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.

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.

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.

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’
}