I am looking for a way to receive notification when Utility Power has been restored when i am running on my generator.
Generator is a Duromax XP10000E portable generator converted to Tri-fuel and hooked up to Natural Gas.
Transfer is done through a Generator Interlock at main breaker panel.
I have one of these that will wrap around the incoming mains from the utility and sense the power restoral. Not a current sensor evidently , but more a non contact voltage detector i guess.
briidea Power Return Alarm
It will make a beep, which is fine and all, but not what i need.
I am going to contact the manufacturer and see is they will provide any guidance on getting a dry contact or safe voltage tap. but i doubt if they will support it.
Warranty Void
I had considered trying to use this vibration sensor to "hear" the sounder.
Aeotec-SmartThings-Window-Sensor-Multipurpose
But i have doubts about the reliability of the setup.
Anyone have any other solutions or ideas?
I would go another route… If you have a plug that is not on the generator, you could plug a Ring Z-Wave Extender (Gen 2) on it. It will report to Hubitat when it switches from mains to battery and back. This can then be used in rules, notifications, etc.
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He probably doesn't. The portable generator powers everything through the interlock.
I also use a PowerBack, similar to yours.
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I can hear the thing on the second floor, even if not too loud, with it located in the basement. I've left the basement door open to help hear it better, which is usually wishful thinking-they'll fix it when they get to it, lol.
I don't think I'd want to leave generator running on its own, even a standby, if I could help it.
Everything is on the generator, the entire fuse panel transfers over.
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Problem is that once i get the generator for the house running so that the well keeps running then i have to go up to the barn and get a generator there running so the water lines up there dont freeze with the furnace there down. 30 horses need constant water supply.
The link on Amazon says it has a 100db alarm, I wonder if the Ecolink audio detector could be used.
My utility sends out texts when power is restored. Sometimes they're right, lol.
I am relatively certain those Ecolink only "hear" the particular frequency and pattern of smoke/CO alarms. They ignore other noises to prevent false alarms.
If you do decide to tinker with the alerter, the Zooz ZEN17 and I think the latest version of ZEN16 can accept low voltage input for a relay trigger, not just totally dry.
I wondered about that, but one guy in the questions and answer section on Amazon said.
If i recall correctly from the documentation if it picks up a loud noise that isn't fire or Co2 it throws a general 0x00 event code. In the US at least fire and Co2 alarms must each use a specific sound that this is programmed to listen for. It will pick up other loud sounds but is not reliable to determine which source it came from. I have a tornado siren literally across the street from my living room and its picked up that before
