Water heater circuit breaker

Hey all,

My water heater is turned ON and OFF using a circuit breaker. This is the only way I can toggle the power of the boiler. Logically, I searched around for smart (zwave/zigbee) circuit breakers do I could control my hot water from SmartThings. The results were pretty confusing. It seems smart circuit breakers aren’t a popular product. I hope someone has an insight into that matter.

So what other option(s) do I have in order to be able to control the circuit breaker that turns my hot water on and off?

@xbiggyl
I’m assuming your hot water heater is 220, and pretty high current? If so, I’ve not worked with any Z-Wave devices that work with that…

Let me know if that is not the case, and I might have some suggestions.

-Todd

How about a standard breaker with a Zigbee load control such as the load control listed under ST devices or the Leviton 73A00-3ZB.
These load controllers are designed to take the current if these kind of devices.

I’m in the process of doing exactly that with the Leviton.

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Just probing / grasping at straws: Does it have a Thermostat (temperature setting) by any chance (I guess not since you didn’t mention that …). I figured you could set the temperature to the lowest setting, and that might keep it “off”. Hacking around the Thermostat coupling would then be an option.

Otherwise … yup … a high load 220v switch is needed, I guess.

The aeon heavy duty switch is designed for this use case. You’ll need to add it inline with the cable run from the circuit breaker.

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Thank you all for your replies.

@Todd_Whitehead
Yes it is 220v :confused:

@Falcogeorge
Thank you for the suggestion.
I looked around and the reviews a mixed for these products.
You say you’re in the process of doing that, do you mean you have already tested it? If so how do you rate it?

@tgauchat Nope, no controls other than the circuit breaker to toggle it on and off.

Any suggestion?

Have you used it? The reviews aren’t encouraging.

As per your replies I see that I have the choice b/w the ZigBee HA Metering Dual-Load 30A Controller or the Leviton 73A00-3ZB or the Aeon heavy duty switch
which one(s) would you choose/recommend?

Thank you :blush:

I have the Leviton.
I haven’t had any issues with it. I haven’t seen the reviews and wonder what issues people might have with it. It switches things on and off and is rated for 30A… It’s a pretty simple device.
The only thing I would say is that the Leviton unit is also capable of measuring current but it uses manufacturer specific clusters for that from what I can see. I approached them for data but got no response. It’s only an issue if you need that functionality.

For my 10c worth, if I were in your position I would likely go for the load control listed in ST compatible devices (ZigBee HA Metering Dual-Load 30A Controller). That saves you from having to write a device driver. My case is slightly different so the Leviton suited me better.

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Thank you.
I think I’m gonna go with the ZigBee HA Metering Dual-Load 30A Controller.

George, I use a SmartThings hub and its app in my iPhone. I would like to use the Leviton 73A00-3ZB to control electric water heater also, but your mentioned a device driver. Apparently you have the device driver. Do you control from your desktop/laptop or smartphone? Can you point me to some instructions on loading the device driver you mentioned?

thanks
Mike

Hi Mike,
I control the switch from my phone usually. In fact its largely automatic.

To add a new device with its own device handler first you need to log in to your smart things account.
From there you need to add a device handler. I can past mine below. Its a bit embarrassing. I haven’t tidied it up. Its the old thing… its working so why fix it?
Once you have the handler added you can install a device using that handler.

I’m not sure just how much experience you have with all this so I didn’t want to add verbiage.

This is my handler… crude though it is.

metadata {
definition (name: “Zigbee Load Control Switch”, namespace: “GR_Load_Control”, author: “George Richards”, oauth: true) {
capability "Switch"
command "on"
command "off"
fingerprint profileId: “0104”, inClusters: “0000,0003,0006”, outClusters: “0A00”
}
simulator {
status “on”:"on/off: 1"
status “off”:"on/off: 0"
reply “zcl on-off on”:"on/off: 1"
reply “zcl on-off off”:“on/off: 0”
}
tiles {
standardTile(“switch”, “device.switch”, width: 2, height: 2, canChangeIcon: true) {
state “off”, label: ‘Off’, action: “switch.on”, icon: “st.Outdoor.outdoor16”, backgroundColor: "#ffffff"
state “on”, label: ‘On’, action: “switch.off”, icon: “st.Outdoor.outdoor16”, backgroundColor: “#53a7c0
}
main "switch"
details([“switch”])
}
}

def parse(String description) {
log.info description
if (description?.startsWith(“catchall:”)) {
def value = name == “switch” ? (description?.endsWith(" 1") ? “on” : “off”) : null
def result = createEvent(name: name, value: value)
def msg = zigbee.parse(description)
log.debug "Parse returned ${result?.descriptionText}"
return result
log.trace msg
log.trace “data: $msg.data”
}
else {
def name = description?.startsWith(“on/off: “) ? “switch” : null
def value = name == “switch” ? (description?.endsWith(” 1”) ? “on” : “off”) : null
def result = createEvent(name: name, value: value)
log.debug "Parse returned ${result?.descriptionText}"
return result
}
}

def on() {
log.debug "Executing ‘on()’"
sendEvent(name: “switch”, value: “on”)
“st cmd 0x${device.deviceNetworkId} ${endpointId} 6 1 {}”
‘zcl on-off on’
}

def off() {
log.debug "Executing ‘off’"
sendEvent(name: “switch”, value: “off”)
“st cmd 0x${device.deviceNetworkId} ${endpointId} 6 0 {}”
‘zcl on-off off’
}