eggzlot Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Likely have a whole home natural gas generator installed in the coming weeks. I see Generac has some Wi-Fi platform to get notices on when it’s running, maintenance needs, etc. I don’t think there is a need to tie into C4 but I figured I’d ask the masses. is it possible? Any benefit? With electrician out to install I’d to do any wiring now if relays are needed, etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnpublic Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 The paid cloud service has not been integrated anywhere, but people have done cool things with a python utility called genmon. Basically a raspberry pi gets installed alongside and provides all kinds of useful data https://github.com/jgyates/genmon that output has been integrated with Home Assistant. neat but juice might not be worth the squeeze. eggzlot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dueport Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Wonder if anything like that exists for Kohler? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdepaola Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 No huge advantage I can see, nor do we typically tie it into our automation systems. I will make one suggestion and that is to add a SurgeX Standalone UPS, minimum, at your rack. The UPS ensures the system stays on-line and it keeps the incoming power consistent once it makes the switch over. We typically will also add the SurgeX Branch Circuit onto the circuit covering the Rack. Keeps you well protected from surges, high/low power conditions, etc. Protects your investment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mujtaba.khokhar Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 hour ago, wnpublic said: The paid cloud service has not been integrated anywhere, but people have done cool things with a python utility called genmon. Basically a raspberry pi gets installed alongside and provides all kinds of useful data https://github.com/jgyates/genmon that output has been integrated with Home Assistant. neat but juice might not be worth the squeeze. Could always use this with the webview driver and view on t3 and t4 touch screens too Thanks Muj eggzlot and wnpublic 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Stick a wart in an ungenerator outlet so you can trigger events when Generator is running. Find it helpful for some customers who just don't understand that the internet isn't working because a storm took out the lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 hour ago, cdepaola said: No huge advantage I can see, nor do we typically tie it into our automation systems. I will make one suggestion and that is to add a SurgeX Standalone UPS, minimum, at your rack. The UPS ensures the system stays on-line and it keeps the incoming power consistent once it makes the switch over. We typically will also add the SurgeX Branch Circuit onto the circuit covering the Rack. Keeps you well protected from surges, high/low power conditions, etc. Protects your investment! Thanks - already have APC UPS on my rack (and Panamax conditioners) and all computers around the house have APCs too. We both work from home now full time and lost power 4x this year and once for 3+ days. Grid is old by us so that’s why we are getting the generator I wonder if there is something to do for appliances to ease from normal power to generator? We have some nicer refrigeration units. Like an APC for appliances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 52 minutes ago, RAV said: Stick a wart in an ungenerator outlet so you can trigger events when Generator is running. Find it helpful for some customers who just don't understand that the internet isn't working because a storm took out the lines. Luckily it’s my own residence and if I hear the generator going I’d get not having internet any other uses? Your logic is if device X is down then generator is running? I’m assuming we’d hear it running? I can hear my neighbors units! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joecheech Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 58 minutes ago, cdepaola said: add a SurgeX Standalone UPS, minimum, at your rack. Agree with the above. If your router isn't hooked up to a UPS it (and any other network equipment) could reboot in a power outage while the generator fires up. Having some essentials like your router, AV switch, and Controllers hooked up to a UPS will save you a bit of a headache when that happens. I have Kohler and their Oncue Plus app. Before I got a UPS I wouldn't get notifications on power outage because the router was rebooting at the same time the app attempted to send the notification. Other minor inconveniences that might occur: STB's rebooting - if you are taping a game or a show your recording could get interrupted. My FIOS boxes take a good 5 minutes to reboot so if you are watching live you lose 5 minutes. Always seemed to happen during a sporting event at a critical time. TV - If my LG TV loses power I have to turn it on manually before C4 can control it IP Cameras - sometimes if my Amcrest cameras lose power they won't reboot correctly and I'll have to manually reboot them NAS - same, in a sudden power loss it won't reboot right and will have to manually. Misc. say you are on vacation out of state and monitoring your home remotely, if any of your critical network equipment doesn't reboot properly you could lose remote access over something as silly as a 10-second blackout while the generator fires up. Make sure you look at ones specifically designed for use with a standby generator, not all of them do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 I have my generator linked to C4 at my main residence. Primary reasons: 1. So I know when it is running (apart from hearing