Thermostat Enhancement Plugin

Code: Select all

>>> print indigo.devices[1198387351]
model : Thermostat Adapter (2441V)
name : HVAC Thermostat [house]
>>>


I've added that as a supported Thermostat in the Thermostat Enhancement Plugin, and sent you a link via Private message. Please try it out, and let me know the results....

Assuming everything is good, I'll release it to the public shortly.

- Ben

... Assuming everything is good, I'll release it to the public shortly.

- Ben

SUCCESS! I'm getting data! I will continue testing and report back.

Questions:
1) Are monthly totals literal months, Jan, Feb... or some ±30 day calc from the day you activate the plugin?
2) I like to view historical data for comparison. Assuming literal months, then on Oct 31 we will see Oct total min, but the next day Nov 1, we will see zero.

Is it possible to save monthly/yearly totals each as a CP device state? Example:

2013 AC MINUTES
Jan (20)
Feb (17)
Mar (5)

3) What exactly needed to be added that now makes my plugin work? I thought everyone [except those who own the integrated Venstar] are using a 2441v. The reason I ask is that I'm planning to purchase another stat in the near future. So if I choose another Venstar T1800 w/ 2441v will it need to also be added to your plugin code?

4) Will we ever be able to display data in graph form, like your old script?

Thanks for the help

SUCCESS! I'm getting data! I will continue testing and report back.

Excellent. Glad to hear it. I'll release an update this weekend to bring everyone up to v1.11.

1) Are monthly totals literal months, Jan, Feb... or some ±30 day calc from the day you activate the plugin?

The totals are based on the literal months. The test is if the month is not the same as yesterday's month.

2) I like to view historical data for comparison. Assuming literal months, then on Oct 31 we will see Oct total min, but the next day Nov 1, we will see zero.

The issue is where to simply store the data... I am looking to extend this, and generate emailed reports....

But I certainly welcome suggestions....

Is it possible to save monthly/yearly totals each as a CP device state? Example:
2013 AC MINUTES
Jan (20)
Feb (17)
Mar (5)

Once again, it becomes, how many states is safe for a device to store? Or for someone to be able to view?

The STATE GUI in Indigo only allows you to see 4-5 states, and doesn't dynamic resize, so it's possible to not be able to read the contents of a state....

While it is possible to send data to the web process, it's one way communication.... So I could pickle the thermostat data, and have IWS display it.... But the real answer is for IWS to be able to communicate with Indigo server.... But I have no idea on the time frame for it...

So I'm not sure the best way to display the data.... It's a catch-22....

3) What exactly needed to be added that now makes my plugin work? I thought everyone [except those who own the integrated Venstar] are using a 2441v. The reason I ask is that I'm planning to purchase another stat in the near future. So if I choose another Venstar T1800 w/ 2441v will it need to also be added to your plugin code?

Unless there's a different model of thermostat, we should be good... I needed to find the model for the plugin, since it ignores all devices, except for the registered ("Known") thermostat models...

4) Will we ever be able to display data in graph form, like your old script?

I will be looking into this, but I have to find a better way to generate the graph. Google Charts is quite limiting, and it is possible to exceed the allowed data going to Google Charts....

- Ben

I am releasing a slight upgrade to the Thermostat Enhancement plugin...

The major difference is adding in support for a "new thermostat"...
▪ v1.11 - Released - 10/14/2012
⁃ Added Support for Thermostat Adapter (2441V).

▪ v1.10 - Release 10/07/2012
⁃ Added automatic Device State updating
⁃ Added preliminary support for multiple thermostat support. You will need to update your Thermostat Monitor device with the thermostat to monitor. Just open the Device, and choose it from the pull down, and then save...
⁃ Multiple thermostat support is still in beta. Please contact me if you run into any issues!!!
⁃ Added support for the 2491T7E Thermostat.

Available from here .... https://dl.dropbox.com/u/241415/Thermos ... 0v1.11.zip

I've just finally installed the v5 plugin of this, and it's working OK so far. But, the biggest thing I need out of this is to alert me when to change my media filter. With the v4 plugin I was counting fan usage (AC, Heater, Fan runtimes) to tell me when to change the filter.

