Insteon hidden door sensor configuration

Docs indicate that Insteon hidden door sensors (2845-222) are supposed to send heartbeat signals periodically and the default value for heartbeat interval is supposed to be roughly 24 hrs.

Some observations: First, I see very different heartbeat intervals across the four instances of this device that I have installed, even though up to now, I have not modified them. Second, battery life on these devices seems mediocre at best. Third, this device has to be physically uninstalled (unscrewed from door frame) in order to change battery. Finally, on at least a few occasions, I have observed dead batteries, but have not received a low-battery warning (group 3) from the device.

Here's my observed heartbeat intervals, extracted from logs:

Code: Select all

id    firm-    observed interval between
      ware     group 4 (heartbeat) messages
---------------------------------------------------
#1    45      19:45   (that is, 19 hrs 45 minutes)
#2    43      01:01
#3    45      19:45
#4    43      00:57


Insteon programmer docs (which may be inaccurate or correspond to different hardware/firmware versions) indicate that the heartbeat interval can be sent by sending an extended command. There's also a command in that document to turn off LED.

Sooo.... after some trial and error, I succeeded in creating action groups to send raw Insteon commands to my sensors and was was able to set the heartbeat interval and turn off the LED. ...hopefully will both reduce unnecessary traffic on Insteon and make batteries last longer.

Specific recipes I used:
Turn off LED: send raw. extended=true. commandbyte1 = 0x20, commandbyte2=0x02.
Set Heartbeat (to maximum of ~24 hrs): send-raw. extended=true, commandbyte1=0x2E, commandbyte2=0x00, databyte1:0x00, databyte2:0x02.

It would be nice to see support this capability added to Indigo, perhaps either Interfaces>INSTEON>"Disable Door Sensor LED", and "Set Door Sensor Heartbeat Interval" (similar to commands to set parameters for Insteon motion detectors) or with extra settings in the "Edit Device" dialog (similar to how you set ramp rate, default on-level, for dimmers).

[jay (support)]

Battery reporting of any type, we've found, is extremely spotty in Insteon.

However, I have 2 of them, one on a pantry door and one on my master closet door. Those are directly linked to the switch for the appropriate room so opening the door turns them on, closing turns them off (great way to keep lights from being left on). This has worked extremely reliably for me over the years. I have to change those batteries out 2-3 times a year, but both are used pretty heavily. So battery life isn't great, but for me it's not that big a deal. If I ever have need for another one though I think I'll try out a Z-Wave solution instead.

I have Triggers set up to watch for the group 3 broadcast on them and it sends a Prowl notification whenever it receives one. This has never failed to notify me several times before the battery gets low enough for the thing to just stop working.