threerivers Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 Is there a control4 generac generator control4 driver ? Generac has a wifi app to check status and other things. Seeing if someone makes one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 1 hour ago, threerivers said: Is there a control4 generac generator control4 driver ? Generac has a wifi app to check status and other things. Seeing if someone makes one. Dont believe so but what needs to be automated in C4? If your power goes out, it should go back on with the generator.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 not aware of any. As far as you would want to automate is controlling power on non critical devices and powering them down to conserve energy uses. Nick Wanerka 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 To know if on Generator: Have a wired outlet that isn't on generator, plug in a 12v supply to a contact. Contact opens, you're on generator. Matt Lowe and crazybuppie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Matt Lowe said: not aware of any. As far as you would want to automate is controlling power on non critical devices and powering them down to conserve energy uses. possible but usually (maybe I am misguided) is Generacs usually power the entire house. So worst case once the generator is running you can manually turn off devices if you don't need them. I guess its "cool" to automate that but if I invested $$$$$ on a whole home generator not sure I am going to want to turn off stuff, otherwise I just would not have put those breakers into the backup flow. Just my two cents as someone who linked to my own post wondering if I should integrate and after I thought out loud I just didn't see the value (personally). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 3 minutes ago, eggzlot said: possible but usually (maybe I am misguided) is Generacs usually power the entire house. So worst case once the generator is running you can manually turn off devices if you don't need them. I guess its "cool" to automate that but if I invested $$$$$ on a whole home generator not sure I am going to want to turn off stuff, otherwise I just would not have put those breakers into the backup flow. Just my two cents as someone who linked to my own post wondering if I should integrate and after I thought out loud I just didn't see the value (personally). Just depends on each situation. There maybe devices on the same circuit that are critical. Also some devices maybe sensitive to generator power, and might be better being turned off until they are needed. It's not something that is common for us in Arizona so I am not that involved with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave w Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 I think you want to start here: https://www.span.io/ turls 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4 User Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 26 minutes ago, Dave w said: I think you want to start here: https://www.span.io/ WOW! That is a game changer. May have to consider but I have three large panels in my house. Does anyone know if SPAN has a C4 driver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 I monitor and control my generator at 2 different houses. While I did this partly for the cool factor and the challenge of getting it right, I also find it very useful for knowing what is happening (and has happened) at the house I am not resident in and being able to override control in certain circumstances- e.g. turn off the generator remotely under certain conditions, turn on the generator for a test (at the same time as turning on some high load equipment) so as to run the generator under load) every 2 weeks etc. The control is also useful for my beach house where I need to balance load between solar, battery and mains (or generator) as my usage at peak is above what mains (or the generator) can do without support. My means of linking into the generator at both residences is Modbus which is very powerful for any equipment that accepts (uses) the Modbus protocol. Modbus does take a little learning and is not for the faint hearted! Yatun have a very good Modbus driver. I then use the Janus BMS Monitor and bNet Solutions bIcons drivers to visualise and graph many of the variables that I read in via Modbus, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 FYI - Span is an app controlled breaker panel, intended to on the fly change circuits between critical, nice, not needed, $6K+. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyPhy Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 I work with Modbus in my day job. FYI for others, it is the standard throughout the generator market (including industrial and commercial) and is traditionally run over RS485 serial, but newer implementations are over IP. I’m impressed that you learned the protocol and got the driver working! c44me and South Africa C4 user 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 5 hours ago, WhyPhy said: I work with Modbus in my day job. FYI for others, it is the standard throughout the generator market (including industrial and commercial) and is traditionally run over RS485 serial, but newer implementations are over IP. I’m impressed that you learned the protocol and got the driver working! Took me a while, but I now have 2 different brands of generator (1 per house), 2 eGauge units and 2 solar control panels linked into my Control4 system via Modbus. The Modbus driver really is powerful. I have been fortunate in that all of these devices allow for Modbus over IP which is obviously easier to integrate with Control4 than Modbus over RS485 although the Yatun driver(s) support both. WhyPhy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave w Posted November 24, 2021 Share Posted November 24, 2021 On 11/23/2021 at 6:29 AM, RAV said: FYI - Span is an app controlled breaker panel, intended to on the fly change circuits between critical, nice, not needed, $6K+. It is $3.5k per panel. Its also a lot more than an app controlled breaker panel. It has a lot of functionality built into it for solar and generators that a traditional panel does not. This includes not only relays, but the ability to map circuits to supply channels so you can dictate which circuits are powered by the generator and which are not and use the dashboards to monitor total loads, etc. Neo1738 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turls Posted December 4, 2021 Share Posted December 4, 2021 I just heard about Span yesterday. Very surprised this is the first thread here (unless I missed one) where this is mentioned. Definitely on my wishlist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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