Is there a way to achieve this with the new plugin? I basically want to increment a variable by the amount of any (AC, Heater, or Fan) last run time. When said variable reaches a certain count, I change the filter and then manually reset it to 0.

I've just finally installed the v5 plugin of this, and it's working OK so far. But, the biggest thing I need out of this is to alert me when to change my media filter. With the v4 plugin I was counting fan usage (AC, Heater, Fan runtimes) to tell me when to change the filter.

Is there a way to achieve this with the new plugin? I basically want to increment a variable by the amount of any (AC, Heater, or Fan) last run time. When said variable reaches a certain count, I change the filter and then manually reset it to 0.

For now, you can use the Action Collection plugin to copy the State of the Fan/Heat/AC daily run, monthly, or yearly run to a variable...

Although, I'm not sure about the reseting of the state back to 0....

I'll think about this and see if I can think of a good workflow....

- Benjamin

Hi Ben,

Thought you'd enjoy seeing this. Woke up this morning to find the kids' bedroom area was much warmer than usual, at 73. Didn't know why as they were still asleep and we all like it cool; temp is automatically set at 60 at midnight and rises to 68 at 5:00 or so.

2012-10-24 05:02:21 Received INSTEON "Thermostat Main Bedrooms" temperature changed to 68.0

Anyway looks like a Venstar gremlin that was nipped by the thermostat plugin.

2012-10-24 05:05:12 Received INSTEON "Thermostat Main Bedrooms" heat setpoint changed to 225.0
2012-10-24 05:05:12 Thermostat Enhancement Add-On Thermostat Enhancement is overriding the Heat Setpoint. Was set to 225.0, overriding to 85
2012-10-24 05:05:13 Sent INSTEON "Thermostat Main Bedrooms" set heat setpoint to 85.0
2012-10-24 05:05:17 Received INSTEON "Thermostat Main Bedrooms" on (button 2)
2012-10-24 05:05:17 Thermostat Enhancement Add-On Clearing Last Weekly Runtime for heating.
2012-10-24 05:05:17 Thermostat Enhancement Add-On The heating Weekly Runtime for Thu Oct 18 15:01:56 2012 was 0 minutes.
2012-10-24 05:05:17 Thermostat Enhancement Add-On Clearing Last Daily Runtime for heating.

One thing this shows, however, is that the plugin placed the heat set setpoint to 85, what I had had entered for my max house temperature. In my understanding of the plugin's limits (apparently wrong) I expected the max achievable temp to be limited to 85, e.g. the house would cool if it ever hit that point, not that it would allow a max setting of the heat to that level. Would it be possible to enable setting a max temp that the heat can be set and a min cooling temp? Would have been better if the heat couldn't have risen above say 75. I know that's a little different from having the safety borders -- I think these serve to keep the house within a certain temp range regardless of the state of the thermostat. As a followup, I have 5 Venstars and have enabled the plugin for each. It seems to be working fine so far, although the weather has been so nice there hasn't been much need for HVAC.

Finally, do I recall that Indigo would also have caught an error of this magnitude? If so, would Indigo have reset the temp? Right after the above event, there is this entry in the log:

2012-10-24 05:05:19 Received INSTEON "Thermostat Main Bedrooms" heat setpoint changed to 74.0

Where did that come from?

Hi Ben, often see your fine plugins, but haven't put any to use yet. I thought I'd try this one out as it looks handy however I suspect it only works with Insteon thermostats? I thought maybe it would work with any.

I tried to connect it to the Nest plugin (which appears to use the Indigo framework for thermostats), and the device/config allows me to pick it, but I don't think it will work. Seeing your comments about adding a thermo model, maybe not.

Was curious to ask, just in case.

Thanks!

Hi Ben, often see your fine plugins, but haven't put any to use yet. I thought I'd try this one out as it looks handy however I suspect it only works with Insteon thermostats? I thought maybe it would work with any.

