Simple turn A/C off rule in newest rule machine?

[FriedCheese2006]

You can also use my app to group the contact sensors

[No Longer Maintained] Sensor Groups+

This has been picked up by @thebearmay and his thread is here: Whelp...I decided to stop mooching and to take a stab at writing an app. This will hopefully be both a beneficial learning experience for me and a benefit to the community. My intent is to grow this app over time to include more sensors. What is this? A, hopefully, lightweight app that will allow the user to group together sensors. What's special about that? This app will update the created virtual device with aggregate counts …

[BorrisTheCat]

You actually want wait for condition here. Currently if you opened two of them then waited and then closed just one of them it would turn the heating back on.

So where you have wait for event you also have wait for expression I think it's now called.

[Doug_Phoenix]

Hi @aaiyar and all,

I also run ac (heat pump) automation, but for different reasons. I share the concern about short-cycling esp. the compressor.

In my case I have two Ecobee thermostats, and new heat pumps with motor controllers (variable speed air handlers too).

So, instead of turning the thermostats on or off, I change the set points signicantly and allow the system to ramp up or down normally. The power traces look normal when run this way.

One caveat with this approach is that these are “Smart” thermostats. They use a schedule with “comfort” settings for each period. The t-stat will anticipate the next set point and try to reach that value in time for the start of the next period.

I work around this issue by setting the schedules to avoid such issues.

Maybe I’ll try on/off and see if the heat pump systems turn on and off gradually.

[aaiyar]

@Doug_Phoenix

So, instead of turning the thermostats on or off, I change the set points signicantly and allow the system to ramp up or down normally.

I would recommend sticking to this. It is sensible, and safeguards your inverter heat-pumps.

[FriedCheese2006]

@BorrisTheCat

closed just one of them

Nah...they have the "wait for event" set to "all contact closed"

[jabecker]

@FriedCheese2006

You can also use my app to group the contact sensors

I was thinking I should do that...

[jabecker]

@BorrisTheCat

You actually want wait for condition here. Currently if you opened two of them then waited and then closed just one of them it would turn the heating back on.

I have all contact closed so if only one closes but another is still open the heat won't come on.

[jabecker]

@Doug_Phoenix

So, instead of turning the thermostats on or off, I change the set points signicantly and allow the system to ramp up or down normally.

That's a good idea!

[Hardax]

Thanks again all.

Shame on me for not looking into the basics of condition rules before asking questions!

Basically what I’m doing here in south Florida is opening the door out to a screened in poach at night to let the cats roam around a little! A/C is never actually turned off.

What I do now, manually, is set the thermostats cooling temp set point up to about 82 degrees when the door is open, that way the A/C won’t kick in for the couple hours the door will be open. Once I bring the cats in, I resume the scheduled program.

So all I’m looking to do is:

IF door is open and remains open for 5 minutes THEN change cooling set point to 82.
ELSE set thermostat to auto.

I got the IF/THEN down but couldn’t figure out the ELSE part.

I see the official rules tutorial on YouTube and although a few years old now should help me figure it out.

I tried the online help section but to be honest, reading that over just made my eyes glaze over!!

SmartThings seemed to be easier to figure out for this sort of setup so I went into Hubitat head first!

[aaiyar]

@Hardax

What I do now, manually, is set the thermostats cooling temp set point up to about 82 degrees when the door is open, that way the A/C won’t kick in for the couple hours the door will be open. Once I bring the cats in, I resume the scheduled program.

What you're doing makes good sense - especially for that length of time. I would suggest using a rule that changes that setpoint akin to what @Doug_Phoenix does (and you do manually).

[FriedCheese2006]

You don't even need an "if/then". Rule machine works based off events to trigger rules and there are some limited conditions that you can add into the rule trigger. So, you can do something like this:

Basically (although not entirely technically correct), this is saying

IF the door is open for 5 minutes" THEN
	Set the AC cool point to 82°
	Wait for the door to close for 1 minutes
	Set the AC back to auto
END-IF

To be a little more specific to the logic, the rule will wait for the trigger to be fulfilled before running.

• Trigger: The rule subscribes to events around the "contact" capability of the device. If that updates to "open" then the timer is started. If the attribute changes back to closed, the timer will cancel. Once the timer is fulfilled, the 'trigger' is fulfilled, then the actions list is ran.
• First action will send the selected setPoint to the thermostat.
• The, we wait (another even subscription here) for the contact sensor to go back to closed and stay closed for a minute. The "stays" is just to give a grace period in case the door is accidentally shut.
• Once the wait event is fulfilled, set the thermostat back to auto (or whatever you want).

[Hardax]

This looks perfect and actually makes logical sense to my aging brain!

Only thing I’m not finding is the wait event? Is that pit in as a condition? It doesn’t appear in that list.

[jabecker]

It's in the very last action type — "Delay, Wait, Exit or Comment". There's a list of where to find everything in the documentation: Rule 5.1 | Hubitat Documentation

[Hardax]

Got it!

It’s not under the conditions box. You add it to the actions section.

I think I have mine set exactly like @FriedCheese2006 shows.

Off to test!

Thanks guys!!

[FriedCheese2006]

@Hardax

conditions box.

Correct. The conditions box is for editing conditions. So, you can add them there for later use in a rule or RM will populate them as you build the rule out. The box allows for later editing of a particular condition without having to directly edit the rule.

[Hardax]

So close!

In changing the cooling set point as the first action in my rule, the Ecobee goes into a HOLD mode. Selecting AUTO when the door is closed does not cancel this hold unfortunately.

Dont think there is anything wrong with the rule you all help me set up but more a limitation of the Ecobee?

@Doug_Phoenix how are you getting your thermostat to resume its normal schedules after changing a set point?

UPDATE: I found this Ecobee Resume Schedule

Going to try it tonight and will let you know in case anyone else can use this info.

[Doug_Phoenix]

Hi @Hardax

Yes, the Ecobee will go into a "Hold." On the unit itself, you can select hold options. I use "Until Next Scheduled Activity." See: Main Menu> Settings> Preferences> Hold Actions.

The activities are set in the Schedule (Sleep, Away, Home etc.).

So, without further input from your automation, the Ecobee will hold until the next item in the schedule. Part of the art of automating this way is to set the schedules in a way that works with your automation and suits your other needs.

Also, if for some reason the automation stops, the controller will have a pre-set schedule that is reasonable.

My automation is time-based (not using door triggers yet), but perhaps you could do something similar and add conditions based on door open/close.

FYI here is my super-simple winter automation for time-based control. I'm on a time-of-use plan and want to avoid running heat pumps when power is expensive. (I will have a more complex scheme in the summer for other reasons.)

(It may seem nuts to trigger every 30 seconds, but we have had house guests and I don't want them to change the setpoints. This little routine resets to the value in the automation.)

[Doug_Phoenix]

Also, FYI see this Topic on a work-around for Ecobee Suite Manager. I was seeing errors creating automations, and decided to delete the Suite Manager. YMMV.

Basic Rule 1.0 error: control thermostat

You have an out of date thermostat driver. See this post for an easy fix to this problem: Use the steps there, but make your supportedThermostatModes have the same list of values as they have now, only with the double quotes around each value as shown.

[Hardax]

The above Resume Schedule info did the trick!

Thanks again everyone!