INSTEON Thermostats

I think I figured this out finally. I installed an APCC surge protector onto the 5 wire thermostat line (by cutting the wire and putting RJ-45 clips on each end) . Once I grounded the surge protector, energy mode stopped coming on. Seems like grounding provided the fix, for me at least.

NEW ISSUE WITH 2441TH:

I noticed that the set point on my 2441 TH seems to be changing arbitrary. Not sure why or when. I woke up this morning and it was 60 degrees in the 2441TH zone (warm outside today). The set point had gone down to 37. I bumped it back to 70, and I wrote a trigger to reset set point at 70 when set point drops below 67. It has happened at least 10 times in last 4 hours so something is certainly happening. I do not see anything in the log. My trigger script checks the status of the 2441 before reseting set point, and it seems to say 70, despite the fact that the trigger is being hit. I am very confused. Any ideas? Might there be some conversion going on to celsius? Just a guess. Not sure what else. It makes little sense to me.

[jay (support)]

I'd try factory resetting the 2441 - there have been a few reports of it spontaneously changing setpoints without any commands from Indigo. Not sure if it's reacting to some kind of very specific signal noise of if some other module thinks it has a direct link to the 2441.

A bit more color as I am next to the devices and can walk over to the thermostat when triggered. I have the trigger sending me an email when set point goes below 67 but not changing it now. When the trigger goes, the thermostat still says 70 degrees set point. So its like it is registering below for a split second, then going back to where it should be (at least most of the time). I can't get more detail because right after the set point below 67 trigger, the set point is still at 70. That seems to have been the experience all morning based on my logs, but now I confirmed at the thermostat itself. Another possibility is that the thermostat is confusing set point and humidity at times? Just guessing. I will try to reset, but here are the log entries around where I had issues:

First one:

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2015-11-02 16:36:06.064   Received INSTEON   "Thermostat - Upstairs" temperature changed to 70.0
2015-11-02 16:36:30.937   NuVo Grand Concerto   Path:pandora://273190500413043569.mp3
2015-11-02 16:36:30.938   NuVo Grand Concerto   station:;track:Wolfman's Brother ;artist:Phish
2015-11-02 16:36:30.939   NuVo Grand Concerto   Path:pandora://273190500413043569.mp3
2015-11-02 16:36:30.939   NuVo Grand Concerto   station:;track:Phish Radio ;artist:
2015-11-02 16:36:32.017   NuVo Grand Concerto   ? CommandPLINE2,"The Best of Buffalo Springfield"
2015-11-02 16:36:32.119   NuVo Grand Concerto   ? CommandPLINE1,"Buffalo Springfield - The Best of Buffalo Springfield"
2015-11-02 16:36:56.032   Received INSTEON   "Lisa Closet" off
2015-11-02 16:37:00.206   Error   setpoint temperature 0.0 out-of-bounds (using 1.0)
2015-11-02 16:37:00.778   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" set cool setpoint to 1.0
2015-11-02 16:37:00.937   NuVo Grand Concerto   Path:pandora://273190500413043569.mp3
2015-11-02 16:37:00.938   NuVo Grand Concerto   station:;track:Wolfman's Brother ;artist:Phish
2015-11-02 16:37:00.939   NuVo Grand Concerto   Path:pandora://273190500413043569.mp3
2015-11-02 16:37:00.939   NuVo Grand Concerto   station:;track:Phish Radio ;artist:
2015-11-02 16:37:01.448   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" set cool setpoint to 2.0
2015-11-02 16:37:01.990   NuVo Grand Concerto   ? CommandPLINE2,"The Best of Buffalo Springfield"
2015-11-02 16:37:02.094   NuVo Grand Concerto   ? CommandPLINE1,"Buffalo Springfield - The Best of Buffalo Springfield"
2015-11-02 16:37:04.548   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" set cool setpoint to 3.0
2015-11-02 16:37:05.219   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" set cool setpoint to 4.0
2015-11-02 16:37:05.921   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" set cool setpoint to 3.0
2015-11-02 16:37:06.353   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" mode request (received: cool on)
2015-11-02 16:37:06.800   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" temperature request (received: 70.0)
2015-11-02 16:37:07.279   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 39.0)
2015-11-02 16:37:07.934   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" setpoint request (received: cool 1.0)
2015-11-02 16:37:23.194   Action Group   Cool Downstairs
2015-11-02 16:37:23.749   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" turn cool on
2015-11-02 16:37:24.420   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" set cool setpoint to 70.0
2015-11-02 16:37:27.918   Received INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" cool setpoint changed to 70.0
2015-11-02 16:37:30.936   NuVo Grand Concerto   Path:pandora://273190500413043569.mp3
2015-11-02 16:37:30.937   NuVo Grand Concerto   station:;track:Wolfman's Brother ;artist:Phish
2015-11-02 16:37:30.938   NuVo Grand Concerto   Path:pandora://273190500413043569.mp3
2015-11-02 16:37:30.939   NuVo Grand Concerto   station:;track:Phish Radio ;artist:
2015-11-02 16:37:31.874   Trigger   Motion Office
2015-11-02 16:37:31.961   NuVo Grand Concerto   ? CommandPLINE2,"The Best of Buffalo Springfield"
2015-11-02 16:37:32.062   NuVo Grand Concerto   ? CommandPLINE1,"Buffalo Springfield - The Best of Buffalo Springfield"
2015-11-02 16:38:00.935   NuVo Grand Concerto   Path:pandora://273190500413043569.mp3


