Alexa doesn't adjust Virtual Thermostat device temperature

🧰 Built-In Apps and Drivers
1

Greetings!

I've struggled with this for a few hours and after searching I didn't see any related topics.

I created a device using the stock Virtual Thermostat device driver and added it to my Amazon Echo Skill. Alexa can tell me what the temperature of the device is and she can set the mode to Off/Auto/Heat/Cool but I get a "device is not responding" error when asking her to set or change temperature.

I tried:

  • Setting/clearing the "Advanced thermostat interface (all setpoints)" checkbox...
  • Toggling the Virtual Thermostat's demonstration mode on and off...

This next step took a LONG time...

  • In Hubitat I deselected all the Alexa Echo Skill devices, deleted the app and rebooted the hub

  • On my iPhone I deleted all linked Hubitat devices (129!), unlinked/disabled the Amazon Echo skill, deleted the app (!) and rebooted my phone.

  • Then in reverse I downloaded the Alexa app, linked Hubitat, added all the devices back into the Alexa Echo Skill... and.... still NOTHING aka "device is not responding"

Can anyone confirm that the Virtual Thermostat driver works or not with the Alexa Echo Skill?... and if so what are your settings?

Maybe I'm just asking the wrong phrases - but my two Venstar Explorer Mini thermostats (that use the Venstar Alexa integration) work perfectly with phrases like "Alexa, raise the main thermostat TWO degrees"... I would assume that command words are the same across thermostat skill integrations, right?...

Ultimately I want to write my own virtual driver to interface with a homebrew ESP32 thermostat system that I'm creating... but Alexa has to process temperature setting commands with a plain vanilla driver first.

Any help would be appreciated - THANKS!

2

Just to be clear... Alexa thinks that a "Temperature" attribute is reporting temperature from a temp sensor, if you ask her what the temperature is of a device. I don't see why Alexa would understand to set a temperature, as it is not normally something to be set, only read.

In the Virtual Thermostat driver, temperature needs to be set manually since it is not a real thermostat. Are you asking Alexa to set the temperature, for what would be "room" temperature, or are you asking to set a setpoint temperature?

If you want to set the setpoint, you would ask her to set the thermostat setpoint, not temperature.

Just FYI, if you wanted to edit the virtual driver in any way, it is posted by Hubitat here.

Edit: I added a virtual thermostat and I shared it with Alexa. When I ask her to set the temperature, she sets the setpoint. If I ask her to set the setpoint, she sets the setpoint. I am not getting "device not responding" however. She does understand that asking to set temperature sets the thermostat setpoint.

3

Thanks so much for that driver source link - I created a new driver with it, added a device "Alpha Thermostat" and tried again.

"Alexa, what is the temperature of the Alpha Thermostat?" = "The Alpha Thermostat is 68 degrees."

"Alexa, set Alpha Thermostat off" = "It's Off"

"Alexa, set Alpha Thermostat to auto" = "It's set to auto"

...but any of these...
"Alexa, change Alpha Thermostat to 77 degrees",
"Alexa, change Alpha Thermostat's setpoint to 77 degrees",
"Alexa, change Alpha Thermostat's temperature setpoint to 77 degrees",
"Alexa, raise the temperature of Alpha Thermostat by 2 degrees" =

"Sorry, Alpha Thermostat is not responding"

EDIT: I JUST FOUND SOMETHING...

The above gives errors when the thermostat's mode is OFF or AUTO.

If it's in COOL or HEAT mode then these do indeed work:

"Alexa, set Alpha Thermostat to heat" = "It's set to heat"

"Alexa, set Alpha Thermostat to 77 degrees" = "Thermostat is set to 77"

"Alexa, set Alpha Thermostat to auto" = "It's set to auto"

"Alexa, set Alpha Thermostat to 73 degrees" = "Sorry, Alpha Thermostat is not responding"

"Alexa, set Alpha Thermostat to cool" = "It's set to cool"

"Alexa, lower Alpha Thermostat by two degrees" = "Thermostat is set to 75 degrees"

So now I have to determine what's going on with the AUTO mode... which I usually leave my thermostats in all the time...

4

Don't overlook these specific options of the Amazon Echo Skill app on your hub, if any apply:

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image2016×528 39.1 KB

5

That is probably it, I do have that Advanced thermostat interface option enabled with mine working.