Use of outlet plug to monitor mains supply

[andrew_newton]

Does any one know of a way to use an outlet plug to monitor the power and report if power goes out?

Would be a useful function if it could…

[bamarayne (Jason "The Enabler" as deemed so by @Smart)]

Question, if the power goes out, how are you going to power the plug to let you know the power is out?

[Luvien (LJ)]

Small UPS for the hub. If the plug doesnt answer, power is down. Might use this smartapp. Long shot, it’s only an idea.

[OBSOLETE] Device Monitor - Get Notified if Devices Stop Reporting

2017-06-08 - Update: Added support for new Ask Alexa features: Message Queue, message expiration, and message overwriting. 2017-03-11 - Update: Added the ability to be notified if your Hub goes offline / online. 2017-03-08 - Update: Added support for SmartThings “Health Check” capability. If the device supports it, Device Monitor will look at the online/offline status of the device. This can be more accurate than looking at events sent by the device. 2016-09-06 - Update: Added support for Ask Alexa. 2016-08-22 - Update: I have made a few changes. I am using a more accurate event detection, battery levels can be checked, and you can be notified when devices come back online. Check post 63 for more info. [image] This app checks the selected devices to determine if they are communicatin…

LJ

[andrew_newton]

Well that was my thought, the use of the non reporting from a device, after all the outlet is the only one powered without a battery and the hub as a battery backup so it was the best I could think of.

I could put a ups on the hub but then I would have to include the internet modem/router and switch etc so unless I go big on ups my run time is probably only going to be 30 mins which seems pointless as I think the hub batteries will last that long.s

[andrew_newton]

Thanks for the smartapp suggestion… very good question how long is considered inactive

well I think its important to understand the reporting cycle of each device… that way you can decide what is too long … for example if the outlet reports once an hour it might not be a good candidate, but if it reports every 10-15 mins then useful as this gives a reasonable time to monitor … surely there is a much simpler way… I noticed in the IDE that the hub description states battery in use =false so surely must go to true if power fails…can this not be used ??/ I’m not a coder so sorry if I presumed too much

Thanks for the help thou

Andy

[Whippm (Mark Whipp)]

I quite simply do not put batteries in the hub. I get a somewhat timely push message that my hub is not connected when the power goes out. You will notice in the events that the hub pings frequently.

I really don’t see the value of keeping batteries in the hub (limited local processing and no power to the bulbs) without a UPS system for the router, modem, etc. I think it is healthy that the hub reboots when the rest of the system does. I am using a really nice Monster Home Theater power conditioner for spike/brownout protection.

[Dan999 (Dan)]

@andrew_newton

Does any one know of a way to use an outlet plug to monitor the power and report if power goes out?

If you have a first generation SmartThings motion sensor, it will send an event for power lost / restored. I’m using that with a community developed smartapp to get power failure alerts as well as turn off lights in some cases. It’s been working pretty well when it was last tested.

Power outage and lights

We had our first power outage since I installed smartthings. When the power came back on, all the connected lights (three GE Links and a LIFX) came on. I understand why, as they basically operate like normal bulbs when you operate it with a (dumb) switch, and this probably looked like a switch off / switch on to the lights. The hub, router, etc is on a UPS, so they stay on during shorter power outages. Has anyone done anything to keep the lights off, or switch them off, after power is restored? It will be disturbing to the household if a power outage happens during the night.