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Thread: Evohome security yet ?

  1. #71
    Automated Home Legend philchillbill's Avatar
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    Just got around to installing an Evohome Security system with non-GPRS hub. The hardware is quite nice and the packaging is well done but the instructions in the boxes are rather skimpy/pictographic, except for the smoke detector and glass-break sensor where more textual detail is provided. Luckily the downloadable User Guide is more extensive, although some details are still missing.

    'Binding' is done by pulling battery-tabs to power up devices while the hub is in configurable-mode (set from the web portal). If you accidentally pull a tab when not logged in to your account then you have to open the device and pull/replace the battery (not that difficult really). They do warn you several times to be careful about this so I was pre-warned but then again I read the manual online first before opening the boxes. Not sure how it would have been if I just opened the boxes and started unpacking randomly and then did an RTFM when it was too late

    The configuration process for me was very hit/miss. When I first tried to add a Security setup to my existing Evohome Heating account I got an "Oops, something went wrong - Try again later" several times for several hours before I could finally get a response. Maybe Sunday is a bad day to burden the Honeywell servers?

    When adding/binding devices, if you press 'enter' on the PC keyboard then instead of defaulting to saving what you've added so far, it defaults to 'cancel'. When you go back in again you'll see that the bindings were actually saved but you will have lost the custom names you gave to each device ("Front Door", "Hall Window", etc) - very annoying. After editing the name you are supposed to just click outside the entry-field but not hit enter because that will initiate cancel. Well, it's intuition to press enter after entering data so this is an easy mistake to make when you are adding a lot of devices and the highlighted cancel button has scrolled off-screen while you go back up to edit text in the list of devices. Luckily I wrote down the order in which I was adding door/window sensors and laid them on the table with post-it names for each one, otherwise I would have no clue which one was which because the default name is the model number and that's the same for all sensors of the same type.

    The Security section of the iPhone App we all know and love for Heating control is a let-down. It takes up to 2 minutes to load the configuration from your hub (they warn it can take that long) but more often than not I've had timeouts and the 2 minutes wasn't even achieved. When it did respond 'quickly' it still took over 10 seconds each time - not very 2017. YMMV as it may be a web glitch they will fix. The screen shows 3 small icons at the top for Disarmed, Fully-Armed and Partially-Armed and under those icons there is a status line for the latest image data from the PIR detectors with camera. I don't have any of those in my system so it's a waste of screen real-estate to reserve for something I am not using (much like DHW in the Heating system if you have a combi-boiler and don't use it - the controller still reserves screen area for blank information). I'd prefer bigger icons for the 3 main functions, much like the Heating Zone icons in that section of the App. See the screenshot for how much screen is actually 'wasted'. Also, if you go into settings and select configuration or emergency-contact data, you are told that this functionality does not yet work in the app and receive a suggestion to check that online. You do have to log out of the app first because you can only be logged into your account from a single source at a time. Good from a security viewpoint but it will have you logging in/out of two accounts at a time for each switch (the Security section requires a separate login within the overall Evohome login).

    In summary - this is a rather less mature product than Evohome Heating system, let down by the cloud portion (web/app response is patchy and sometimes broken, which I have never experienced with Evohome Heating). The physical system itself is fine and both the NFC tags and RF keyfob work very nicely. Documentation on what the 4 coloured LEDs on the NFC reader exactly signify would be nice - I've seen combinations that are not (yet) documented. FWIW, while this is branded Evohome and also uses 868MHz, the RF protocol seems to be different to Evohome Heating's Ramses II as the HGI80 sees no packets from the Security system. The fact that both systems can be controlled from the same App is handled in the cloud - not at local RF level - so Security is not supported in Domoticz and won't be until somebody packet-sniffs it and reverse-engineers, like was originally done with Ramses.

    IMG_7889.jpg
    Last edited by philchillbill; 22nd February 2017 at 04:50 PM. Reason: added screenshot

  2. #72
    Automated Home Legend philchillbill's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Caudera View Post
    I happened to press the small (reset? ? ) button inside the motion detector sensor (no camera). Now the sensor is not working any more. I guess the two facts are connected. Does anybody know how to get back to a working sensor?
    Thanks.
    That internal button you are referring to is the tamper switch for the front cover. It's harmless and just triggers an alarm if the front cover is pried off the device:

    IMG_7894.jpg

    There's also one around the back which is pressed in when the device is hung properly on its plastic mounting bracket:

    IMG_7895.jpg

    I would conclude that if all you did was press the internal button then that's not the cause of your woes.
    Last edited by philchillbill; 22nd February 2017 at 04:36 PM. Reason: Got reply from Honeywell helpdesk

  3. #73
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    Default Evohome Security....

    Tried to install this weekend.

    The standard https://internationational.my...... is simply awful - hangs when you try to save - my advice is don't use this.

    Instead try the tc203.total-connect.eu website.

