Protecting Your Home With Fibaro

From time to time we all worry and have thoughts like "did we left the iron on? Did we close the bedroom window?"
We live in a world where we want to protect our homes as much as possible and in this tutorial we will look at ways in which Fibaro can help to protect your home. From automatically turning off devices to notifying you if there is motion when you are out, we will go through them here.
In most cases these tutorials use either the Home Center 2 or the Home Center Lite. However, in some cases there are times when you will need the advanced capabilities of Lua, which is only available on the Home Center 2.

Turning Off The Iron In Unoccupied Rooms

Imagine that you are ironing your shirts for the week and the doorbell rings. You stand at the font door chatting to the visitor unaware that the iron is overheating.

Wouldn't it be good if your iron could turn itself off after you have left the room?

What you need
1 x Fibaro Motion Sensor
1 x Fibaro Wall Plug or Relay module

The scene
Create the following graphic blocks scene:

Hall Motion Safe Turn Off Iron
  1. Click Scenes and then Add scene.
  2. Give your new scene a name and choose the room it relates to.
  3. Click the blue Save button on the right of the page.
  4. Click the Advanced tab.
  5. Click the + and locate the Motion Sensor under Devices.
  6. Change the green box to Safe (as opposed to Armed).
  7. Change the second yellow word from And to Then.
  8. Click the last + and locate the Wall Plug (or Relay if you have a relay wired in with the device) under Devices.
  9. Change the green box to Turn Off (as opposed to Turn On).
  10. Click Save.

Some notes and further ideas
This scene will turn the iron off as soon as the motion sensor detects no motion. To add a delay before turning the iron off, just type in a number (in seconds) to the first red box – next to the green 'Safe' box.
This kind of scene can be created for different items such as hair straighteners, cookers or heaters.

Turning Off Power (And Water) When A Flood Is Detected

It's not a nice thing to think about, but sometimes the unfortunate event of a washing machine break down or pipes burst under your sink can happen.

The Fibaro Flood Sensor can be used in areas that are at risk of flooding or leaks. The gold pins on its base will detect water and inform the Home Center which can then act accordingly.

Here we will go through some scenes that will help protect your electronics in the event of a flood.

What you need
1 x Fibaro Flood Sensor
1 x Fibaro Dual or Single Relay Module

The scene
Create the following graphic blocks scene to turn off power when a flood is detected:

  1. Click Scenes and then Add scene.
  2. Give your new scene a name and choose the room it relates to.
  3. Click the blue Save button on the right of the page.
  4. Click the Advanced tab.
  5. Click the + and locate the Flood Sensor under Devices.
  6. Change the second yellow word from And to Then.
  7. Click the last + and locate the device controlling the power under Devices.
  8. Change the green box from Turn On to Turn Off.
  9. Click Save.

Some notes and further ideas
Having the power turn off when a flood is detected is brilliant but you could take it a step further by turning off the valve of the water supply at the same time the scene.
To do this you will need a motorised valve with a Relay module wired in. The graphics scene would look like this:

Flood Detected Power and Water

Sending A Push Notification If A Door/Window Is Breached When You're Out

When a home is empty a global variable can be used and set to a value of 'Out'. This can enable Fibaro scenes to act differently as it knows no one should be in the house and no devices should be being triggered.

If a device like a Door/Window Sensor gets breached when the home is unoccupied, Fibaro can send a push notification to warn users of the potential danger.

What you need
1 x Fibaro Door/Window Sensor
A smart device that receives push notifications.

The notification
Create a notification to be pushed to the mobile device:
  1. Click Panels in the top menu.
  2. Click Notifications Panel in the left hand menu.
  3. Click Add New at the top of the left hand menu.
  4. Enter a name for the notification (We will use Bedroom Movement in this example).
  5. Enter a message and copy it to all three boxes (SMS, email and Push).
  6. Click Save.

