Adding Sensors

Vera 1 with UI2

There are several types of Z-Wave sensors, like motion sensors, door/window sensors, light, temperature and so on.

Manual associations

The traditional way of using these devices is to get a Z-Wave programming remote control and create 'associations', where you program a sensor to associate with a device. For example, programming a motion sensor to turn on a light when when the sensor is tripped. Vera can simplify this process by setting up these associations for you without needing a programming remote control. Click the '+' button next to a Z-Wave device and choose 'Custom Z-Wave Settings' to have Vera create the associations. Save your changes, click the '+' button again and choose 'Configure node right now'. Confirm you get the green 'configure OK' cog icon as explained here.

Automation associations

Vera offers an easy approach to associating sensors with devices: After adding the Z-Wave sensor, go back to the 'Devices' page, click '+' and check the box "Let Vera manage the associations." Save your changes, click the '+' button again and choose "Configure node right now." Confirm you get the green 'configure OK' cog icon as explained here. As a result, you don't need to create associations--you can just create scenes and attach the sensor as an event to the scene.

Example: A sensor turns on a light

For example, if you want a motion sensor to turn on a light, you can manually set up an association by adding the sensor and light to Vera's network, clicking the '+' button next to the sensor on Vera's device page, choosing 'Custom Z-Wave Settings', and adding the group+association to the light. You will need to read the user's manual for the sensor to know what group ID to use.

To do the same thing with automatic associations, instead check "Let Vera manage the associations." Then create a scene called "Light on" which turns the light on. Click 'Add Event' next to the scene, and add the event 'Sensor is tripped', and choose the sensor. If you want to the light to go off after 1 minute, you could choose the pull down 'after 1 minute' 'off' next to the command for the light. If you want the light to go off when the motion sensor goes idle, create another scene called 'Light off' and again attach the event 'sensor is tripped', but this time check the box 'sensor is idle'.

Example: A sensor turns on a light and a thermostat

Let's say when someone passes by a sensor you not only want the light to come on, but also want the thermostat to turn on. This is not normally possible using traditional, manual Z-Wave associations. A sensor can normally only turn on/off a basic on/off Z-Wave device, like a light switch. But if you use Vera's automatic associations, the sensor can do anything. In this case, the sensor is triggering a scene in Vera, and Vera's scenes can do anything with any type of device.

Vera 2 with UI4

To add a sensor to Vera 2 with UI4 you have to follow the same instructions like you would use for other devices like lights for example. Sometimes when you add a sensor you get a error message on the dashboard like 'Failing at getting name' or 'Fail at setting special associations', etc. This is because devices like sensors (which are battery powered) enter into a 'sleeping' mode and Vera can't communicate with them anymore. To prevent this is recommended that you press the include/wake/action button on the sensor a couple of times in the pairing process.