Second one:

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2015-11-03 00:00:00.427   Application   Created new log file (Indigo Server version 6.1.4)
2015-11-03 00:00:00.427   Schedule   Nightly Confirm
2015-11-03 00:00:00.448   Schedule   Update Concerto Clock
2015-11-03 00:00:06.140   Email Sent   to "pgershon@me.com"; subject "Indigo is running @125"
2015-11-03 00:00:20.529   Received INSTEON   "Thermostat - Upstairs" off (button 1)
2015-11-03 00:00:26.775   ELK M1G Control   Tick: 16XK0136232021115010007A
2015-11-03 00:01:46.174   Received INSTEON   "Thermostat - Upstairs" temperature changed to 68.0
2015-11-03 00:04:03.219   Received INSTEON   "Thermostat - Upstairs" temperature changed to 69.0

2015-11-03 00:05:00.070   Schedule   Outside Lights Stop
2015-11-03 00:05:00.071   Action Group   Outside Lights Off Back

2015-11-03 00:05:01.279   Sent INSTEON   "Outside Back Kitchen" off
2015-11-03 00:05:01.567   Sent INSTEON   "Outside Study Lights" off

2015-11-03 00:14:58.648   Trigger   Motion Third Floor

2015-11-03 00:17:03.198   Received INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" on (button 1)
2015-11-03 00:17:07.256   Received INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" heat setpoint changed to 39.0
2015-11-03 00:17:08.087   Received INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" cool setpoint changed to 37.0
2015-11-03 00:18:01.339   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:18:02.713   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 42.0)
2015-11-03 00:18:27.102   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:18:27.534   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 42.0)
2015-11-03 00:18:27.535   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:18:27.997   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 42.0)
2015-11-03 00:19:01.348   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:19:02.817   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 41.0)
2015-11-03 00:20:31.096   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:20:31.183   NuVo Grand Concerto   ? CommandPLINE1,"Buffalo Springfield - The Best of Buffalo Springfield"
2015-11-03 00:20:31.575   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 41.0)
2015-11-03 00:20:31.576   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:20:32.071   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 40.0)
2015-11-03 00:20:32.072   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:20:32.502   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 40.0)
2015-11-03 00:21:00.853   Trigger   Downstars Temperature Change
2015-11-03 00:21:02.866   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" temperature request (received: 69.5)
2015-11-03 00:23:17.136   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:23:17.520   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 40.0)
2015-11-03 00:23:17.521   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:23:17.983   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 40.0)
2015-11-03 00:24:01.332   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:24:02.737   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 39.0)
2015-11-03 00:26:43.083   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:26:43.658   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 39.0)
2015-11-03 00:26:43.659   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:26:43.849   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 39.0)
2015-11-03 00:27:01.339   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:27:02.777   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 38.0)
2015-11-03 00:30:44.060   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:30:45.002   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 38.0)
2015-11-03 00:30:45.003   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:30:45.594   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 37.0)
2015-11-03 00:30:45.594   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:30:46.073   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 37.0)
2015-11-03 00:31:00.865   Trigger   Downstars Temperature Change
2015-11-03 00:31:02.701   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" temperature request (received: 69.0)
2015-11-03 00:36:43.053   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:36:43.500   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 37.0)
2015-11-03 00:36:43.501   Trigger   Downstars Humidity Change
2015-11-03 00:36:43.963   Sent INSTEON   "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 37.0)

SO I DID A RESET AND IT DID NOT HELP AT ALL.


Adding most recent log - maybe more useful - not reading the set point:

Code: Select all

Nov 3, 2015, 1:59:00 PM
  Trigger                         Cool setpoint issue
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" mode request (received: unknown)
  Error                           unknown thermostat mode returned
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" temperature request (received: 66.0)
  PowerLinc                       Unexpected command 02 62 (flushing)
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 41.0)
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" setpoint request (received: cool 70.0)
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" set cool setpoint to 70.0
  Email Sent                      to "pgershon@me.com"; subject "Cool Set Point Issue"
Nov 3, 2015, 2:00:21 PM
  ELK M1G Control                 Tick: 16XK55351330311150100071
Nov 3, 2015, 2:03:20 PM
  Trigger                         Motion Office
  Received INSTEON                "Laundry Room" off
Nov 3, 2015, 2:05:00 PM
  Trigger                         Motion Living Room
  Trigger                         Downstars Temperature Change
  Trigger                         Downstars Humidity Change
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" temperature request (received: 66.5)
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 42.0)
  Trigger                         Cool setpoint issue
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" mode request (received: unknown)
  Error                           unknown thermostat mode returned
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" temperature request (received: 66.5)
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" humidity request (received: 42.0)
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" setpoint request (skipped)
  Sent INSTEON                    "Thermostat - Downstairs" set cool setpoint to 70.0
  PowerLinc                       Unexpected command 02 62 (flushing)
  Email Sent                      to "pgershon@me.com"; subject "Cool Set Point Issue"

I relinked the device and it seems to have fixed the problem. No issues for last 3 hours, after getting 3-4 trigger per hour earlier. Either that or the interference went away. But I suspect it was the link table.

