, thanks again, you made my first day with my Smartthings a success!
Glad to hear you’ve got this working. If you’d like, you can click the checkbox on my reply above so that this question is marked as solved.
I don’t think it’s possible to trigger an automation based on the hub losing internet connectivity. Even if that were possible to use as a trigger, the automation itself would have to be eligible to run completely locally. While SHM and smartlighting can potentially run automations without an active internet connection, since you’re using a virtual switch that wouldn’t work in this case anyway.
If you’re very new to ST, take a look at the wiki created by this community, http://thingsthataresmart.wiki for info too.
There’s a ton of information in this forum, but most of it is hard to find.