it) and automatically turn some high consumption equipment off (e.g. pool heaters and air cons) under certain circumstances (e,g. If solar is not supplementing the generator and / or backup batteries are low.. 2. I also have solar and batteries and prefer the flexibility I have by programming C4 to tell the generator when to come on in terms of how low the batteries have got, linked to current time of day (preferably not while we are sleeping unless the battery is getting to critical levels and preferably charging the battery to 100% in the early evening) and current solar input. I had not yet linked the generator to Control4 at my holiday home figuring that I can use the Generator App to control the generator if I need to... only to have had 3 power cuts over the Christmas week and over 2 of them the internet was also down... I discovered that my Generator App is cloud based and how I wished I had a local C4 link. It would have saved me running outside 3 or 4 times at unGodly hours to turn the generator on and off manually! Side note: while I could use the generator Auto setting, it was not initially on auto and if I had left it on Auto, I would have run out of diesel etc. (First world problems, I know!). cdepaola and Dueport 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdepaola Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 In our market all of our generators are on Natural Gas, so running out isn't really a thing unless the the NG infrastructure is affected and then we all have a bigger problem. Would be nice to have a smart breaker box in the mix where you could cut whole circuits if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Regarding putting stuff on UPS - be careful what you put on a UPS. Laser printers and some TVs may not be a good idea as they can really surge when they start up which temporarily knocks out everything connected to the UPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prabeau Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 I have 2 / 12V inputs to controller . One is on generator circuit other is from utilities only. Network and controller on UPS for transition time and programmed to let me know when there is a power failure and when gen online. Get push notification and email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 2 hours ago, joecheech said: Agree with the above. If your router isn't hooked up to a UPS it (and any other network equipment) could reboot in a power outage while the generator fires up. Having some essentials like your router, AV switch, and Controllers hooked up to a UPS will save you a bit of a headache when that happens. I have Kohler and their Oncue Plus app. Before I got a UPS I wouldn't get notifications on power outage because the router was rebooting at the same time the app attempted to send the notification. Other minor inconveniences that might occur: STB's rebooting - if you are taping a game or a show your recording could get interrupted. My FIOS boxes take a good 5 minutes to reboot so if you are watching live you lose 5 minutes. Always seemed to happen during a sporting event at a critical time. TV - If my LG TV loses power I have to turn it on manually before C4 can control it IP Cameras - sometimes if my Amcrest cameras lose power they won't reboot correctly and I'll have to manually reboot them NAS - same, in a sudden power loss it won't reboot right and will have to manually. Misc. say you are on vacation out of state and monitoring your home remotely, if any of your critical network equipment doesn't reboot properly you could lose remote access over something as silly as a 10-second blackout while the generator fires up. Make sure you look at ones specifically designed for use with a standby generator, not all of them do. I have all of this stuff mostly on UPSs - not my TV but I do not have to do a manual turn on like you do. My IP cameras are all on a Midspan + cisco switch that are on a battery back up as is my NVR (Blue Iris). Same with my NAS. My STB do cloud recording I believe (Altice) at least how its advertised. i could probably put those on a UPS too in my rack if I wanted to play with some wiring. All good points, but I think I am covered. Right now if we lose power, when it comes back on I have no issues with my equipment coming back online. So I'd assume same thing - losing power >> transition to generator would be the same results, no? As I am reading more, and as I originally thought, seems to be a stand alone utility and not much use to tie into C4. If I want to get the Generac cloud service is another consideration I guess (my electrician just said there is a wifi and non wifi option, didnt discuss any cloud service fees so maybe I'll dig around some more) wnpublic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnpublic Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 6 minutes ago, eggzlot said: As I am reading more, and as I originally thought, seems to be a stand alone utility and not much use to tie into C4. If I want to get the Generac cloud service is another consideration I guess (my electrician just said there is a wifi and non wifi option, didnt discuss any cloud service fees so maybe I'll dig around some more) If it were me, I’d try the raspberry pi route as a fun nerd project.. an rpi 3 is like 40 bucks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dueport Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 2 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: I have my generator linked to C4 at my main residence. Primary reasons: 1. So I know when it is running (apart from hearing it) and automatically turn some high consumption equipment off (e.g. pool heaters and air cons) under certain circumstances (e,g. If solar is not supplementing the generator and / or backup batteries are low.. 2. I also