    Using this was the only way to recover my setup so far and add the extra devices I'd bought.

    It also allows you to decide which devices don't force the alarm to sound immediately - such as the front door.

    As others have remarked, very immature product at the moment - but now mine is all setup its fine.

    The cool thing is the integration with the Evohome heating - now Smartthings has broken its IFTTT connection, its the only way I can automate the 'away' quick action when I'm away.

    Top tip, if you're in the market for an external siren, buy the le sucre SEF8M - without the 'S' on the end - you'll save yourself about £20 or more depending on the reseller - its exactly the same and works fine...

    Would be good if the CO sensors were available in the UK - but apparently they're not - unless anyone can correct me ?

  4. #74
    Automated Home Legend philchillbill's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shaun Reinson View Post

    The standard https://internationational.my...... is simply awful - hangs when you try to save - my advice is don't use this.

    Instead try the tc203.total-connect.eu website.
    Typo there: It's actually https://tc20e.total-connect.eu/ and you log in with your 'secondary' Evohome password directly (the one for Evohome Security) without having to first enter your Evohome Heating portal password.

    Thanks for this tip. I didn't know of this portal and wonder why Honeywell don't recommend it instead. It seems way more responsive and way more detailed. If this had been my setup portal last weekend I'd have had a totally better OOBE on this product...

    EDIT: Having just played with it a little more I found that the PIR detectors actually log measured temperature and can trigger an alarm if the temperature goes above 51 deg centigrade. Nice additional feature - I wonder why Honeywell don't mention it as a feature in their marketing material?
    Last edited by philchillbill; 26th February 2017 at 04:51 PM.

  5. #75
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shaun Reinson View Post
    Tried to install this weekend.

    The standard https://internationational.my

    Top tip, if you're in the market for an external siren, buy the le sucre SEF8M - without the 'S' on the end - you'll save yourself about £20 or more depending on the reseller - its exactly the same and works fine...
    Assuming you have looked in the battery compartment of the SEF8M does it look easy to take the batteries out and hard wire in from an indoor source? I have in mind the wish to avoid going up ladders to change batteries every few years and if the batteries are in a box in my loft then it would be easy for me to run a cable from the same, through the wall into the back of the SEF8M.

  6. #76
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    Hi Shaun, Don't forget that if you use the app to change the security setting it will knock off any optimum start and optimum stop processes that are in progress. A fix was promised for this in a December release and subsequently and February release but it's still yet to materialise.

    Certainly the suggested site for configuration appears far better. When finishing configuration changes however I get "Firmware upgradation has failed due to an internal server error" which appears to suggest that the firmware is potentially upgradable.

    Also a query on the configuration page. There's a tick box for "Activate Part Silent Mode". A google search doesn't yield much on that. Anyone know what it is?
    Last edited by peterf; 26th February 2017 at 01:22 PM.

  7. #77
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    Quote Originally Posted by G4RHL View Post
    Assuming you have looked in the battery compartment of the SEF8M does it look easy to take the batteries out and hard wire in from an indoor source? I have in mind the wish to avoid going up ladders to change batteries every few years and if the batteries are in a box in my loft then it would be easy for me to run a cable from the same, through the wall into the back of the SEF8M.
    I read somewhere the batteries last 4 years on the siren - but if you're not up and down on your ladder then it would be a doddle to take (unsolder) the +/- cables on the battery box and transfer them through the wall. The siren electronics are all in a perspex case, so you'll see immediately how to do it - although it may compromise any water-resistance in the unit if you do this.

  8. #78
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    The 'activate part silent mode' confused me as well - most likely to be no beeps when you fully arm the system - called part silent, because if an intrusion occurs it will make a noise, but when you leave its quiet.

  9. #79
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    Looks like integration to Smartthings isn't happening any day now (or ever for Security) so I was going to use the Honeywell SmartPlug facility to have the 'Arm' facility switch it off/on so what its connected to (TBC) will trigger a Smartthings event (Could be as simple as a Hue bulb, or something like that).

    Its for the Sucre range of alarms - but they're the same as Evohome Security

    link here https://www.security.honeywell.com/u...PG-EN-DS-Z.pdf

    BUT the problem is, I've not found anyone that sells the SMPG-UK smart plug - does anyone know where I can obtain one of these ?

    Honeywell pointed me to a series of trade distributors, but I'm just an ordinary consumer and I only want one....

  10. #80
    Automated Home Legend philchillbill's Avatar
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    I just bought the SMPG-EU device online in Holland for EUR 92. Might not be the end of the world to have a Schuko instead of UK socket if you use an adapter? I can confirm it works with Evohome despite officially being a Le Sucre / Domonial product. The instructions don't tell you how to bind it but you have to hold the button on the front pressed for a few seconds while logged in to tc20e and it binds.

    https://www.alarmsysteemexpert.nl/ho...dule-230v.html

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