Have a C8 Pro hub. Over the holidays I had a major issue with power being delivered to my house - voltage was fluctuating between 95 and 145 volts. Blew multiple small appliances, some of my Lutron switches, the furnace and HW transformers etc, etc. Not fun
This had been going on for a little while (in retrospect) and I'm now trying to think of a way to automate an alert system for the future. I have a number of "power meters" - basic wall plugs from Zooz that do contain a voltage value.
My initial thought would be to build a Notifier, basically sending me a text if power goes above say 125 or below 115. But in Notifier while I can select the device, I can only select "Power" not "Voltage". Similar in Basic Rules - can't select Voltage from what I can find. I also thought this might be a perfect addition to HSM but the devices aren't even listed as an option to monitor.
I did finally find a messy solution with Rule Machine using the Custom Attribute. I'm sure I can play with it a little to suit my needs, but does anyone else have this need, and have you found a better solution?
I guess what I’m getting at is the damage may already be done. I live in northern Mexico an our power can get out of hand here too. I have UPS’s on sensitive things and surge protectors on anything else of value.
In this case, you’re right, the damage has been done. Initially I guess what I would just simply want to know is if the problem reoccurs that I know about it quicker. In this case, it wasn’t a sudden surge, just variability over a period of time. Had I had an alert I could’ve potentially shut down devices, etc.
There are some specific devices that I’ve seen, but I think it still comes down to how do you set it up within Hubitat to alert or action? I was thinking if I have already a half dozen devices that have voltage readings that I could start with that.
Don't think there is a straight forward way of doing, but given that:
Power (watts) = Voltage (volts) x Current (amperes)
which transformed gives us: Voltage (volts) = Power (watts) / Current (amperes)
and also given that the maximum amps for each circuit should be known, it is theoritically possible to create a rule that calculates the volts and then notify if not in range.
apc smart ups can monitor and kick in on low or high voltage and alert you via email (assumming your network stays up long enough for the mail to go out) if not it will be in the device logs.
but in reality you probably need a whole house geni that can kick in if you want to save your electronics .. i believe the also can kick in on high low not just a total outage.
How often do they provide these readings?
The ZEN04's that I have are not focused on voltage.
I can get a voltage reading down to every minute, that's it.
The Aeotec home energy monitor I have could do it.
It's been giving me whole house power readings every 5 seconds for years now. Voltage is covered well too.
I'm curious about about the cause.
I'm not sure that range of voltage would blow those things.
I'm thinking harmonics, which I'm very fuzzy on-like I just heard the word once or twice.
Any industrial plants nearby? Big variable speed motors. Grasping at straws here.
Is the utility paying, or did they just say, make an insurance claim, or better yet, it's your fault.
Color me jaded, lol.
Cause is still yet unknown. Seems to be a fault in the neutral, somewhere in the transmission wire between the transformer and our house. Electrician came in and showed me the variation on voltage on the two feeds. We have a temporary solution, and eventually it will get permanently fixed, just would like to figure out a way to get an alert in the future, if anything like that was to happen again.
I had similar issues, and got a line conditioner for those devices that didn't need a UPS. It's cheaper and lasts longer (no battery replacement issues).
I have an iotawatt (not cheap) and integrate it through a great community integration. It will allow you to do what you want, and then some.
I also monitor my voltage because a while back I noticed my solar was producing 0w on a bright sunny day and after a bit of digging realized we were at 128V (and had gotten around 132V) and the inverter disconnected itself from the grid on purpose. The electric company guy was impressed when he came, pulled my meter cover, and was probing for voltage while I was standing next to him telling him the same number from my phone. A tech called me a couple days later and asked how things were looking while he was a few miles away "playing with things" in the grid.
For those who wants REAL voltage/current/power/energy monitoring in real time consider IotaWatt : https://iotawatt.com/
It is not cheap but you will have all real time data.
Integration with HE is 100% local.
What could be better?
Iotawatt & a Whole home surge protector. (About $80 bux) You will always use the attribute as a trigger. It's not messy at all. Another way would simply use a global variable(s) Let's call them Leg-1 and Leg-2 (You will have dual phase on your box in the us). Have a rule read %leg-1% or %leg-2% and if either goes above or below your threshold it sends a message.
I'm thinking the same. Especially if this is something he could expect again in the future (even if they "fixed it"). Monitoring power condition is only as helpful as your ability to rapidly respond.
Your suggestion is along the lines of putting on one of those "whole house surge suppressors".
Not sure if they serve the purpose they are intended but after one nearby lightening strike took out everything low voltage...we put one on the panel.
It's a drastic measure, and It would be work, ...but if power wasn't reliable.... I could see isolating a circuit in the house for JUST this kinda stuff and protecting the hell out of it.
