Insteon 8 Button Dimmer Keypad to control Z-Wave Dimmers

[jay (support)]

So does this mean that I could program the C button on my Insteon Keypad to turn on/off one of my Hue bulbs? That would be really great.

Easy peasy! Just create a Trigger that watches for an Device state changed event from button 3 on the device with an action to turn on the bulb(s), and repeat the process for OFF.

Dimming the hue bulb by long pressing the button won’t be possible though, correct?

I don't think so.

Easy peasy! Just create a Trigger that watches for an Device state changed event from button 3 on the device with an action to turn on the bulb(s), and repeat the process for OFF.

Nice! Is there away to do this in an “if/else” statement, though, so you don’t have to create multiple triggers/automations? On the ISY I use if/else statements to sync the key button lights with my devices.

[jay (support)]

You can use a button Has Any Change trigger (it'll fire whether it turns on or off) and then write a script as the action that would look at the button state and act appropriately. However, it's just as easy to duplicate the trigger and change the change type and action. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's really not, and once it's done then you don't ever really have to change it.

Unlike the ISY, you're not constrained by a rather small amount of memory to store stuff.

You can use a button Has Any Change trigger (it'll fire whether it turns on or off) and then write a script as the action that would look at the button state and act appropriately. However, it's just as easy to duplicate the trigger and change the change type and action. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's really not, and once it's done then you don't ever really have to change it.

Unlike the ISY, you're not constrained by a rather small amount of memory to store stuff.

Okay that sounds great then! And do you have any recommendations on how to do this with minimum Insteon traffic? Currently it often takes a while until scenes with lots of Insteon devices are all set to the correct state. So in moving everything over to Indigo I'd love to be conscious of Insteon traffic as much as possible!

[jay (support)]

Insteon sucks when it comes to KeypadLinc button management. It's slightly more efficient to execute a PowerLinc group to turn a button on/off (to keep it in sync with, say your Hue bulbs since they may be turned on via other methods and you still want the button to reflect reality). But that can be a bit harder to manage, so I would just try it out using the Keypad button actions If it becomes a problem, then you can look at optimizing. But, generally, while it can sometimes be slow, it will work correctly.

Insteon performance (or lack thereof) is another reason why we recommend using Z-Wave where possible - it's a much faster and more efficient protocol. If you see Insteon starting to bog down, you can start looking at the devices that are really better as Z-Wave (sensors and other devices that broadcast out unsolicited updates).

Hey Jay,

so I just tried a trigger to keep my keypad lights in sync, however, the keypad lights have a 2-5 second delay between when the device turns on and when the keypad buttons light up. With my current ISY set up this happens almost instantaneously. I'm sure I am doing something wrong, since I find it hard to believe that the ISY would be faster than Indigo. Here is how I have everything set up:

Two Keypad Switches:

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And then I created the following trigger to turn on button 3 on the first keypad and button 4 on the second keypad when the "Bed Lamp" turns on:

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I'm using two separate Insteon Actions where I tell to turn on one button on each and leave all the others alone.

Is this not the correct way to go about it?

Thanks!

Philipp

[jay (support)]

2 seconds isn't that unusual though 5 seconds may indicate that you've got some significant Insteon traffic (Insteon doesn't handle collisions well). The problem is that there isn't an API for directly setting a single KeypadLinc button. You can only set them all in one call. So if you want to leave other buttons alone, then you first have to query the KeypadLinc to get the button states, then you can set them all to what they currently are except the one you want to change.

The optimization that I mentioned above is to create a PowerLinc scene to control each button. The only thing in the scene would be the KeypadLinc button:

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Then whenever you want to turn on/off the button, you Execute the PowerLinc Scene with the appropriate on/off message. This takes a bit more setup, but it will also perform faster.

Yes, I 'm going that route now. It's much quicker but setting up all of these scenes is such a headache. :/

[jay (support)]

Time consuming, yes, but once it's done it's done...

Hi Jay,

it's been a while and I'm setting up a new home with Insteon. I'm running into issues with syncing the status of my keypad button lights again. Here is what I'm currently doing:

I have an Insteon PowerLink Scene setup for "Button A" on my Switch 306.S2:

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I then have a trigger setup to watch for Light 306.S1 to turn on:

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And then execute the Powelink scene from above:

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However, when light 306.S1 turns on the button A on keypad 306.S2 does not turn on. Nothing happens. Do you know what I'm doing wrong here?

Thanks!

Philipp

[jay (support)]

How are you testing it? Note that the device state changed trigger you defined will only fire when the switch is OFF and you turn it ON (in other words, the state has to change so if it's already on it won't fire the trigger).

Hi Jay,

I’m turning the light on via the Indigodomo Interface but the button does not light up when I turn it on. Am I doing something wrong?

[jay (support)]

Are there any conditions specified on the Conditions tab? When you turn on the light (make sure it's off first), do you see this show up in your event log:

Code: Select all

   Trigger                         306.S1 ON

Hi Jay,

I think I figured it out. Seems like Insteon Switch 306.S2 is the culprit! The method I am using works with ALL other switches but this one. I also realized that I can not program other switches to turn this one on. Seems like something funky was going on with that specific switch. I re-linked it and now everything works. Thanks for your help!

Hi Jay,

so I have everything programmed now and for the most part it works. However, the triggers don't always fire. If I turn on a light via the Indigodomo Interface the triggers always work. So if I turn on "LIGHT-1" buttons "A" on Keypad 1 and "B" on Keypad 2 will also light up. However, if I physically click Button "B" on Keypad 2, button "A" on Keypad 1 won't always light up. Even though I see "Light 1" turning on in the Indigodomo interface as well. Just the trigger won't fire if it is turned on via a button.

Any idea why this is the case? It doesn't make any sense to me.

Thanks!

Philipp