C8 Plus hub, installed last week
I want to setup a basic rule that when my desk reads xx power draw the switch turns off. I am using a Zooz Zen15 power switch. I used the default Device type to start. Would not show me power. I then got on here and read, I installed Hubitat Package manager... should have been easier, but, anyway, then I installed Zooz Zen Plus Advanced that from reading here, I thought that would give me what I wanted. I changed the device type to that option. I still do not see power usage in the Logs or Events. What am I missing? Thank you.
I use Zooz Power Switch driver. Does your Device Info page not look like this when using that driver?
Also, you do need to configure your reporting preferences. Just don't be aggressive or the thing can get really talkative. You don't need voltage reports every 5 seconds, for example.
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Ok, I have copied your settings, hopefully things will get better. Will report back. Thanks
Don't forget to press "Configure" on the command tab, you need to do that after changing a driver type, then reopen the device. The missing attributes should show up after configure command is pressed.
Thanks, did not know that.
Question, if I just want it to shut off when the power drops on to turn off, do I need to read watts and amps and voltage? Of just set to read one of them? Thanks for your assistance on this.
You would need a less than value, not a discrete value for power. Rule machine gets tricky for that, as the power meters will continue to report that the value is < your power threshold, so you have to limit the rule to only run the first time it sees the threshold crossed.
Since you are new to Hubitat, I highly suggest you check out Webcore for rules instead. That rule is easier in Webcore, as there is an option for "Falls Below" a value, that will only trigger once when the power first falls below your threshold value. In general, I just find Webcore easier for everything, once you learn how it works.
I use the power attribute, which I believe is watts. I often use power meters to try and derive the state of a device that is controlled through a Broadlink IR device. For a three speed fan, you can tell if it is off, low, med, or high based on the power consumption, for example. Power meters are handy devices.
When initially included, did it literally show "Device" as the device Type/driver?
That's odd, since there is a native driver for the Zen15 (HAL9000 is showing that native driver in his post above), and it should've picked that one up instead of "Device". But not that big of a deal - swapping drivers is common enough to do.
The native ("System") driver called "Zooz power switch" works fine (as HAL shows above), or the community ("User") driver that you are currently using also works.
I use the community driver for my 2 Z15s too.
"Power" (watts) is typically the attribute most folks monitor in terms of what the plugged-in load is doing.
The use cases for monitoring Voltage and Energy are less common -- I have no need to track either, so ALL of my Voltage and Energy -related attributes are completely tuned off / disabled.
Prune your power-related report parameters to just what's necessary to accomplish what you need in terms of both frequency and threshold... Excessive power reporting can cripple (and even bring down) a mesh network, so be deliberate with your selections.
Understandably, that will take some trial-&-error to get dialed in, but finding that sweet-spot of getting the reporting you need without it being too much for the mesh/hub is worth it.
so what is the difference between Energy reporting interval and power reporting interval and electrical current reporting interval?
Basic Rule
Says when Power level drops below.... are they speaking watt? it does not tell me. I put down 10 for the hell of it, but right now, I am kind of lost as to what is apples and what is oranges.
Yes, power = watts. As shown in the screenshot below, the Z15 community driver parameter page does actually say that (along with current = amps, energy = kWh, and voltage = V).
Here's an example of my Z15 setup for monitoring (not controlling) whether or not my fireplace is on or off... A 10-watt Power Reporting Threshold is what I discovered works best in my particular situation here.
I have another Z15 that does the same sort of monitoring for my dishwasher - it just uses a higher Power Reporting Threshold value.
For both of my Z15s, note that ALL of my other energy-related reporting options are set to "0" because I don't need them and don't want them clogging up traffic.
Watts is simply amps times voltage* and voltage will be a constant*. Typically, just monitoring watts will tell you if the device is running or not. Depending on the device, you probably don't want to check for zero since many devices are not fully "off" when they are "off".
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Footnote 1: It's actually that times sine of theta or some such physics stuff, but let's keep it simple.
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Footnote 2: Voltage should be consistently within a range, e.g., 120V.
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