Honeywell T6 Pro temperature reporting oddities

jerias.mitchell · May 13, 2020, 12:13pm

I recently replaced my GoControl with the Honewell T6 Pro. Functionally, it appears to working well (after some CPH tweaking). However, I've observed some temperature reporting oddities.

Has anyone else seen these behaviors? I'm curious if I may have a flaky device.

After any configurations are done via the touch screen, the temperature reported spikes 3-4 degrees and then will slowly ramp back down to the real temperature reading. Perhaps an IC heating up during the config save is affecting the temp sensor?
I have the device configured to report/display Fahrenheit. The temperature reading appear to skip 74 F. I've seen it hop between 73 and 75 on multiple occasions. I'm suspecting that the thermostat is using Celsius under the hood and there is some rounding going on (23C = 73.4F, 24C = 75.2F). To further support this, at one point I hit refresh when the display had hopped to 75 and the reported temperature on the device page showed 75.2... I only have seen it show 74 once after I reset and reconfigured the device.

I don't think this is driver related as I see this same behavior on the display as well.

aaiyar · May 13, 2020, 1:11pm

Thank you for posting this. I checked mine (looking at events from the device page). I don't see any examples of 3-4 degree temperature spikes.

However, I do see several examples of a 2 degree decrease (i.e. going from 71 to 69), which could result from C to F conversion.

Tagging @bcopeland - he has the same thermostat.

JasonJoel · May 13, 2020, 1:16pm

If temp is calculated internally in 1C increments, that would be horrible in terms of control.

I have to believe that isn't the case (at least not internally) and it is more of a cosmetic item. No other Honeywell thermostat I've had (and I've had 4-5 models) worked in 1C increments, thus my belief this is a cosmetic thing.

Bob may know for sure though.

bcopeland · May 13, 2020, 1:29pm

It sounds like a rounding bug...

Turn this on.. I find it produces more accurate readings

jerias.mitchell · May 13, 2020, 1:32pm

I'll test that out, although the wording implies it only affects the z-wave reporting. I've observed the same temperature "skip" on the device display as well.

bcopeland · May 13, 2020, 1:32pm

Before I had that on .. I found it to jump degrees like described..

bcopeland · May 13, 2020, 1:33pm

Correct.. But it allows you to see why it's showing what it's showing on the screen.. And it appears to be a rounding bug like I said, from what I have observed.

jerias.mitchell · May 13, 2020, 1:35pm

I just enabled it. I'll let it run for the day and see how the reporting behaves.

aaiyar · May 13, 2020, 1:44pm

FYI - I have that turned on.

jerias.mitchell · May 14, 2020, 11:08am

So after enabling the above setting the z-wave reporting was a bit more linear, but still not what I'd expect. Mostly one degree jumps but now with 0.5 offset (I.E. 73.5 -> 74.5). Also, the display really doesn't like 74 F for some reason...

Under the hood, the thermostat is working well, so as mentioned above, it's probably just a rounding bug that is mostly cosmetic. It's good to know it's not just my unit.

The OCD engineer in me won't leave it alone though, so I'll probably do some more profiling. Perhaps I'll switch to Celsius and see if the display/z-wave reporting is more constant...

JB_TX · May 14, 2020, 2:10pm

One note about the advanced temperature reporting...

It has been reported here on other thread(s) that there is some bug in the advanced reporting that creates runaway Z Wave reporting. And it happened to me once. My stat starting reporting the humidity multiple times per second and didn’t stop until I did “something.” (IIRC, I disabled the advanced reporting to stop it, but I may have sent a Refresh. Not 100% sure.)

If you ever experience a slow Z Wave network, check your logs for that reporting bug. (I think Honeywell makes the best residential stats around from the HVAC perspective, but their ‘technology side’ is a bit lacking. Even with advanced reporting disabled, my stat likes to send a burst of reports on occasion. About once a month, I’ll notice a flurry (20-25) of temp or humidity reports in my logs. It’s not reporting rapid changes, it just sends them all at once.)

JohnRob · May 14, 2020, 3:33pm

I don't see multiple reporting right now (nor have I) I have advanced reporting enabled.
My Firmware is V1.3.

Does anyone know if the firmware is upgradable?