I tried to connect it to the Nest plugin (which appears to use the Indigo framework for thermostats), and the device/config allows me to pick it, but I don't think it will work. Seeing your comments about adding a thermo model, maybe not.

Was curious to ask, just in case.

It depends on the Nest device. If it is modeled after the Insteon Thermostat than I believe it would work.

In Indigo, right click on your nest thermostat.... Choose Copy Indigo ID...

Go to the Indigo Plugin's Menu, and choose Open Indigo Shell.

In the Shell Window, type:

print indigo.devices[ <<Right Click choose paste >> ]

that should insert the Nest Indigo's Device Number in the right brackets...

Cut and paste the results, and I'll take a look to see if I can add it to the Thermostat Enhancement plugin.

- Ben

Thought you'd enjoy seeing this. Woke up this morning to find the kids' bedroom area was much warmer than usual, at 73. Didn't know why as they were still asleep and we all like it cool; temp is automatically set at 60 at midnight and rises to 68 at 5:00 or so.

I have a similar schedule on my thermostat. At 7 pm it goes down to 66, and in the morning it's set to 68.

I had considered a "deep drop" as you have set, but my justification for not doing it is simply that the house would still have to warm back up, so any savings in dropping the temperature would probably be negated by the heat up cycle...

Anyway looks like a Venstar gremlin that was nipped by the thermostat plugin.

2012-10-24 05:05:12 Received INSTEON "Thermostat Main Bedrooms" heat setpoint changed to 225.0
2012-10-24 05:05:12 Thermostat Enhancement Add-On Thermostat Enhancement is overriding the Heat Setpoint. Was set to 225.0, overriding to 85
2012-10-24 05:05:13 Sent INSTEON "Thermostat Main Bedrooms" set heat setpoint to 85.0

Wow. Excellent. I know I had tested it myself, but it is good to hear this is working in the field... And that it performed as designed...

One thing this shows, however, is that the plugin placed the heat set setpoint to 85, what I had had entered for my max house temperature. In my understanding of the plugin's limits (apparently wrong) I expected the max achievable temp to be limited to 85, e.g. the house would cool if it ever hit that point, not that it would allow a max setting of the heat to that level.

I can understand that. I've added a To Do item to look at adding an optional user setting, so that when the Thermostat exceeds those limits, you can (optionally) set an value to set the thermostat to. So in your case, you could say 70 degrees for max heat, and 60 for minimum heat...

Do you think that would met your requirements?

Finally, do I recall that Indigo would also have caught an error of this magnitude? If so, would Indigo have reset the temp? Right after the above event, there is this entry in the log:

I don't recall Indigo having this feature... It's possible, but I would expect that if it did, it would of thrown out the bad data, instead of setting the heat to 225.

2012-10-24 05:05:19 Received INSTEON "Thermostat Main Bedrooms" heat setpoint changed to 74.0

Where did that come from?[/quote]

No idea...?

- Ben

One thing this shows, however, is that the plugin placed the heat set setpoint to 85, what I had had entered for my max house temperature. In my understanding of the plugin's limits (apparently wrong) I expected the max achievable temp to be limited to 85, e.g. the house would cool if it ever hit that point, not that it would allow a max setting of the heat to that level.

I can understand that. I've added a To Do item to look at adding an optional user setting, so that when the Thermostat exceeds those limits, you can (optionally) set an value to set the thermostat to. So in your case, you could say 70 degrees for max heat, and 60 for minimum heat...

Do you think that would met your requirements?

I'm not the OP, but I would like to chime in here that this would be a nice feature.

It depends on the Nest device. If it is modeled after the Insteon Thermostat than I believe it would work.
<snip>
Cut and paste the results, and I'll take a look to see if I can add it to the Thermostat Enhancement plugin.

- Ben

Cool, Ben - I think it uses Indigo's Thermostat plugin framework, but not sure if modeled after the Insteon one.

