Attic monitoring

Where you do you live and what price range did you have in mind?

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Thank you for the reply. I live in the northeast of the United States. So I have hot summers and cold Winters. Price range no more than $50 - $80 is what I was thinking.

I think the Inovelli on/off (black OR red series) can report the power usage and are z-wave switches. Plus they are rated for 300W fans. Someone can confirm the power reporting (I only have the dimming models myself).

Of course that would not necessarily tell you if the fan died but was still drawing power. If it has a louver cover that opens automatically when it turns on or is blown open you could probably add a small door/window sensor to that.

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I was thinking a smartthings multipurpose sensor attached to the fan housing would be a pretty good indicator of the fan actually being on (i.e. vibrating) when the power is on. Power reporting wouldn't be necessary in that case.

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I know inovelli red series does power reporting. Not sure about black. Wasn't actually aware the regular on/off is rated for an inductive load. Good to know.

Sorry, off topic of your post, but do you find your attic fan does anything? I have automations based on humidity and temperature, but mine seems to do nothing to impact either. Probably I need one that spins both directions.

Well the attic fan does help with air conditioning in the summer keeping the temperature down in the Attic without exceeding 170 or 180°. In addition and also protects the roof from moisture build up and heat damage. My concern is when they go you typically don't know this it for quite some time. Just looking to reduce the time it takes me to notice the failure.
So you may not notice the attic fan helping with cooling in the summer and the longevity of your roof.

And thank you for your suggestion and your advice.

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My concern with something like this in the attic is the operating temperature. What I typically find with these devices is an upper limit of 104 F. For power reporting, I'd try to find something that can handle a higher temperature before I'd rely on it. A vibration sensor may be a good option since you wouldn't lose the fan if it craps out from the heat.

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Good point. I've been trying to find one but I keep coming up with aqara. It looks like you need there hub.

I have the Samsung Multipurpose Sensors in black waterproof box for outdoor gate and fence. They have gone through days of 120F in So Cal last and this summer and still working fine.

Not exactly related to this as OP just wants to monitor the existing attic fan.
I bought the QuietCool Smart Attic Fan which has its own app to replace the single speed one I have in attic. I haven't installed yet but from the installation manual I think there are wires from the control box that I can connect to some zigbee line voltage relays to send event to Hubitat.

I think how I'd do it is simply to monitor the temperature. No point knowing the fan is running if it's not keeping the temperature in the right range. And if the temperature remains acceptable it doesn't matter if the fan is running. I'd go straight for the goal :slight_smile:

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There are community drivers for it. The big issue I believe are the repeaters you use.

Are there switches for fans rated for high operating temperature?

Good to know and that's the sensor I had in mind when I said a vibration sensor may be a good option.

There are some smart outdoor switches rated to 122 F but not sure about using a fan with them.

I am also using the SmartThings multi-purpose sensor in a harsh environment - garage door that gets direct Arizona sun until early afternoon. Ambient temperatures exceed 110F, and solar heating commonly results in an extra 20F or more. I suspect that the biggest issue may be reduced lifetime for the lithium battery (I know that this is an issue with cold, not sure about heat).

Keep in mind that a battery-powered sensor produces nearly zero heat on its own - perhaps a few milliwatts. I mention this only to contrast to a smart dimmer that may need to dissipate a few watts, or really any line-voltage device that requires an internal power supply.

The Zooz ZEN15 does power monitoring. I use it to power and monitor my A/C unit in my shed. Does a great job. See the values below and the functions.


Great thank you all!

Have you hooked up your QuietCool attic fan yet, @mcdull ? If not, take a look at QuietCool AFG SMT ES-3.0