Power All Devices with Single DC Power Board

#1

I apologize if this has already been answered somewhere else. If it has, can someone direct me to the post?

I have about 8 GE Z-Wave Smart Motion Sensors which I currently power with rechargeable batteries. I would like to run power to each of these units form a central DC power board. These units state they require a minimum of 5v/500mA each. I am also considering powering a few other devices like my Arlo Pro2 cameras which require 9v/1.1A so the batteries can stay charged in the camera. (which I like in case of power outages).

My question is has anyone here done anything like this and what hardware did they use to accomplish the job?

I’m picturing a central DC board of sorts with leads running out to each of the smart devices around the home. Perhaps even a battery backed up DC board which would allow me to remove the batteries from the Arlos. I believe they will run on [email protected] if not trying to change the battery in the unit. Ultimately I would like to reduce the number of devices running on batteries; all the devices have Micro-USB sockets.

#2

Hi there
I haven’t done this BUT i was thinking about it early on when I first started.
I got curious about your plans and like to ask a couple of things,

  • Do you want to wire the sensors because you don’t want to change batteries? or?
  • And the arlo cameras (I use Amcrest POE) if you have power outage, your hub and internet will be down as well, what are you trying to accomplish?

The only reason i am asking these because, to me it didn’t make sense to get all wires etc. Once the power is gone, they are all dead anyway… So I would love to hear if you are planning something to prevent that, which I missed when I was starting. I’d love to get back to that idea and wire them:) (Where I live power outage is very common)

Thanks
Ike

#3

Thanks for the reply @ike2018 . My hub and router are already on battery backups. I’m using APC UPS Battery Backup for those separately which gives me about 2 + hours of backup on each. I also use a NETGEAR 4G LTE Modem between my router and where the cable enters the house. If I lose network, or it’s cut outside the house, my network is automatically switched over to 4G. I purchased a card from T-Mobile and pay about 10 bucks a month for 2Gb of data which is more than enough for what I’m using.

I want to wire all my motion detectors and get them off batteries. The GE motion detectors don’t really like rechargeable batteries. Apparently, rechargeable batteries are slightly below the voltage of normal batteries. This doesn’t seem like a big deal but when you change batteries the GE motion detectors cycle from active to inactive over and over. I have literally taken fully charged batteries off the charger and put them right in the sensors and they start cycling. If I plug them in or put normal batteries in them they work perfectly. So instead of replacing all my sensors that normally work well, I thought it would be nice to put them on a permanent DC supply and have the DC supply on its own battery backup.

I actually saw a post last year where someone had done this but I can’t find the post anywhere now.

#4

I love this…
Thank you so much for the info, I will be cheking it out…

#5