Engine Heater

Posted on
Tue Oct 20, 2015 2:42 pm
andarv offline
Posts: 126
Joined: Jun 28, 2015
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Engine Heater

I'm trying to figure out how to get indigo to preheat my car. I want to be able to set a departure time and then Indigo calculates for how long it needs to preheat depending on outside temp.
My knowledge of Python is none, but i couldn't see any other way?

Right now I'm stuck, not sure how subtract the preheat time from my variable the easiest way?
The travelTime variable is stored "21:21" - I could of course store it in some other format, but the variable is right now set from a controlpage so it has to somewhat user-friendly.

"startHeater = travelTime - diff" is just a representation of what i would like to do.

Code: Select all
from datetime import datetime

EngineHeater = indigo.devices[606496378]
outTemp = float(indigo.variables[1616368062].value)
travelTime = indigo.variables[138374955].value

if (outTemp < 7.0):    #Start 1 hour before departure time
      diff = 60
   if (outTemp < 0.0):    #Start 1.5 hours before departure time
         diff = 90
      if (outTemp < -10.0):    #Start 2 hours before departure time
         diff = 120   
         if (outTemp < -20.0):       #Start 3 hours before departure time
               diff = 180

[b]startHeater = travelTime - diff[/b]

indigo.server.log("Current time is: " + datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M"))
indigo.server.log("Outside Temperatur: " + str(outTemp))
indigo.server.log("Travel time is set at: " + travelTime)
indigo.server.log("Engine heater preheats for: " + str(diff))

if startHeater == datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M"):
   indigo.device.turnOn(EngineHeater)

Posted on
Tue Oct 20, 2015 3:13 pm
howartp offline
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Joined: Jan 09, 2014
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Re: Engine Heater

Ooh - what device is your engine heater??


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Posted on
Tue Oct 20, 2015 6:13 pm
FlyingDiver offline
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Location: Southwest Florida, USA

Re: Engine Heater

howartp wrote:
Ooh - what device is your engine heater??


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He's probably using an appliance module of some kind. Most engine preheaters in the Northern US and Canada plug into a standard AC outlet.

To the OP - look at the Python docs for the datetime module (https://docs.python.org/2/library/datetime.html). You need to do the calculations using date objects, not formatted strings. Don't try to compare formatted strings, that's just going to break.

joe (aka FlyingDiver)
my plugins: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewforum.php?f=177

Posted on
Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:57 pm
howartp offline
Posts: 4559
Joined: Jan 09, 2014
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Re: Engine Heater

FlyingDiver wrote:
howartp wrote:
Ooh - what device is your engine heater??


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He's probably using an appliance module of some kind. Most engine preheaters in the Northern US and Canada plug into a standard AC outlet.

Ah :-(

I hoped someone had found a separate device of some sort - UK doesn't have preheaters that plug in; you need keys in car and engine turned on - or an expensive BMW.


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Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 3:06 am
durosity offline
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Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne, Ye Ol' England.

Re: Engine Heater

howartp wrote:
or an expensive BMW.


Or an electric car.. prices start at £13,445 ;)

Computer says no.

Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 3:37 am
howartp offline
Posts: 4559
Joined: Jan 09, 2014
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Re: Engine Heater

durosity wrote:
howartp wrote:
or an expensive BMW.


Or an electric car.. prices start at £13,445 ;)

Already on my shopping list... ;-)


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Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 3:57 am
DaveL17 offline
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Posts: 6744
Joined: Aug 20, 2013
Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Re: Engine Heater

You're on the right track. You need to think of two states of your variables for time. Indigo stores the information as a string whereas you need to do your math on datetime objects. Here's what I did to get you going:

- change the import statement to 'import datetime' (this changes how we refer to datetime objects, but they work the same way.)
- your if statements weren't properly indented.
- you put BB Code markup around your 'startHeater' line (I took it back out).
- when the temperature is 20 below, your if statements are all true. For all intents and purposes, this is okay, but I changed it to make it so only one condition is true at a time.
- convert travelTime to a datetime object using strptime.
- created a timedelta for the diff time.
- created a line so that you can see what time the heater kicks off.
- Your heater would only kick off if startHeater time was equal to now. You want to have the evaluation be a bit more forgiving (else it will only run when the two are equal.)


