Hello, I'm stuck trying to figure out how to use thermostat current temp as baseline for tweaking.
I set up a simple RM in which a virtual switch in dashboard sets thermostat to heat/hold, increases heat set point by 1 degree, runs for 45 minutes then resets thermostat to AUTO.
What I'm trying to do is make it simple to blow the cold corners out of the house without having to remember to undo any thermostat settings or getting house too warm. Say the house is idle at 66 degrees and set point is also 66. The program works great, running at 67 for 45 minutes then reverting to schedule. BUT if house is 66 and feeling cold but set point is 64, this doesn't work.
So I'd like to insert current temperature into formula and bump up 1 degree from that (instead of working from set point), but I can't figure how to pull that current temperature for use. Any help is appreciated.
There are a few ways to do this, but here's what I would do:
Create local variables to store your current and desired temperatures
Create actions to set the variables (first 2 actions)
Set the thermostat to the increased variable (action 3)
Set a wait for the thermostat to reach that temperature (action 4). You could use your 45 minute delay here, but waiting for the temperature to increase ensures your reaching the elevated temperature.
Reset the thermostat to the original thermostat value once the temperature is reached (action 5)
Here's another option where you can create another "Chilly Temperature" variable that pulls the current temperature from the sensor that has that lower temperature you're trying to fix. The wait action can then wait for that chilly temperature to rise up to the desired temperature (e.g. chillyTemperature +2 shown in action 5) and then reset the thermostat to original temperature.
If you go this direction, you may need to use a higher thermostat set point to ensure that it runs until your chilly sensor reaches the new desired temperature. You could also do some more advanced logic to account for this, such as a repeat that increases your thermostat set point X degrees every X minutes until the chilly sensor reaches the desired temperature. But probably easier just to set your thermostat high enough to accomplish your new setting.
These are great Brad, thanks. This really helped me get to where I needed to be to better understand how to expose the current temp.
For now I'm going to stick with my 45 minutes timer, as I know how my house reacts and I'm not really trying to change the temperature to a set point. I'm just trying to push SOME heat with fan to blow out the cold corners.
