And then you can also just monitor the status of an always-on LAN device with no additional hardware required whatsoever. However, this method does rely on your home network...
@roberto - are you located in Italy? Does Ring make Z-Wave products that are sold for the Italian market?
You can use the qnap notification centre a UPS and ifttt for power loss notification using the ifttt tagged email service but I find the Ring Range Extender to be much simpler and also much faster and reliable.
Good point, I hadnāt checked @robertoās bio, which says he lives in Rome, Italy. Ok, Ring wonāt work.
It should be available in EU https://it-it.ring.com/products/alarm-security-range-extender?variant=31352674156567
I could profit of the selectable Zwave frequencies in the new C7 hub.
Stll I'm wondering why this simple (and useful) devices are not broadly available with different technologies.
Simply FYI, thatās the Ring Extender Gen 1, not Gen 2 (which has the 700 series chip).
I believe it is due to the fact that most users would have very little use for power outage data, as that typically means a total and complete loss of LAN, WiFi, and Internet connectivity as well.
If you're home, it is obvious that the power is out. If you're away from from, and the power is lost, what can one really hope to do about it?
There are two very common uses for monitoring power, which goes back to my first question.
- If power is out completely, perform a safe shutdown of various devices before the UPS loses power.
- If power goes out on a refrigerator/freezer circuit, make sure someone is notified immediately to go save hundreds of dollars worth of food. (This can also be useful for knowing when critical medical devices have lost power.)
@ogiewon yes, they both are of my interest. one more is a security matter. As intruder could cut the power off (or simply switch off the main) I would turn red some internal and external emergency lights as deterrent. Of course I've UPSed the network items (HUB, router, lights)
I chose to simply ping a Sonoff WiFi device that I have in use every x minutes.
Itās not powered by the UPS that powers my router, switch and HE so when a ping to the Sonoff fails, I assume power is cut.
Thatās one reason why the Ring extender is so nice (Iāve got 4) - it has battery backup, keeps repeating for your mesh during power fail. Think about trying to turn something on/off during power fail - you need your network and a path to devices, and devices need power, too.
I do something similar but with Node-red. I have it shut down Hubitat if it detects an outage, send a notification and then when power comes back on, restart Hubitat
@roberto - if you are using Node-red, here is a link to how I do this.
How do you manage this?
Wifi plug that is controlled by something other than HE.
you can also get a used apc smt1500 and net card and monitor for outage and also shutdown cleaning if you have the ups plugged into the net..
see this thread..
As @tray_e said, I use a wifi plug (Kasa TP-Link) that has an API that can be controlled from Node-red. So, when the power comes back on, Node-red pings Hubitat and if it is on (plug power on restarts Hubitat), it does nothing. If the plug is on, but Hubitat is not (no response to a ping), it turns the plug off and then on - that restarts Hubitat.
i have the same kasa wifi plug plugged into the ups and just manually turn the hub back on when the power is back through the kasa app on my phone.. but honestly have never had an outage that lasted 5 hours anyway.
and also the kasa switches can be set to return to last state.. so no need to do anything.. if the power is out long enough taht the ups shuts down the hub, when it boots back up the kasa switch will turn back on and the hub will automatically come back online..
Cool idea, thanks!
Thanks for this. Just used it myself.