John

Automatican · May 28, 2020, 5:48pm

I'm also having some strange temperature reporting despite having advanced reporting enabled. The humidity z-wave reports on every 1% change, which is likely as expected, throwing a lot of reports.

The manual indicates that temperature will be reported as follows:

I notice that the temperature displayed on the thermostat is usually the next 0.5F degree increment up from what is reported to the hub, which is what I would expect.

The device logs below show that the temperature is often reported every display change, as can be seen with the z-wave temperature reports ramping up from 68.5F to 79.5F in 1 degree increments. Then once the cooling starts, it z-wave reports every 1 degree down to 73.5F.

All of that is normal. Then the strangeness starts:

It skips reporting 72.5F, and z-wave reports 71.5F 1:13 later. Then it goes back to z-wave reporting every 1 degree change down to 69.5F (70F on thermostat). Then is completely stops reporting temperature, even though the Setpoint is 68F, and you can see that the A/C cycled on/off for 5 1/2 hours, and the thermostat face itself was reporting as low as 67F. So the temperature definitely reached 68F and the thermostat realized that, without z-wave reporting temperature. In fact, in this period it didn't z-wave report upon a temperature display change, or every 2 hours as the next temperature report was 7 hours later when it finally z-wave reported that the temperature was 68.5F which is 1 degree lower than the z-wave report 7 hours prior. Then it reported a 1 degree increase at 69.5F 3:22 later, Then the A/C cycled on/off for 2 hours around the 68F Setpoint without any reported temperature change down from the last z-wave reported 69.5F.

Then it reported out a temperature of 67F 1:55 later upon a change in thermostat Setpoint to 85F, completely skipping the actual temperatures of 68.5, 67.5 etc.

Then it returned to reporting out the temperature change every 1 degree increase normally as it had done the day prior.

This is some strange temperature reportig behavior. The only good news is that the thermostat itself still seems to be behaving as it should, even though the z-wave reported temperature is not reported as expected. However, this limits the ability to control the thermostat via a rule based on the reported temperature if one wanted to do such a thing.

