I have a Z-Wave switch setup for a pool pump and I have Rule Machine setup so it runs on a designated schedule just fine.
Here in TX we occasionally get freezing weather. The factory pump controllers have a freeze sensor that makes the pump run automatically when the temp drops below XX degrees. I don't have that. If I had more time to plan I could find an outdoor safe temp sensor to trigger the pump to run, but I thought there must be a way to do this based on local weather via public information.......right?
When I tried to create a rule like this in Rule Machine it is asking for what temp sensor I want to use.....but I don't have one outside. I don't see any option to do it any other way. I'm not a guru here, but am I just missing something? Can this be done without a sensor?
Maybe I am misunderstanding your issue, but assuming that you can already control the pump via a Z Wave device, try using the Zooz ZSE44 temp sensor. It operates down to 5 Degrees F. I use one of them for basically the same thing, to keep my pump house and detatched shop above freezing in the winter. Heat comes on at 32 degrees and off at 35 via the Zooz temp sensor. Works well and is pretty accurate once you dial in the actual vs indicated temperature differential. "The Smartest House" usually gets things to you in a few days. Zooz Z-Wave Plus 700 Series XS Temperature | Humidity Sensor ZSE44 - The Smartest House (Edit: I'll leave this up for future reference, but, sorry, I didn't realize the need for immediate help due to upcoming weather)
I do the same thing with my heat pump for when it gets excessively cold to prevent it from going into night and/or away mode. In my case, I prefer to have it keep the temperature steady instead of setting it back so that I do not have to run in AUX mode to get back to temperature.
I use the driver here: OpenWeatherMap-Alerts-Weather-Driver
NOTE: Per some of the more recent posts, if you do not have an old API key, you will have to sign up for the new one. This requires allowing a credit card to be stored on file in case you go over the polling limit (Not by the author of the app. The company providing the weather service requires this). You can poll every two minutes and still not exceed the limit for free usage though.
Yes, I have a lot of Zooz devices already and like them. In fact I use their multi-relay to control my pool pumps! The need is immediate though. I can just turn it on manually of course, but I wouldn't want it to turn off at the regular time in the middle of the night based on the existing run rules. I also supposed I could just disable the "off" routine temporarily.
Only comment is that you might want a little more buffer than 1 degree. Depending on where the location is that they're getting their temps from, it could be several degrees different that your house.
I have several temp/combo sensors but none are weatherproof unfortunately. I do intend to get an outdoor sensor, but I just hadn't gotten around to it and here we are.....
Just a confirmation that the automation worked! Thanks for the help!
I noticed that when my non-connected weather station showed 32F the OpenWeather status (5 minute refreshes) still showed 37F so I bumped the buffer up to 37 and my pump started as expected!
I was curious if there was a way to set the alert based on the "feels like" attribute instead of actual temp but I couldn't see that at all.