have solar and batteries and prefer the flexibility I have by programming C4 to tell the generator when to come on in terms of how low the batteries have got, linked to current time of day (preferably not while we are sleeping unless the battery is getting to critical levels and preferably charging the battery to 100% in the early evening) and current solar input. I had not yet linked the generator to Control4 at my holiday home figuring that I can use the Generator App to control the generator if I need to... only to have had 3 power cuts over the Christmas week and over 2 of them the internet was also down... I discovered that my Generator App is cloud based and how I wished I had a local C4 link. It would have saved me running outside 3 or 4 times at unGodly hours to turn the generator on and off manually! Side note: while I could use the generator Auto setting, it was not initially on auto and if I had left it on Auto, I would have run out of diesel etc. (First world problems, I know!). Curious what brand generator you've been able to interconnect with C4? You have some good use cases here and I can think of others we could use too. I think energy management will become a bigger part of control systems in the future anyway too.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 2 minutes ago, wnpublic said: If it were me, I’d try the raspberry pi route as a fun nerd project.. an rpi 3 is like 40 bucks.... but do I still need to subscribe to the generac service? If so what does using the Pi get me? its not the money, just wondering what I get doing that vs not doing it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnpublic Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 7 minutes ago, eggzlot said: but do I still need to subscribe to the generac service? If so what does using the Pi get me? its not the money, just wondering what I get doing that vs not doing it? Nah. It isn’t cloud based. It reads all the data right from the unit and acts as a webserver to publish the data to whatever - a webpage you could view, as shown on the GitHub site, or do something else with, like push out on mqtt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 minute ago, wnpublic said: Nah. It isn’t cloud based. It reads all the data right from the unit and acts as a webserver to publish the data to whatever - a webpage you could view, as shown on the GitHub site, or do something else with, like push out on mqtt. ah so the Pi thing would allow me to basically get the same experience without reoccurring fees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnpublic Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 minute ago, eggzlot said: ah so the Pi thing would allow me to basically get the same experience without reoccurring fees? Yep, but the trade off is it’s a diy project that you’ll have to dick around with, instead of just paying the fee. For me, if it’s not a critical need, sounds like fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 13 hours ago, wnpublic said: Yep, but the trade off is it’s a diy project that you’ll have to dick around with, instead of just paying the fee. For me, if it’s not a critical need, sounds like fun It’s all fun until it goes awry and the wife gets upset thought if you get the same data without a charge that is pretty cool. I got a few weeks so maybe I’ll poke around and see if there is something on Reddit etc as I haven’t messed with Pi yet cdcllc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 If your generator supports Modbus then he Yatun Modbus driver is a cool way to get data in to C4 from an external system... Dueport 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prabeau Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Wife's and generators. Mine bothered me for years about the cost of the generator that was hardly ever used. Till an ice storm knocked the power out for 11 days. Every day ( outage )I would ask if she wanted me to get rid of it as I could get a lot of $ for it right now. In a new home now with fully integrated backup generator at a much greater cost than previous home. Not a peep South Africa C4 user 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 20 minutes ago, prabeau said: Wife's and generators. Mine bothered me for years about the cost of the generator that was hardly ever used. Till an ice storm knocked the power out for 11 days. Every day ( outage )I would ask if she wanted me to get rid of it as I could get a lot of $ for it right now. In a new home now with fully integrated backup generator at a much greater cost than previous home. Not a peep no you misunderstand - my wife is the driving factor to buy the generator. My parents and sister/brother in law both have generators. I am ok packing up the dog and fridge and heading there for a few days as we had to do this summer when we were down for 3 days. I'd prefer to put the money towards cutting down the massive trees that will fall and take out our house - what good is a generator if your house is crushed. But I am losing this battle. I am just saying if she wants to look at the generator's data or maintenance records or something and the Github/Pi thing isn't working, then its my headache. Because she wants this I am going to assume she is going to want the bells and whistles. 100% agreeing its a good investment in a house especially in my area as probably 4 or 5 of the 10 houses on our cul de sac all have one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 In this day, why a generator not Tesla Powerwall or similar. Zero maintenance, no startup pause or power flicker. Often big rebates from tax breaks and the utilities having access for brownouts. My $30k solar and Powerwall has a 5 year ROI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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