Insteon Smoke Detectors?

Does it store Insteon Groups to be activated upon smoke alarm or .....

Yes, it would store groups that would be acted upon a trigger from a sensor.

SJ

Tell me, what should a bridge device like this sell for? You would only need one bridge for the whole house. Besides turning on your lights when the alarms go off, what else would you like?

I guess I might expect something like this to be between the Access Point and the PowerLinc price wise.

A form C relay would also be a nice feature. This way it could be tied to an alarm panel. Not sure what NPFA says about that type of thing but it could have other uses as well.

Well First Alert ONELINK smoke detectors are shipping:

http://www.onelinkalarms.com/ONELINKhome.htm

No Insteon capability. As best I can tell, BRK Brands (makers of First Alert products) are using Integration Associates' EZRadio transceivers for wireless communication:

http://www.integration.com/prd_ia422021.php

So is BRK still working on a bridge from ONELINK detectors to Insteon? Or did BRK dump Insteon in favor of EZRadio? If the former, can we assume currently shipping ONELINK alarms will be compatible w/ a future Insteon bridge? And if so, can you let us know what types of data you anticipate we can expect to get from Indigo from such a device?
-Sugi-

Well First Alert ONELINK smoke detectors are shipping

They have been shipping for a year, maybe two.

So is BRK still working on a bridge from ONELINK detectors to Insteon? Or did BRK dump Insteon in favor of EZRadio?

Both the ONELink products and SmartLabs' AccessPooint and RemoteLinc Controllers use the IA transceiver chip. This makes the process of intercepting and processing RF signals from the ONELink products much simpler. It is still a live project, just need to solve some technical challenges.

John

...can we assume currently shipping ONELINK alarms will be compatible w/ a future Insteon bridge?

This question remains unanswered. If one buys ONELINK alarms now, will they work w/ your Insteon bridge in the future? One fears a repeat of the SignaLincRF / AccessPoint fiasco.
-Sugi-

This question remains unanswered. If one buys ONELINK alarms now, will they work w/ your Insteon bridge in the future? -Sugi-

No one (on this planet) can guarantee anything in the future, but if a First Alert bridge to an INSTEON-based product would come to market today, from what I have seen, your investment in a First Alert ONElink product today would be compatible.

One fears a repeat of the SignaLincRF / AccessPoint fiasco.

I think this is more of a "team switch" situation similar to where Joe Torre is joining the Dodgers after leaving New York. In the case of the SignaLinc RF units, SmartLabs fired Chipcon (in traditional Steinbrenner fashion) and brought on a better RF transceiver. And unlike A-Rod, the newer chipset (from IA) was half the price and double the performance. Although, A-Rod is pretty good, but not 25m/a year good

JL

Anyone know anything about an Insteon update? I saw a OneLink in my smarthome products RSS feed and got excited that it was going to be Insteon-enabled, but no such luck

HA! I have been wondering the same thing for three years now! What is worse, is that I am a professional firefighter and have had my home hypocritically under-protected with only two aged smoke alarms because of this wait! I am also the guy that usually buys a product one day, only to kick myself when a same product is updated the next day...

My real goal is to get a connection between the smoke detectors and Indigo. From there, there is a whole host of things that can be done (like text messaging sent to my phone, CCTV snapshots sent via e-mail, etc.). Look, I know that I could set up something with X10 or some other technology, but I have completely switched over to an Insteon network and want to keep it that way for the easy of maintenance/troubleshooting.

So, I guess that I can wait just a little longer. HA, I am still waiting for WMD's to be found in Iraq also!

Do you have hardwired 120V detectors or are you stuck having to use battery operated smokes? I ask because I can think of a few ways to do what you want.

If you have 120V hardwired locations (sounds like you don't) you can use something like the ESL 350CX which has a relay that is closed by the tandem bus is activated. If you could place one of these in the mechanical room, you could run 22-2 to an EZIO to trigger Indigo actions.

A second option is to install a wireless security system that has X-10 output (many do) and trigger actions that way.

Just a thought.

Any update on this?

Last I heard from INSTEON, First Alert had not moved forward with the sales and manufacturing of the interface. It appears this project is dead.

I had a OneLink device a few years back, but I left it installed in my old place in LA. I wish I'd kept it. I loved the unit, and I wanted to replace it with more when I moved to San Francisco. Unfortunately, I couldn't easily find the products at Home Depot like I could when I first purchased the OneLink.

Anyone else have success with this line?

Hello,

I started this post five years ago and it still looks as though an Insteon smoke detector is nowhere to be found. Really, that just blows my mind, as it seems like an important and popular product if made available. There have been some great alternatives mentioned in the replies to this post, but I didn't want to go to all that trouble (and money) just to interface with Indigo and have been using a basic smoke detector model since. Now, I have a new home to design and install such automation for...

So, any update on my original question? Any valid news about Insteon compatible smoke detectors? Any update of the Elk controller suggestion?


“Technological change is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.” (Albert Einstein, 1941),
Dr. Z.

I think the only real solution is to use wired devices and then use I/O Lincs to monitor when/if they are triggered to report back to Indigo. It's not pretty, but I don't think this is a hot device at Smarthome/INSTEON. If anything, I'm seeing more of a shift to integrate INSTEON control to their own devices like their iGateway and ISY-99 and then provide access through their TouchLinc.

While I personally would like to control more devices that could potentially have INSTEON built-in, I think SmartLabs is happy to just provide the I/O Linc and let hobbyists figure the rest out. They apparently don't think there's a market for it.

If I had to do this specific project, I would go with the fully wired alarms. I'm in an old lathe and plaster home, and wireless signals just don't transmit in old homes like mine. While the I/O Linc solution isn't as clean and neat as a fully integrated solution, it would work. You could always get a system with multiple zones and then use a multi-input I/O Linc to report the status back to Indigo.

Maybe we should put a petition out for Kidde?

[jay (support)]

Not sure why Smartlabs hasn't thought about smoke detectors but to be honest we haven't seen many requests so perhaps they haven't either. Temperature sensors seems to be the HUGE hole in the INSTEON lineup, one I hope they solve soon. I think the IOLinc suggestion is a good one if you can find detectors that have some kind of sensor connection.

I suspect the best solution is to go with a dedicated alarm system that supports smoke detectors as well. With Indigo 5's plugin SDK, we're hoping to see integration with those alarm panels that have some kind of API (serial or network).

The best solution I can come up with is purchasing a "Smoke Alarm with Relay", but all of them appear to be 120 v, and possibly battery backup.

Then you can tie either a IOLink or TriggerLinc to the relay...

But has anyone ever found an Smoke Alarm with Relay, that is battery powered?

The best solution I can come up with is purchasing a "Smoke Alarm with Relay", but all of them appear to be 120 v, and possibly battery backup. Then you can tie either a IOLink or TriggerLinc to the relay...

But has anyone ever found an Smoke Alarm with Relay, that is battery powered?

Would the GE ESL 350CX smoke detector connected to an IOLink work? Here is a brochure on this product with a wiring diagram:

http://www.homecontrols.com/homecontrol ... _Smoke.pdf

In theory, it looks as though I should be able to wire several in tandem and terminating at the IOLink for an "all or nothing" alarm. I might also wire each detector to one IOLink for zone notification.


More microchips than sense,
Dr. Z.