Flashing lights on and off

Posted on
Mon Feb 08, 2016 3:34 pm
CraftGeek offline
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Joined: May 13, 2015

Flashing lights on and off

I have Indigo set up to, among other things, monitor our smoke detectors and various water leak sensors. If we have a water leak that starts flooding the house or if there is a fire, I want our outside lights to flash on and off. I have the outside lights integrated into Indigo and all the other components are in place and working, except the flashing on /off/on routine.

Somewhere on this forum someone (Jay?) showed us how to use a schedule to flash lights on and off. This works fine but it makes a jog entry with every on or off action of the lights. There could be hundreds of log entries to sort through if I need to troubleshoot an issue.

So, my questions are:
How can I hide some actions from the log file? Or if that is not possible, how do I flash lights on and off without using the schedule solution described below?


Here is how the Flashing schedule is set up:
  1. Create new schedule named Flash Outside lights.
  2. Set it to repeat every 2 seconds.
  3. Check the box the says "Hide execution in event log".
  4. Create an action that turns on the outside lights and set the action to Auto-off after 1 second.
  5. Save and disable the new schedule.
When a trigger occurs that require the lights to flash, add an action to the trigger that enables the Flash Outside Lights schedule.

Note:
If I check the box the says "Hide execution in event log" on the first tab of the schedule properties, the schedule start and end do not show in the log, but every single action the schedule executes does show in the log. So, if the upstairs smoke detector senses smoke, the lights start flashing and after 3 hours I have 21,600 lines in the log file that say:
Z-Wave sent "Front Porch Light" on
Z-Wave sent "Driveway Lights" on
Z-Wave sent "Front Porch Light" off
Z-Wave sent "Driveway Lights" off
Z-Wave sent "Front Porch Light" on
Z-Wave sent "Driveway Lights" on
Z-Wave sent "Front Porch Light" off

In case you think I am exaggerating, 2 entries per second*60 =120 per minute*60=7200 per hour*3 hours = 21,600.

I will buy an outside strobe alarm light if I have to but I wanted to avoid the extra cost and wiring.
If there were a "hide execution" box in the action tab of a schedule, that would do it. Or if the existing "hide execution" box on the first tab of the schedule definition covered all actions the schedule controlled, that would do it too.

Sean

Posted on
Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:51 am
jay (support) offline
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Re: Flashing lights on and off

There currently isn't a way to hide random device executions in the event log. It's not the schedule that's logging, but rather the Z-Wave interface because it's sending on/off pairs very quickly. Any solution will cause the same behavior.

A question though: is this really a big problem since in the course of normal events your smoke detectors won't be going off...

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Mon Feb 15, 2016 9:23 am
durosity offline
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Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne, Ye Ol' England.

Re: Flashing lights on and off

jay (support) wrote:
A question though: is this really a big problem since in the course of normal events your smoke detectors won't be going off...


You've clearly never been near my house when i'm attempting to cook.

Computer says no.

Posted on
Mon Feb 15, 2016 11:02 am
Korey offline
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Location: Henderson, NV

Re: Flashing lights on and off

durosity wrote:
jay (support) wrote:
A question though: is this really a big problem since in the course of normal events your smoke detectors won't be going off...


You've clearly never been near my house when i'm attempting to cook.


:lol: :lol: :lol:

--
Korey

Posted on
Mon Feb 15, 2016 11:19 am
CraftGeek offline
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Joined: May 13, 2015

Re: Flashing lights on and off

jay (support) wrote:
There currently isn't a way to hide random device executions in the event log. It's not the schedule that's logging, but rather the Z-Wave interface because it's sending on/off pairs very quickly. Any solution will cause the same behavior.

A question though: is this really a big problem since in the course of normal events your smoke detectors won't be going off...

It is not normally going to be a problem. I hope it never will be. However, this system is in place to warn us of emergencies. In the event of an emergency, I want a visual cue that will save fire or police services precious seconds by identifying our house as the one they were called for. That's why I want the front outside lights to flash.

If Indigo pages my wife and I at work, the first thing I am going to do is call 911. The next thing I do will be to go through the log to see what exactly happened. There may be a chance it was a false alarm and the logs may show this. They may also point to a location within the house that I can direct the responders to.

If the log is full of useless data I will not be able to find the information I need.

Sean

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