I think that's it. This is untested so please check my work. Also, you might consider letting Indigo manage the timer for how long the heater is on. Just a thought. If you have any questions about my mods to your script, don't hesitate to ask!
Dave

Code: Select all
import datetime

EngineHeater = indigo.devices[606496378]
outTemp = float(indigo.variables[1616368062].value)
travelTime = indigo.variables[138374955].value

if (0.0 < outTemp <= 7.0):    #Start 1 hour before departure time
    diff = 60
elif (-10.0 < outTemp <= 0.0):    #Start 1.5 hours before departure time
    diff = 90
elif (-20 < outTemp <= -10.0):    #Start 2 hours before departure time
    diff = 120   
elif (outTemp <= -20.0):       #Start 3 hours before departure time
    diff = 180
else:
    pass

travelTime_obj = datetime.datetime.strptime(travelTime, "%H:%M")
startHeater = travelTime_obj - datetime.timedelta(minutes=diff)

indigo.server.log("Current time is: " + datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M"))
indigo.server.log("Outside Temperature: " + str(outTemp))
indigo.server.log("Travel time is set at: " + travelTime)
indigo.server.log("Engine heater preheats for: " + str(diff))
indigo.server.log("Engine starts at: " + datetime.datetime.strftime(startHeater, "%H:%M"))

if startHeater < datetime.datetime.now():
   indigo.device.turnOn(EngineHeater)

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Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:21 pm
andarv offline
Posts: 126
Joined: Jun 28, 2015
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Re: Engine Heater

Thanks! It worked "out of the box".

I tried with the timedelta after reading the documentation for python, but never really got the hang of it. That's because I don't really understand how the different objects work. Right now I'm only at a strictly int, float or str level. Time/date and calculations is a lot harder than it looks, but this at least gives me a starting point.

Wouldn't have thought of the fact that the heater only would have kicked in when the time matched exactly.
And as you say, a timer to control is a future upgrade, it would be easier to prolong the heating period for the times you're running late (which seams to be always).

It's as pointed out, just a relay turning a socket on/off. My cars are prepared with an electric block heater for the engine and a heating fan for the compartment. One is equipped with a diesel heater as well but it's a waste to burn fuel at home or at work.

Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:24 pm
FlyingDiver offline
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Posts: 7189
Joined: Jun 07, 2014
Location: Southwest Florida, USA

Re: Engine Heater

andarv wrote:
It's as pointed out, just a relay turning a socket on/off. My cars are prepared with an electric block heater for the engine and a heating fan for the compartment. One is equipped with a diesel heater as well but it's a waste to burn fuel at home or at work.


How far north are you? I'm from Upstate NY, but heaters are not common there. I did work for a company based in Edmonton AB for a while, and they were a pretty common there.

joe (aka FlyingDiver)
my plugins: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewforum.php?f=177

Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:36 pm
andarv offline
Posts: 126
Joined: Jun 28, 2015
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Re: Engine Heater

FlyingDiver wrote:
How far north are you? I'm from Upstate NY, but heaters are not common there. I did work for a company based in Edmonton AB for a while, and they were a pretty common there.


Stockholm, Sweden. This far south I would guess that 10-20% of the cars have some kind of heater, further north it's a lot more common. Here we have around 10 days below -15 C and 40-50 below -5C.

Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:43 pm
DaveL17 offline
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Posts: 6744
Joined: Aug 20, 2013
Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Engine Heater

Glad to hear that this worked for you. Once you get the hang of time in Python, it's not too bad.

In the early 90's I did some work in central North Dakota where the wind chill bottomed out at -80F (-20 ambient.) I knew I was in trouble when I was handed my rental car keys and an extension cord... :D


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Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 2:04 pm
FlyingDiver offline
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Joined: Jun 07, 2014
Location: Southwest Florida, USA

Re: Engine Heater

I spent a week in Edmonton one winter. I knew what winters there were like. The sales reps that came from the southern part of the US thought a raincoat with a liner was a winter coat. Oops.

It was close to -35 that week. Doesn't matter what scale you're on for that temp...

joe (aka FlyingDiver)
my plugins: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewforum.php?f=177

Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 2:24 pm
andarv offline
Posts: 126
Joined: Jun 28, 2015
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Re: Engine Heater

Home automation - It's a luxury when you don't have to use an ice scraper every morning when your in a rush. Next step would be to use the prognoses from WU and my work calendar :)

Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 3:32 pm
DaveL17 offline
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Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Re: Engine Heater

I like WU.


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I came here to drink milk and kick ass....and I've just finished my milk.

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Posted on
Wed Oct 21, 2015 8:46 pm
RogueProeliator offline
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Posts: 2501
Joined: Nov 13, 2012
Location: Baton Rouge, LA

Re: Engine Heater

The sales reps that came from the southern part of the US thought a raincoat with a liner was a winter coat. Oops.

Hey, we know what a winter coat is down here! It's what we put on when it gets down to 40 degrees (Fahrenheit)...

And one slight code correction...
Code: Select all
elif (outTemp <= -20.0):       #Start 3 hours before departure time
    diff = 180
should actually be
Code: Select all
elif (outTemp <= -20.0):       # Stupidly cold condition
    travelTime = u"AIN'T NO WAY I'M GOING OUT IN THIS @#^@$^&@"
    indigo.server.log(u'Canceling trip.', isError = 'You bet your life'))

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