Hello everyone,
My first post and really excited to be using Homey. Ive just migrated from smartthings which has in my opinion really not kept up with the smarthome tech offered elsewhere!
I am mostly setup but considering a few extra purchases around home security and wanted to see if Homey could replicate something i had setup previously using a smartthings app.
Its a DIY alarm system, using sonos, motion sensors and door/ window sensors. The idea is simple… (i think)
If motion is triggered outside the property and a door is opened then trigger the alarms… unless, motion is detected inside the house first.
Idea being is, its 2am and I let the dog out, it will know I walked out of my bedroom.
Any thoughts, concerns or ideas? Only thing i can think of is the delay on a motion sensor?
Hope I can contribute something back to this community, its full of great reading!
Yes I will use Heimdall for this. I think my question was more geared towards the logic of the sensors. Almost like IFTTT type logic with and / but to ensure it only triggers when its not us.
Ah sorry, didn’t understand that. It is difficult to use motion/door sensors to know when the alarm has to be activated. If you sit still for a long time it will also trigger to turn the alarm on.
Why not use presence / location based triggers?
IF last person leaves home
THEN activate the alarm
AND
IF Someone is coming home
THEN deactivate the alarm
In the Heimdall app you can choose on which sensors triggers the alarm. And also set an interval when the alarm has to go on.
I use it this way. When the last person is leaving home further than 50 meters the alarm is activated based on location. When there is activity in the house on any (door/window/motion) sensor the alarm flow will run with sound/lights. The alarm will be deactivated when I get home.
Or you could also work with Beacons to activate the alarm when you leave the house.
Or make a separate (virtual) button
IF Button click
AND Alarm is deactivated
THEN Activate alarm
When you come home:
IF Button click
AND Alarm is activated
THEN Deactivate alarm
Thanks for the feedback… thats actually really useful.
Sorry but can i pick your brains again qnout the sensors? The example you have shown above is perfect for us leaving the house but what i am looking for is a flow gor when we are in the house (at night time).
The only reason to use the sensor, is to tell the alarm not to activate if we are up and about. The dog example is actually the problem. I need the alarm to not trigger if i open the back door at 2am to let dogo out.
By using an inside motion sensor, it will validate we are moving around and thus, if anything happens, it will be me/us not an intruder.
You could reverse the logic? If motion detected outside (on camera) and door sensor opens, reign hell… if motion detected inside and door sensor opens (do nothing)…
As you said, after a period of time (10 minutes) reactivate alarm.
Please tell me if i am overcomplicated this issue.
I would choose 1 dedicated motion sensor(A) around your bedroom for the dog example.
make a flow:
IF motion on sensor A
AND surveilance mode is active
THEN deactivate surveilance mode and reactivate with delay of 10 min.
now incluide all other sensors (except this dedicated one above) in heimdal to guard the house when surveilance mode is active.
or you could also make use of alarm delay in the heimdal app settings and make use of this flow and include all sensors:
IF “The alarm delay is activated.”
AND motion in particular room(bedroom maybe or hallway?)
THEN deactivate surveillance mode
1 other option I use right now but involves a smart device purchase is the withings sleep tracking pads to know when someone is in or out of his/her bed and according to that you can switch your surveillance mode.
Really sorry for the delay, have been unwell!
This has worked perfectly and I am going to add the virtual sensor as you said, when I am feeling brave enough… otherwise, for now it works!
Hi SV. I am new to Homey Pro (actually haven’t bought it yet). We currently use Brinks security with Alarm dot com but are building a new home and I want to get rid of my paid monthly monitoring.
Is this Heimdall App required for home security or does it just make it easier to set up? I am starting to do my research on this and just found the community page.
Currently I have ‘scenes’ on my paid monitoring system like:
Sleep- Arm alarm, garage doors close, deadbolts lock, most lights turn off, some outside lights turn on etc with instant alarm if sensor is activated (door or window).
Arrive home- disarm, garage door open, kitchen light on, etc
Do you have any suggestions on some threads to read and apps i might need to make this work?
Yes it can do that. The problem here is, sometimes it doesn’t.
If you’re okay with that, no problem.
It’s just not comparable with real certified alarm systems, at the reliability level.
An alarm system should work 24/7
Homey has too many uncertainties, which is not a big deal when it should have turned on a light, but “it should have noticed a burglar” is a sentence you don’t wanna hear I think.
It’s just my experience with Homey’s, and from all the stuff reported here at the forum.
Fully agree with @Peter_Kawa it will not qualify as a real alarm. (Not only reliability but also power down, wifi down will degrade your homey alarm to zero)
But it can be a big step forward in protecting your home.
I appreciate both of your responses. Between sensors ( door, window, and motion) and cameras I feel it can be a good substitute to a 24/7 paid monitoring service. We are putting in an automatic back up generator so power should not be an issue. Internet service could be another story. Maybe we will bring along and keep the current service we have for a while.
Yw!
About Internet, I’d make sure to not use internet/cloud dependent devices which will be part of the planned alarm system.
Homey can run without internet just fine.
There’s only one (pretty big) downside:
you’ll temporarily need internet, if you want to login & manage it in the meantime
(The authentication check can do max. 2 weeks without the Athom cloud.)
I personally have One MKB from KPN, which offers glasfiber with 4G backup.
Works pretty well, if fiber goes out, i still have internet.
All connected to a UPS ofc.
Im sure other organisation have similar products.
Or one could create something like this themself.
Check out this forum for power backup (ups). If I remember well homey cannot handle “hickups” well.
So the switch to the backup when power drops can be an issue.
