I have a couple of 240 VAC branch circuits on my home that have had nuisance trips in the past. One is a GFCI breaker (pool equipment) the other just a regular 2P breaker (HVAC air handler). There is nothing wrong on the load side of these circuits but undetected trips could create a problem.
I'd like to be able to monitor these circuits remotely for when I am away for extended periods.
I could just wire in an a dry contact relay (like a Zooz ZEN51) on one leg of the breaker and just detect if it gets lost from the network but that seem kind of crude. I also thought of a 240VAC relay coil and then the dry contacts of that relay into some sort of ZWave digital input device but that also seems overly complicated.
Anybody have a device suggestion, Zigbee or ZWave, that I could use to monitor these circuits?
Thanks. I am going to try a Zooz ZAC38 signal repeater. It has an internal battery and power monitoring so it will still report if power is dropped, at least until the battery dies.
I simply use a power relay with NO outputs connected to the input of a frient IO module. Loss of power closes the relay, detected by the IO module and a rule triggers which sends me an alert on my hubitat phone app.
OK I was able to complete this open item. I have a pool pump that can go out due to nuisance trip of a GFCI breaker. GFCI is mandatory under NEC for pool pumps so I have to stay with it.
I wired a simple outlet inside the pool panel off of one of the GFCI 240VAC legs and the neutral bus on the GFCI breaker. I plugged in a Zooz ZSE38 signal repeater enrolled in my network.
The ZSE38 has a data pid for power source, mains or battery. If the mains fail then the ZSE38 runs off its internal battery. So I just wrote a rule to trigger on battery mode to send me a notification the pool pump power was lost. I also wrote the opposite rule that mains power is restored to the pool pump.
So now I can get an alert if the GFCI breaker trips. Unfortunately my pool panel can't discern this.
For others who need a way to check status of a branch circuit the ZSE38 might be a good way to do that. The added bonus is it acts as a repeater so makes my mesh that much more resilient.