I'm just getting started with Hubitat. I have a Nest thermostat now that I've been completely happy with, but the setup in Hubitat from what I've read in posts is not fun...and stability and control came up in a lot of posts.
The one thing that might push me to spend the $$$'s to replace a perfectly good device is if the Ecobee with Hubitat lets you adjust humidity levels. Nest hasn't so far and if it suddenly drops to -20 outside you don't want the air inside at 40%.
Can you adjust humidity vai Hubitat with an Ecobee thermostat?
You can do it it with pretty much any thermostat. I don't like ecobee (cloud based) others do. I prefer the Honeywell T6 Pro z-wave. That said, simply create a rule to turn on/off your humidifier in relation to RH. Get a smart plug to plug the humidifer into. Leave your existing controls in place maxed out. Then create the rule to turn off/on the plug based on humidity readings. Virtual thermostat is good for this. The real guy to tap for this though is @aaiyar as he is a guru at that sort of thing.
Thanks. I'd seen a post that said the Ecobee was controlled locally...why Hubitat doesn't do Nest. Is the cloud for remote control through the Ecobee app, or always required?
It's an interesting approach, but I don't want to hard power off my steam-based humidifier to control Humidity. It's an 800 dollar box
According to code writing guys over on the Homeseer site...Google Nest's API doesn't allow for adjusting humidity. I'd be willing to buy a new one that does eventually.
I don't see that as controllable in the Hubitat app for Ecobee either.
This can be done, but requires setting up Home Assistant (along with its HomeKit controller component), and then integrating Hubitat with Home Assistant. Both of which are relatively simple, but do require a Home Assistant setup.
However, in general, Ecobee's cloud is considered to be sufficiently reliable that it isn't necessary to setup local control.
There are multiple ecobee integrations for the Hubitat platform. All of which are cloud dependent (other than the Home Assistant route mentioned above). I don't know whether the built-in ecobee integration permits independent humidity control. However, both the other integrations most certainly do:
I have listed the two integrations in the order that they first became available on the Hubitat platform. Note that the second integration is not free, and supported entirely by @yracine66, who has "Developer Plus" status.
@storageanarchy's integration is free, and is supported by the community of users who use it, along with Barry himself.
Thanks. That is awesome and may work well with many types of humidifiers. My AprilAire Model 800 steam humidifier is not designed for hard on/off from an outlet. It has an entire startup and shutdown routine.
The price is very close to the model number, so I really don't want to take that approach.
Setting humidity control levels on a thermostat should be just as easy as setting a temp.
Why Google Nest lets you do so in the app and yet denies it via the API...I have no idea.
Well, you can definitely do this using an ecobee. You just need to use one of the two community integrations, rather than the built-in integration.
I will add that the ecobee is definitely one of the best thermostats I have ever owned. I just moved into a new house with a Nest, and am appalled at the lack of configuration choices. It will soon be replaced by an ecobee.
But Nest definitely does not handle multi-stage HVAC equipment well. There are no easily configured staging controls like the ecobee has (either Δtime or Δtemp-difference). It is much less easy to prevent short-cycling on a Nest compared to ecobee). It is also not possible to configure something like reverse staging (start at stage 1, shift to stage 2, then return to stage 1 before finishing the current cycle). These are features that ecobee has had since their initial release in 2010.
Your AprilAire model needs to be connected to mains power at all times like you state. But your humidifier will simply run when it has 24 volts applied to its control terminals. You could simply automate the on/off of your humidifier by controlling when 24 volts is applied to these control terminals. If you plug something like this into a smart outlet:
I would still run an "airflow proving switch" and a "high humidity limit switch" in series so that 24v control power is cutoff from the unit if these respective conditions are applicable.
I constantly adjust the set humidity point, I live in a very cold climate so this is very desirable for me. My rule looks like this:
That’s brilliant. I may even have a relay around that I can control this. Thank you that’s a great approach and will save me money on replacing the thermostat in the short run!
It has worked great for me. There are a few different ways your AprilAire may currently have its control wiring, but you probably already have the airflow proving switch and the high humidity limit switch wired in the existing control wiring, just need to change your 24 volt power source.
If you don't already have these installed (unlikely) I would install them. Your humidifier can pump serious quantities of humidity, you would not want it to stay on cause of a defective smart switch and/or HE malfunction/bug.
I’m thinking I’ll just use a relay on the lead from the thermostat when it gets cold enough to cause water build up on windows and walls.
Great thought process. Thanks!
I will have to see if the fan runs the whole time the relay is open and I can’t stop it because it thinks the humidifier is on…had not thought about that…hope not.
Use one of the ZEN16/17 relays on the humidifier control wire rather than cutting the power to the unit - that's what I did on mine (and I don't even have the steam one in this house). I'm actually sort of annoyed I didn't just go the outlet approach as others have suggested - not sure why I didn't think of that at the time.
On a completely different note - in my last house in the Pittsburgh area I installed the Aprilaire 800 (240V - maxed out the capacity). It was incredibly awesome at humidifying the house - loved it...until I went to sell the house, at which point I discovered that the attic stairs and the various 2nd floor ceiling can lights were not exactly perfectly sealed and my attic was full of mold.
I guess I just bring it up to say 1) jealous because I loved how great it was at producing massive amounts of humidity quickly; but 2) be careful considering 1
Ya, anything that you over humidify during cold temps can cause that. You never want to see sweat on a window... they are the first thing to do so...and why this is such an important feature for me.
I'm at 110v using the LC canisters and it does well.
I just already have the Zooz relay from another project...so will start there.
Thanks!
Also, someone (I honestly can't remember who) figured out the calculation to basically automate the humidity settings based on predicted future temperatures. The rule is posted in the forums here somewhere, but I can't find them. It involves pulling values from OpenWeather. Here are my rules (set point and humidifier control):
