1 Message
Power Outage Sensor for non-SimpliSafe devices and appliances
Hello,
I would love if SimpliSafe offered a "outlet power outage" sensor.
This sensor would have a 2-prong plug to check for power. When power is lost in the outlet, an alarm is raised.
Example : with GFCI outlets being mandatory in some states, a freezer may easily trip and lose power while the rest of the house is fine.
I'd love to be notified so I can take action before it is too late.
There are some devices on Amazon, but it's usually a very loud siren. I would prefer to be notified the same way as for my water sensor.
Thank you !
davey_d
Community Admin
•
5.6K Messages
2 years ago
Hi @kpt !
The Base Station of course already has a built-in Power Outage sensor - though it triggers a Push Notification, rather than a full alarm. So you could have your Base Station plugged into the same outlet/power strip as different appliances, and you'll get a double duty power outage sensor.
But I don't think that would work for major appliances, especially ones that use a different power adapter.
(edited)
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simplistuckon
244 Messages
10 months ago
Bit late to this party, but are you handy?
If you are, you could use a door sensor, an unused USB power supply, and a 5 Volt mechanical or electrical relay rated for continuous duty. Wire the relay normally-open contacts to the reed switch (gen 3 still use those?) of the door sensor. Power the relay from the USB power supply. Set up the sensor as a "secret alert".
When whatever socket the USB supply is plugged into loses power, the relay will lose power and open up, the sensor will be tripped, and you'll get an alert.
Fair warning: Simplisafe will not endorse this, and it will void the warranty of the sensor. Don't try this unless you know what you are doing.
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kd9rao
7 Messages
6 months ago
I think a sensor that would plug into an outlet and then you plug a device (iron, freezer, fridge, light, etc.) into it could be an easy way to detect if a device had failed or if the power to the device was no longer available. I suppose it could detect that the device was drawing power, indicating the device was on. If the device no longer drew power than it is off (for an iron this would be a good thing to know), it had failed (like a freezer that should be drawing power) or the outlet had problems, such as a tripped GFI.
Ideally the sensor could monitor and report power usage through it, maybe instantaneous and also averaged over time such as a week or a month. We try to keep our energy use low to save money and this could help us identify where we could best reduce.
Even if this is a silly idea it might prompt other customers and/or SimpliSafe engineers for a new kind of sensor that would provide more useful info about our system.
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mattreeves1982
4 Messages
2 months ago
I too would use this. I recently had a power disconnect on a chest freezer and lost hundreds of pounds of beef. I've since implemented a third party power outage solution, but I would love it if it was integrated into my SimpliSafe configuration.
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