The global variable
Create the following Global Variable:

Global Variable In Out
  1. Click Panels in the top menu.
  2. Click Variables Panel in the left hand menu.
  3. Click the Add button under the Predefined variables section.
  4. Type "HomeMode" in the Variable Name box.
  5. Type "In" in the first Value box and "Out" in the second.
  6. Click the blue Save button at the bottom.

The scene
Create the following graphic blocks scene:

Bedroom Window Breached
  1. Click Scenes and then Add scene.
  2. Give your new scene a name and choose the room it relates to.
  3. Click the blue Save button on the right of the page.
  4. Click the Advanced tab.
  5. Click the + and locate the Door/Window under Devices.
  6. Change the green box to Breached.
  7. Click the first + next to the red box and add an And command.
  8. Click the first + that is now next to the yellow box and locate the HomeMode variable under Variables.
  9. Change the green box from In to Out.
  10. Change the fourth yellow box from And to Then.
  11. Click the last + and Hover over Notifications.
  12. Hover over Bedroom Movement (or whatever you called the notification you just made).
  13. Hover over Push.
  14. Select the mobile device you wish to send the push notification to.
  15. Click Save.

Some notes and further ideas
This scene will push to one mobile device. You can add more notifications by:
  1. Clicking the + on the end.
  2. Choosing And under Commands in the menu.
  3. Clicking the + on the end.
  4. Selecting your second notification in the same way as above.
You can repeat these steps for as many notifications as you like.

Send A Warning When I Leave For Work If Doors Or Windows Are Left Open

Using Fibaro Door/Window Sensors throughout the house, a warning notification can be sent to the user when they leave for work if something was left open.

What you need
Fibaro Door/Window Sensor for each window and external door in the room.
A smart mobile device with GPS capability

The location
Create a location that will determine where the user is:

Home Pin
  1. Click Panels in the top menu.
  2. Click Localisation Panel in the left hand menu.
  3. Click Add New at the top of the left hand menu.
  4. Enter a name for the notification (We will use Home in this example).
  5. Click and hold to drag around the map, click once to drop a pin on the location wanted.
  6. Click Save localisation.

The notification
Create a notification to be pushed to the mobile device:
  1. Click Panels in the top menu.
  2. Click Notifications Panel in the left hand menu.
  3. Click Add New at the top of the left hand menu.
  4. Enter a name for the notification (We will use Window Left Open in this example).
  5. Enter a message and copy it to all three boxes (SMS, email and Push).
  6. Click Save.

The scene
Create the following graphic blocks scene:

Leaving Home Window Open
  1. Click Scenes and then Add scene.
  2. Give your new scene a name and choose the room it relates to.
  3. Click the blue Save button on the right of the page.
  4. Click the Advanced tab.
  5. Click the + and locate the GPS user under GPS and select Leaving the area and then Home.
  6. Change the second green box from 100m down to 10m.
  7. Click the first + and click the yellow command And.
  8. Click the first + and locate the Door/Window senor under Devices.
  9. Change the third green box from Armed to Breached.
  10. Change the third yellow box from And to Then.
  11. Click the second + and Hover over Notifications.
  12. Hover over Window Left Open (or whatever you called the notification you just made).
  13. Hover over Push and select the mobile device you wish to send the push notification too.
  14. Click Save.

Some notes and further ideas
You can add more windows or doors in this room by:
  1. Clicking on the + at the top.
  2. Choosing Or under Commands in the menu.
  3. Clicking on the + at the top.
  4. Selecting the next window or door you want to monitor from Devices.
  5. Changing the green box to Breached.


Turning On The Lights In The Event Of A Fire

If a fire is detected at night, a visual indicator could help wake up occupants in the home as well as helping illuminate the correct way to exit the property.

What you need
1x Fibaro Smoke Sensor
1x Fibaro Dimmer Module

The global variable
Create the following Global Variable:

  1. Click Panels in the top menu.
  2. Click Variables Panel in the left hand menu.
  3. Click the Add button under the Predefined variables section.
  4. Type "HomeMode" in the Variable Name box.
  5. Type "In" in the first Value box, "Out" in the second and BedTime in the third.
  6. Click the blue Save button at the bottom.

