Hardwiring Zwave sensors.

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  • pmagowan
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Jan 2012
    • 3

    Hardwiring Zwave sensors.

    Hi all, first post

    I am looking at automating much of my house in the uk during a restoration project. Zwave is looking like a convenient way to get all the features I want and the Fibaro system in particular looks interesting. The problem is that I don't want to constantly change batteries and was wondering if there is a way to integrate hard wired sensors? The ones that interest me most are the PIR and fire alarms as well as perhaps adding 1wire thermometers.
    Do you have any ideas?
    Is Zwave the way forward?
  • dreamgreenhouse
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Apr 2010
    • 9

    #2
    Originally posted by pmagowan View Post
    Hi all, first post

    I am looking at automating much of my house in the uk during a restoration project. Zwave is looking like a convenient way to get all the features I want and the Fibaro system in particular looks interesting. The problem is that I don't want to constantly change batteries and was wondering if there is a way to integrate hard wired sensors? The ones that interest me most are the PIR and fire alarms as well as perhaps adding 1wire thermometers.
    Do you have any ideas?
    Is Zwave the way forward?
    It's something I keep meaning to do, take an Everspring AN157 and see how it is getting it's power from the 240Vac supply. My guess is there is a simple circuit to get down to a regulated, low voltage DC supply but it depends on how easy it is to get to this or whether it is part of some complex circuit board.

    The battery changing issue is not such a big deal as they should last for ages and I've managed to get all my battery powered Z-Wave devices to report battery status back, so my HCS sends me a text when any betteries need replacing.

    Also don't forget that battery powered devices work differently. They don't act as relay nodes and can't be polled. Simply adding permanent power won't change this.

    Rob

    Comment

    • mark_anderson_us`
      Automated Home Lurker
      • Jan 2012
      • 1

      #3
      Hi There

      Tried to post a few days ago, but it took forever to get my account approved. Anyway, I have a couple of suggestions:

      You could get something like this:



      key thin iis that it MUST be UL rated for in-wall installation or wherever you're installing it.

      That said, I woul *not* use z-wave sensors for alarm, etc. If you to run power, I'm assumign you can fish cable. What I did was to buy a DSC alarm system that functions totally standalone, but is integrated with my z-wave system via RS232 (I use HomeSeer, but you could do the same with most systems). This has many benefits. Most important are:

      PIR sensors are $20 instead of $100

      You ower them from the alarm panel and they have battery backup

      The security system will function in the event of of a HA system failure (not an issues if you're forking out for Crestron, AMX, Savant, et al.), but for DIY systems, they fail or you add a plug-in an it breaks.

      This is waht I do and have the best of both worlds

      Regards

      Mark

      mark@hometoys.com. (www.hometoys.com)

      Comment

      • FibaroUK
        Automated Home Lurker
        • Apr 2014
        • 4

        #4
        Hi there,

        Really glad to hear you're interested in Fibaro! Hopefully I can clarify a couple of things for you:

        Battery powered sensors are a very viable option, but sometimes hard-wired can have advantages. We do a wired (9-30V DC) Universal Binary Sensor to tackle such situations - it's basically a small circuit board that can be fitted inside existing sensors (such as PIR units commonly found as part of existing alarm systems) or onto the main control board to sense when the alarm is triggered. You can also connect up to 4 1-Wire DS18B20 Temperature Sensors to each unit, making it quite flexible.

        You can read more about the Universal Sensor here - http://fibarouk.co.uk/support-downlo...en-2.1-2.3.pdf

        I wouldn't worry too much about battery powered sensors though. They last anywhere between 2 and 5 years under normal operation, and the status is fed back to the main controller so you get a notification when something is running low.

        It really depends what you want to achieve. If you need some help, advice or inspiration give us a call, we'd be happy to advise you.

        Hope this helps!
        Daniel | Fibaro UK Technical Dept. | T: 0203 327 1000 | E: support@fibarouk.co.uk

        Comment

        • tony_park
          Automated Home Lurker
          • Jun 2011
          • 2

          #5
          Originally posted by FibaroUK View Post
          Hi there,

          You can read more about the Universal Sensor here - http://fibarouk.co.uk/support-downlo...en-2.1-2.3.pdf
          Hi Daniel,

          do you still offer this universal sensor, as the link you provided no longer works

          I'm interested in making use of the sensors that we already have in our house, and integrating them into a z-wave security system.

          Thanks
          Tony

          Comment

          • FibaroUK
            Automated Home Lurker
            • Apr 2014
            • 4

            #6
            Hi Tony,

            We sure do, our website has changed a bit since I posted up that link. Take a look here - http://www.fibarouk.co.uk/support/product-manuals/

            Any further questions, let us know!
            Last edited by FibaroUK; 1 December 2014, 11:45 AM.
            Daniel | Fibaro UK Technical Dept. | T: 0203 327 1000 | E: support@fibarouk.co.uk

            Comment

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