Name	       Value	Unit		Source		Date	                        Time Since Last Temp Report
temperature	71.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 01:15:10.672 PM 	00:52:53
temperature	70.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 12:22:30.698 PM 	00:45:20
temperature	69.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 11:37:10.761 AM 	00:00:00
temperature	69.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 11:37:10.713 AM 	00:22:40
temperature	68.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 11:14:30.671 AM 	00:07:00
temperature	67.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 11:07:30.670 AM 	00:06:31
temperature	67	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 11:00:59.710 AM 	00:00:00
temperature	67	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 11:00:59.675 AM 	01:55:28
Setpoint	85	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:59:00.763 AM 	
coolingSetpoint	85	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:59:00.744 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:58:41.237 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:51:59.490 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:39:59.226 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:33:19.533 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:21:39.224 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:14:59.522 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:03:39.276 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 10:03:39.193 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:56:39.524 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:45:39.257 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:38:19.524 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:27:40.729 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:20:01.043 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:10:00.748 AM 	
temperature	69.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:05:32.149 AM 	03:22:40 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:01:01.387 AM 	
Setpoint	68	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:01:00.719 AM 	
coolingSetpoint	68	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 09:01:00.699 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 08:46:32.728 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 08:41:33.001 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 08:11:12.667 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 08:06:12.989 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 07:18:20.705 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 07:15:00.974 AM 	
temperature	68.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 05:42:52.145 AM 	07:07:00
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 05:31:01.036 AM 	
Setpoint	70	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 05:31:00.663 AM 	
coolingSetpoint	70	F		DEVICE		2020-05-28 05:31:00.652 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 05:29:01.003 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 05:16:40.678 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 05:10:00.975 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:58:20.722 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:51:20.949 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:40:00.945 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:40:00.756 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:40:00.702 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:33:01.030 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:33:00.985 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:22:20.680 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:15:00.963 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 04:04:40.690 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 03:57:20.976 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 03:47:00.667 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 03:39:20.991 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 03:29:20.687 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 03:21:20.990 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 03:11:40.700 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 03:03:20.969 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 02:54:00.670 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 02:45:40.986 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 02:36:40.687 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 02:27:41.120 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 02:19:20.711 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 02:10:21.198 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 02:02:40.681 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 01:52:20.972 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 01:45:00.763 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 01:33:40.967 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 01:26:40.664 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 01:14:40.979 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 01:08:00.677 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 12:54:20.967 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 12:48:20.678 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 12:31:40.969 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-28 12:26:20.684 AM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-28 12:03:00.978 AM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-27 11:58:00.713 PM 	
temperature	69.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 10:35:52.107 PM 	00:44:20
temperature	70.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 09:51:32.159 PM 	00:37:20
temperature	71.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 09:14:12.107 PM 	01:13:00
Setpoint	68	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 09:01:00.565 PM 	
coolingSetpoint	68	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 09:01:00.553 PM 	
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-27 08:53:00.994 PM 	
OperatingState	idle			DEVICE		2020-05-27 08:48:00.675 PM 	
temperature	73.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 08:01:12.132 PM 	00:21:20
temperature	74.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 07:39:52.119 PM 	00:15:20
temperature	75.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 07:24:32.113 PM 	00:08:20
temperature	76.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 07:16:12.182 PM 	00:04:40
temperature	77.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 07:11:32.108 PM 	00:03:00
temperature	78.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 07:08:32.144 PM 	00:08:00
OperatingState	cooling			DEVICE		2020-05-27 07:01:01.352 PM 	
Setpoint	72	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 07:01:00.722 PM 	
coolingSetpoint	72	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 07:01:00.710 PM 	
temperature	79.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 07:00:32.109 PM 	01:04:00
temperature	78.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 05:56:32.108 PM 	01:00:20
temperature	77.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 04:56:12.084 PM 	00:58:40
temperature	76.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 03:57:32.115 PM 	01:00:00
temperature	75.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 02:57:32.211 PM 	00:34:20
temperature	74.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 02:23:12.079 PM 	00:53:20
temperature	73.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 01:29:52.105 PM 	00:34:00
temperature	72.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 12:55:52.117 PM 	00:33:20
temperature	71.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 12:22:32.109 PM 	00:51:40
temperature	70.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 11:30:52.126 AM 	00:17:01
temperature	69.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 11:13:51.113 AM 	00:05:40
temperature	68.5	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 11:08:11.104 AM 	
Setpoint	85	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 10:59:00.861 AM 	
coolingSetpoint	85	F		DEVICE		2020-05-27 10:59:00.849 AM

aaiyar · May 28, 2020, 5:51pm

I'll bet is is measuring in C, then doing some internal C to F math, which causes some 0.5 degree changes to be skipped based on the degree of significance.

Automatican · May 28, 2020, 5:58pm

I was thinking something similar since it seems to be happening around a specific temperature range of ~67-69F, but the strange thing is that it then does report out 67, 67.5, 68.5, 69.5, 70.5, 71.5 etc, when it had chosen to skip those 67 and 68.5 reports for hours prior. I also saw the thermostat face at 67 when the last reported temp was 69.5F at about midnight.

So that makes me think C->F rounding might not be the problem, and the observed 67F on the thermostat also ensures that the report isn't tied to a missed thermostat face report, for example.

So I don't know, it seems inconsistent, and therefore hard to pinpoint.

jerias.mitchell · May 28, 2020, 6:00pm

This is the conclusion I came to. There were some instances were I could refresh from the driver and get a decimal temperature back that was an integer C -> F. I.E. 75.2 F (24 C).

aaiyar · May 28, 2020, 6:02pm

Imagine the temperature was 21.4C. That is 70.52F, but will report as 70.5F.

Let's say the next measured temperature is 20.85C. That is 69.53F, but will report as 69.5F.

aaiyar · May 28, 2020, 6:04pm

Yes, but we're all assuming the thermostat measures those intervening values. @bcopeland would know - he wrote the Advanced Honeywell T6 Z-Wave Pro driver.

bcopeland · May 28, 2020, 6:33pm

I just take the value it sends and report it.. No idea what is going on in the device logic

JohnRob · May 28, 2020, 6:45pm

When I turned on advanced reporting on my T6 the humidity dithered between 30% and 31% every minute or so.
My guess is the thermostat software folks (or whomever devised the operation) did not deeply consider the ramifications of this advanced programming option.

My solution was to turn it off.

I will admit I ~~spent~~ wasted more time than I will admit trying to see if a firmware update was available.