The scene
Create the following graphic blocks scene:

Night Global Smoke Detected
  1. Click Scenes and then Add scene.
  2. Give your new scene a name and choose the room it relates to.
  3. Click the blue Save button on the right of the page.
  4. Click the Advanced tab.
  5. Click the + and locate the HomeMode variable under Variables.
  6. Select 'BedTime' in the green box.
  7. Click the first + and select the yellow And command.
  8. Click the first + and locate the Smoke Sensor under devices.
  9. Change the third yellow box to Then.
  10. Click the second + and locate the Bedroom Lights (or whatever lights you want to turn on) under Devices.
  11. Change the second green box from Turn On to Set Value.
  12. Change the 0 next to Set Value to 99.
  13. Click Save.

Some notes and further ideas
You can change to lights to flash instead of just turning on, this shows more warning and a larger sense of emergency.
A better way to achieve this task would be to use Lua on a Home Center 2 and have the following scene:

--[[
%% properties
44 value
%% globals
HomeMode
--]]

local BedroomLightID = 5
local SmokeSensorID = 34
local delay = 1000

while ( (fibaro:getGlobalValue('HomeMode') == 'BedTime') and
(tonumber(fibaro:getValue(SmokeSensorID, 'value')) > 0) ) do
fibaro:call(BedroomLightID, 'setValue', 99)
fibaro:sleep(delay)
fibaro:call(BedroomLightID, 'turnOff')
fibaro:sleep(delay)
end


Double Clicking A Light Switch To Arm The Alarm

Fibaro can act as a great alarm system by using the Motion Sensors and Door/Window Sensors.

Instead of going over to an alarm panel each time to arm and disarm the system, Fibaro allows a user to double click a light switch that has a Fibaro Dimmer behind and arm the system.

What you need
1 x Fibaro Motion Sensor or Door/Window Sensor
1 x Fibaro Dimmer Module behind a light switch

Scene activation
Turning on Scene activation:
  1. Locate the Dimmer switch in the system
  2. Click on the options spanner.
  3. Click on the Advanced tab.
  4. Scroll all the way to the bottom and click 'activation of the functionality'.
  5. Click Save.

The scene
Create the following graphic blocks scene:

Scene Activation
  1. Click Scenes and then Add scene.
  2. Give your new scene a name and choose the room it relates to.
  3. Click the blue Save button on the right of the page.
  4. Click the Advanced tab.
  5. Click the + and locate the light switch under Devices.
  6. Change the green box to Scene activation 14 (24 if you are using the second switch).
  7. Change the second yellow box to Then.
  8. Click the second + and locate the relevant sensor.
  9. Click Save.

Some notes and further ideas
To create an action when a triple click is pressed then another graphics block scene will need to be created. You can even change house modes such as 'Holiday Mode' where it arms the house and lowers your heating.
A better way to achieve multiple clicks in one scene would be to use Lua on a Home Center 2 and have the following scene:

--[[
%% properties
5 sceneActivation
%% globals
--]]

local hallLightsID = 5 -- change it in the triggers too.
local doorLightID = 23
local bedLightID = 5
local hallMotionID = 29

local scene = fibaro:getValue(hallLightsID, 'sceneActivation')

if (scene == '16') then -- single click
-- acts no differently

elseif (scene == '14') then -- double click
fibaro:call(hallMotionID, 'setArmed', '1')

elseif (scene == '15') then -- tripple click
fibaro:call(bedLightID, 'turnOn')
fibaro:call(hallLightsID, 'turnOn')
end

Just need to adapt the code to different device IDs and requirements.


WHERE NOW?

For some more ideas of the things you can do with Fibaro, have a look at our tutorials section.

For more information on Lua, see our Lua support page.

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