Here's the results - thanks! ;

Code: Select all

address : Home : Nest
buttonGroupCount : 0
coolIsOn : False
coolSetpoint : 0.0
description : Nest Thermostat
deviceTypeId : NestThermo
enabled : True
errorState :
fanIsOn : False
fanMode : Auto
folderId : 0
globalProps : MetaProps : (dict)
     com.johnemeryray.nestthermostat : (dict)
          NumHumidityInputs : 1 (integer)
          NumTemperatureInputs : 1 (integer)
          ShowCoolHeatEquipmentStateUI : true (bool)
          address : Home : Nest (string)
          devicelocation : Home (string)
          devicename : Nest (string)
          password : <SNIP>(string)
          sep :  (string)
          username : <SNIP> (string)
heatIsOn : False
heatSetpoint : 17.0
humidities : [43.0]
humiditySensorCount : 1
hvacMode : Heat
id : <SNIP>
lastChanged : 2012-10-26 00:55:51
model : Nest Thermostat Module
name : Nest
pluginId : com.johnemeryray.nestthermostat
pluginProps : emptyDict : (dict)
protocol : Plugin
remoteDisplay : True
states : States : (dict)
     away : false (bool)
     humidityInput1 : 43 (real)
     humidityInputsAll : 43 (string)
     hvacCoolerIsOn : off (on/off bool)
     hvacFanIsOn : off (on/off bool)
     hvacFanMode : 0 (integer)
     hvacFanMode.ui : auto on (string)
     hvacFanModeIsAlwaysOn : false (bool)
     hvacFanModeIsAuto : true (bool)
     hvacHeaterIsOn : off (on/off bool)
     hvacOperationMode : 1 (integer)
     hvacOperationMode.ui : heat on (string)
     hvacOperationModeIsAuto : false (bool)
     hvacOperationModeIsCool : false (bool)
     hvacOperationModeIsHeat : true (bool)
     hvacOperationModeIsOff : false (bool)
     hvacOperationModeIsProgramAuto : false (bool)
     hvacOperationModeIsProgramCool : false (bool)
     hvacOperationModeIsProgramHeat : false (bool)
     setpointCool : 0 (real)
     setpointHeat : 17 (real)
     temperatureInput1 : 21 (real)
     temperatureInputsAll : 21 (string)
supportsAllLightsOnOff : False
supportsAllOff : False
supportsStatusRequest : True
temperatureSensorCount : 1
temperatures : [21.0]
version : 0


It depends on the Nest device. If it is modeled after the Insteon Thermostat than I believe it would work.
<snip>
Cut and paste the results, and I'll take a look to see if I can add it to the Thermostat Enhancement plugin.

Cool, Ben - I think it uses Indigo's Thermostat plugin framework, but not sure if modeled after the Insteon one.

It looks good... At least at first glance.

Drop me an email at Benjamin AT schollnick DOT net, and I'll send you a beta for you to try with the Nest.

(Anyone else with a NEST, feel free to drop me a line as well. Preferably with the subject line mentioning the NEST thermostat...)

- Ben

One thing this shows, however, is that the plugin placed the heat set setpoint to 85, what I had had entered for my max house temperature. In my understanding of the plugin's limits (apparently wrong) I expected the max achievable temp to be limited to 85, e.g. the house would cool if it ever hit that point, not that it would allow a max setting of the heat to that level.

I can understand that. I've added a To Do item to look at adding an optional user setting, so that when the Thermostat exceeds those limits, you can (optionally) set an value to set the thermostat to. So in your case, you could say 70 degrees for max heat, and 60 for minimum heat...

Do you think that would met your requirements?

I'm not the OP, but I would like to chime in here that this would be a nice feature.

Consider it done. I may want to change the wording in the Device Dialog... But the basic code, and option is in the latest NEST enabled beta...

I have one more feature that I have been working at, but I may back burner that option for later...

- Ben

But the basic code, and option is in the latest NEST enabled beta...

Wait.. the NEST is an Insteon device? I didn't realize that before..

Also, should I go ahead with using the Action Collection plugin to keep track of the fan usage for notifying me when to change the media filter? Or did you think of a better workflow?