Does anyone know of a thermostat, either INSTEON or ZWAVE, that could be used with electric baseboard heating? Obviously, it would have to be compatible with Indigo. We have electric in our basement and even though we don't use a lot, if it gets left on, the bill sky rockets so having some automation on this would be great.

You may not even need a full thermostat-based solution, but a wireless thermostat would work. You need a temperature sensor (Which the wireless insteon thermostats have.) and an indigo compatible on/off switch capable of handling the load of the electric baseboard heaters. The wireless thermostats are polled on a schedule and you may want a plug-in temperature sensor with more frequent updates (I don't have a first-hand recommendation for one).

Create a trigger for the temperature range to turn on/turn off the hi-load switch that the baseboard heaters are plugged into and you should be good to go... in theory, at least.

You may not even need a full thermostat-based solution, but a wireless thermostat would work. You need a temperature sensor (Which the wireless insteon thermostats have.) and an indigo compatible on/off switch capable of handling the load of the electric baseboard heaters. The wireless thermostats are polled on a schedule and you may want a plug-in temperature sensor with more frequent updates (I don't have a first-hand recommendation for one).

Create a trigger for the temperature range to turn on/turn off the hi-load switch that the baseboard heaters are plugged into and you should be good to go... in theory, at least.

That might be an option. The headers are hardwired so I would have to look at a 220 V wired module (which, I think Smarthome has). Perhaps when I start a basement remodel in the next year or so......

thanks,

mark

I have an Venter thermostat with the 2441V adapter and just recently started having problems. I'm getting a lot of communication failures (no acknowledgement) issues when sending commands to change settings. I've tried resetting the adapter to factory defaults and it seems to reset like it says in the manual, but I still get the failures. I'm betting I get 1 of 20 commands through successfully with confirmation. That's obviously not going to work out.

I am used to seeing an "acknowledgment failure" every now an then, which is why I have redundant "set commands" about 2 minutes apart, just in case, but having it fail massively like this is something I can't live with.

Any thoughts? Can an adapter go "partially defective"? Every now and then it seems to get a signal through, but it's suddenly rare (and cold in my house in the morning)...

Steve

[jay (support)]

It's much more likely that you have a new source of signal noise that's causing these failures. And since the thermostat adaptors are RF only, it could also be RF interference. If you don't have very many dual-band Insteon devices, then perhaps the one that's closest to the thermo adaptor is failing in some way, or is seeing a lot of communication issues which is causing it to fail to relay powerline signals to RF and back. You might try moving other dual-band devices around to see if that helps.

Does anyone know of a thermostat, either INSTEON or ZWAVE, that could be used with electric baseboard heating? Obviously, it would have to be compatible with Indigo. We have electric in our basement and even though we don't use a lot, if it gets left on, the bill sky rockets so having some automation on this would be great.

I've been using the Venstar for a number of years connected to an Aube relay that provides the 24v power to the venstar but also switches the 240v power to the baseboard. They have worked really well with Indigo as far as control and status, but the hardware has been flaky at times with wireless issues and such as reported elsewhere.
But I just found these and I am stoked! https://www.aartech.ca/stz402-zwave-line-voltage-baseboard-thermostat.html
I think they might be the first insteon or zwave thermostats exclusively for 240v baseboard and hoping they can be integrated to indigo. Less than half the price of the old venstar/Aube relay setup.
There are millions of these baseboards around in older homes here in Canada. But I've been looking for years for a solution to be able to control through Indigo as the Venstar/Aube solution is showing its age for sure. I have 13 of them in the house so will replace them with the z wave Stelpro units, but only if I can integrate them to my Indigo system (wouldn't part with that !) Jay/Matt? How about it?

[jay (support)]

Hey Jim - I looked briefly at the docs and I think it will probably just work(™) since it uses what appears to be standard thermostat classes. I'd recommend getting one and trying it out. Send us a device report when you do even if it works. If it doesn't (or doesn't fully work) then we'll look at it to see if it just needs a simple device definition (maybe based on another similar device) or if we'll need to add some code. Then we can decide when we can get it in.

Is there a device available for humidity control? The Venter T1900 reports humidity and can control humidity, but there does not seem to be an instead command to set the humidity level (you need to physically change the setting on the T1900). The Insteon thermostat simply reports humidity but does not control it. Is there a humidistat only or combined thermostat humidistat that can be fully controlled with Insteon (or Z wave for that matter)?

[matt (support)]

I'm not aware of any Z-Wave controllable thermostat that allows Z-Wave control of a humidifier/dehumidifier. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist though, of course. Personally I've used a standard appliance module to control a couple of outlet plugin dehumidifiers, but nothing tied into my central HVAC/thermostats.