Radio Thermostat Support Says "CT-50 Does Not Support Z-Wave Module"?

[james.fischer]

So, I was getting some weirdness from my CT-50 thermostat, running the "Generic Z-Wave Thermostat" driver, and I emailed the Radio Thermostat company, looking for help. When I changed the setpoint using the LCD panel from "60F" to "62F", the setpoint showed as "70F".

The Hubitat here was doing nothing but logging. No rules, no manual settings from the device page, all the config and set-up was done using the LCD panel with manual in hand. The Z-wave card is plugged in, the WiFi is not, as WiFi needs the 24-Volt wire to run.

Here was the reply from Radio Thermostat:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Hi,
The CT50 does not support the Z-wave module. So that is why it is doing strange things.
Thanks,
Rene
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

But, to quote Galileo: "Eppur si muove"

I can SEE the damn thing working just fine, reporting data, being sensible, and now that I have loaded up the CT-101 driver suggested in another forum thread as appropriate for the CT-50, I even see that commands from the device page work just fine.

So, what the heck is "Rene" from Radio Thermostat smoking, and can we get some of that?

How could any device driver wade in and mess with something the user is doing from the local device control panel? That's not just silly, its stupid.

Logs below, just to prove its working "jes fine".

Summary

dev:4892020-11-03 06:22:44.331 pm infoThermostat temperature is 61.0°F

dev:4892020-11-03 06:22:44.325 pm debugcmd:SensorMultilevelReport(precision:1, scale:1, sensorType:1, sensorValue:[2, 98], size:2, scaledSensorValue:61.0), desc:zw device: 12, command: 3105, payload: 01 2A 02 62 , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:22:44.248 pm debugcmd:ThermostatSetpointReport(setpointType:1, precision:0, scale:1, size:1, value:[62], scaledValue:62), desc:zw device: 12, command: 4303, payload: 01 09 3E , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:06.468 pm infoThermostat mode is heat

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:06.465 pm debugcmd:ThermostatModeReport(mode:1), desc:zw device: 12, command: 4003, payload: 01 , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:05.154 pm infoThermostat is idle

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:05.149 pm debugcmd:ThermostatOperatingStateReport(operatingState:0), desc:zw device: 12, command: 4203, payload: 00 , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:04.263 pm debugcmd:ThermostatSetpointReport(setpointType:2, precision:0, scale:1, size:1, value:[78], scaledValue:78), desc:zw device: 12, command: 4303, payload: 02 09 4E , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:03.578 pm infoThermostat thermostatSetpoint was set to 62°F

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:03.575 pm infoThermostat heatingSetpoint was set to 62°F

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:03.560 pm debugcmd:ThermostatSetpointReport(setpointType:1, precision:0, scale:1, size:1, value:[62], scaledValue:62), desc:zw device: 12, command: 4303, payload: 01 09 3E , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:03.231 pm infoThermostat battery is 1%

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:03.193 pm debugcmd:BatteryReport(batteryLevel:0), desc:zw device: 12, command: 8003, payload: 00 , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:14:01.318 pm inforefresh...

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:46.767 pm infoThermostat fan is auto

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:46.755 pm debugcmd:ThermostatFanModeReport(fanMode:0), desc:zw device: 12, command: 4403, payload: 00 , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:45.069 pm infoThermostat mode is heat

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:45.063 pm debugcmd:ThermostatModeReport(mode:1), desc:zw device: 12, command: 4003, payload: 01 , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:45.002 pm tracefanAuto()

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:45.001 pm tracesetThermostatFanMode(auto)

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:42.354 pm traceheat()

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:42.345 pm tracesetThermostatMode(heat)

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:29.197 pm debugcmd:ThermostatSetpointReport(setpointType:1, precision:0, scale:1, size:1, value:[62], scaledValue:62), desc:zw device: 12, command: 4303, payload: 01 09 3E , isMulticast: false

dev:4892020-11-03 06:13:26.963 pm tracesetHeatingSetpoint(62)

dev:4892020-11-03 06:12:08.739 pm warndescription logging is: true

dev:4892020-11-03 06:12:08.738 pm warndebug logging is: true

dev:4892020-11-03 06:12:08.735 pm infoupdated...

dev:4892020-11-03 05:17:42.132 pm infoThermostat temperature is 62°F

dev:4892020-11-03 05:17:42.109 pm infoThermostat temperature is 62°F

dev:4892020-11-03 05:17:41.753 pm infoThermostat thermostatOperatingState is idle

dev:4892020-11-03 05:17:40.852 pm infoThermostat temperature is 62°F

dev:4892020-11-03 05:17:39.177 pm debugpollDevice()...

dev:4892020-11-03 03:53:44.506 pm infoThermostat temperature is 62°F

[curtman3]

I have a CT-30 and works just fine on Z-Wave. Now I originally had a Z-wave USNAP and it was a little wonky, but when I went to a Z-Wave Plus USNAP, everything cleaned up nicely.

I don't even use the Radio Thermostat app anymore. I use the scheduler in HE and Google Home to control the everything.

[SuperDupe]

@james.fischer @curtman3 Hey what driver did you settle on? I have the CT-50's with both the Wifi and Z-Wave Plus modules... I've been using the generic thermostat driver for a while, but recently have been seeing issues with one of the thermostats... Getting errors in the logs... Only one of them. The other is fine... Gonna try the Radio Thermostat driver next, but wondering if you both use something different?

[james.fischer]

I am returning the CT-50, the WiFi Module and the Z-Wave module, as I have a manual page for the Z-Wave module that says "The RTZW-02 USNAP module is designed to be inserted into an empty USNAP slot in any CT-Series Thermostat” (image below, in case others were similarly misled)

What the company made/sold is clearly “unfit for the purpose it was intended”.

I used the native driver, but it clearly is intended for the CT-101, with the Z-Wave built-in.
The wackiness was unsolvable, but I guess if you run it on WiFi, it should work OK.
I can't use the WiFi, as it would require me to run a 24-Volt power wire to the thermostat, which was ANOTHER surprise - the WiFi only works if you have a 24-Volt "C" wire.

So, they are 0 for 2, and the toy goes back.

[SuperDupe]

Thanks for the info James... I have the ability to use WiFi so I might try that... I've had mine too long to return them...

[james.fischer]

Regardless of how long you've owned them... the manufacturer says that the Z-wave module simply does not work with the CT-50, so you, like me, are entitled to a refund on at least the Z-wave module, if you are happy with the WiFi support.

I'm returning the whole mess, as I expect that they will cough up a CT-101 refurb unit rather than refund me cash money, but we shall see...

[SuperDupe]

I just loaded the wifi driver and going to test it out... Funny thing is I was having a ton of zwave issues... When I removed them from the mix, my zwave network is bouncing back!

The nice thing about these however, is the wifi driver works locally... so you don't need a cloud based connection... so we'll see