I can certainly do this in webcore but when I thought about it, I said "hey, this should be something I can do in HSM" and I was surprised to not find it available.
I need to monitor the status from an Aeotec 7 plug to detect a power interruption in a refrigerator that is located 3 floors away.
I use the light and text alerts in HSM for leaks and smoke CO and it's a great solution (I let ring worry with the contact sensors).
I just think this could be beneficial for any MUST BE ON devices, to get immediate alerts/triggers etc to alert me that there's a problem.
I could argue that monitoring a plug/switch isn't safety like the other categories available to monitor but I could also argue monitoring the power/on/off status of a device could be safety related depending on the application
If the Aeotec 7 plug loses power, how is it going to report?
Another issue is that following this sort of feature request turns into one after another. You can easily do this already in Rule Machine (or webCore), so why feature-creep HSM? Even Basic Rule will do this.
If the plug is ever turned off (because Alexa has misheard me). This is my number one fear.
If the connection to plug receives comm errors (indicating a GFCI could've possibly tripped the outlet). This is my number two fear.
If the power has a consistently above normal draw could indicate door is open or other mechanical issue(i will have a contact sensor for door)
Conversely, if the draw ever changes to zero because the fridge itself has been unplugged from the plug.
So depending on what options were available to monitor, there would always be a way around the "what if it's not sending data?" Because I can also detect that.
I have some redundant MUST BE ON wall switches that were ultimately overridden by individual bulbs downstream. I know not to use them but it never fails the house keepers will hit every single one in the house breaking the connection to my bulbs. This is more of a me problem but it would use similar notifications "if these switches are ever turned off, send me a text, and do something crazy with the lights to get my attention".
I guess technically my aeotec 6 plug for washer monitoring is a must be on device (in order for the washer to work) but thats not as critical because id be right at the washer and plug when I realize it isn't working.
The garage fridge scares me the most because I'd have no way of knowing there was an issue until I smelled it.
Had this happen because our garage freezer is on a GFCI with a receptacle on our patio, which can trip in a torrential downpour. I put a Ring Alarm Extender Gen 2 on the circuit, get notification when power is lost (rule triggered by switch from mains to battery).
One thing that I do if I want to monitor power usage on a critical device like a refrigerator is set a rule that will turn it on if it gets turned off. Not perfect, but it helps.
create a rule that if the switch is off, turn it back on. to take things like power surges into account, you can create a rule triggered off HE starting up to turn the switch on. this way even if there's a brief blip and everything did turn off, when HE hopefully boots back up nicely, it will turn it back on
One step better - set the plug to turn itself back on. I use this plug for that very purpose in my cable-modem network reset routine. It's not available directly from the device page, but if you switch the driver to the basic z-wave tool, you can set param 41 to 10 (size is 1 byte), then however/whenever the switch it turned off, it will turn itself back on after 10 secs. You can set number of seconds to your choosing. Then switch back to the normal device driver.
See attached PDF manual at the bottom of the link above for details. Configuration parameters start on page 9, param 41 is on pg 16.
As long as you have power, switch comes back on!
If you're not familiar with the basic z-wave tool, it's a custom driver built by @mike.maxwell available from GitHub. Details here:
I have a couple of the same, primarily for RING floodlights that have their own on/off controls/etc. For either type of conventional switches (toggle or larger/flat 'Decora' type paddle switches), you can get blank inserts (from the electrical aisle in your favorite large home repair retailer) to remove the switch, hardwire the power ON, and blank out the wall-plate.
If you're comfortable working with house wiring (kill the breaker first of course), this is easy for switches that are single, very do-able for 3-way or 4-way switches. In the latter cases you just need to identify where the power is coming in and where the load is, which can sometimes be in separate boxes.
Alternatively you can get a blank wallplate (or that 'gang' blanked if 2 or more) which typically looks better.
Of course tape and a sharpy also works... at least sometimes!!
How about plugging a Ring 2 z-wave repeater into the same outlet the fridge is plugged into? This way you have extended z-wave signal to the garage but the rind 2 extender has battery backup and can trip when power goes out... (Flips between main and battery) That could then send notification etc
