Then enter the variable name in the message to send box " %outdoorTemp% ",
Now select all thermostats you wan't to send to (the option needs to be set to on on the device).
Then click done and the rule should show the "Notify Thermostat of the %outdoorTemp% message"
Thank you very much, I had dabbled with the "Send, Speak or Log" action as it seemed to be the most logical fit for a "Notify" action but I could never select the thermostat as a target for the notification.
Re-reading your message and examining everything, especially about the option needing to be set on the device, made me realize that I needed to stick to the variable name the driver is expecting to see (I had named my variable OutsideTemp instead of OutdoorTemp).
I did not expect such a quick reply and a working solution on the first try on top of it all!
I just received my hub yesterday and started to fiddle with it. I am not a programmer but I do work in IT so I opted for flexibility/costumisability over user-friendlyness, and this first experience with the Hubitat community has reassured me in my choice!
@Hugo Happy I could help and also reassure you about your choice! By the way, kris2k2 suggested using the DarkSky Weather service with his implementation, but you could use that same rule and take the temperature from any temp reporting sensor you wan't.
So installing a temp sensor outside (finding a way to protect it if it's not rated for outdoors in our climate) and then triggering the rule by that sensors temp change etc. will also work and give you the real temp outside your home instead of using the DarkSky app and hoping they have the correct info.
I'm planning on trying this with a SmartThings door sensor placed on my patio in a small hobby box with slots in the bottom and making sure the sun never directly hits the box.
Hi @nclark I must thank you as well. The screenshot about the Notify action really helped me. I am just starting off with hubitat and Sinope thermostat are on my radar but I am currently trying stuff with virtual devices to see If I could do everything needed with those thermostat. What is your general impression of these thermostats? Did you do special rule with them? I am looking to use them to make it easier for me to deal with the Hydro-Quebec's "peak demand events".
Ya I love them and they look really great but only have them at my cottage so I can set temps a few hours before leaving for the weekend, now when we get there it's all nice and warm. I also used the Thermostat built in app to have 4 different high and low times for each day when we are there acting just like a regular 7 day programmable thermostat.
As for Hydro Quebec events, I have a rule that I can program the day before via a couple of virtual switches (one for morning and the other for afternoon), then when I get to the event time and if the switches are on, Hubitat will disconnect fridge, freezer, water heater and garage heating during the event and then switch everything back on at the end of the event.
Could also set temps on the Sinope thermostats but my main house only has Honeywell 7 day programmable thermostats (from Costco at $150 for 5) but we mostly use a wood stove, so during peak events we use the wood stove more to make sure we don't use baseboard heating. Could not justify buying the Sinope thermostats because of this.
I've managed to get evening events to 2-3.5 kWh (saving me an average of about 13 kWh compared to the reference).
This winter alone, it will pay for one of the 40A switches I got (Sinope also) for the water heater and for the garage heating, which is to big for a digital line thermostat 5200W, I had to use an old mercury type thermostat when I installed it but will most likely install a temp sensor and use hubitat to control it instead in the very near future.
I've got 15 of these in the house. All seem to be working fine.
4 of the 15 show the word "Out" under the outside temp.
11 of them do not.
They're all set with the same rule. @kris2k2 Any thoughts?
I had a tech from my ISP out yesterday upgrading our service. He unplugged my hub while he was working down there. When it booted back up my entire Zigbee network was gone. I loaded a backup, still gone, including any rules that were associated with Zigbee devices. Pain in my ass.
So I had to rejoin my entire zigbee network, including all my thermostats and rebuild all the rules. Interesting enough, the same 4 thermostats still show the word "out", the other 11 still do not.
It uses postal code to fetch region specific weather. But I didnt find a way to push my postal code into the thermostat via Hubitat, the actual tile or Embedded driver does not give an input method for that. Smarthing does. If someone have an answer, please reply. Is there a way to adapt the driver code for smarthing to work on Hubitat ?
Thanks
This driver opens these thermostats as notification devices. You then create a rule using a weather driver (darksky or other) temp change as a trigger and send a notification to the thermostats. They'll now display the outside temp instead of the set point.
One other thing I've noticed with this drivers for others following this thread....
I have my rule setup to send the temperature as a notification any time the temperature changes. I also have a number of rules to set temp based on presence, mode and time of day (needed more complexity than the built-in thermostat manager can provide).
After any of the rules fire to set the temp, the notification on the thermostat is cleared and they show the set-point again until the outside temperature changes and runs that rule.
To solve this, at the end of all of my temp setting rules, I added a run rule actions for my outside temperature notification rule. If I happen to be staring at the thermostat when the temp changes I'll see the temp come up followed a few seconds later by the outside temp. In normal everyday use, we're not staring at the thermostats all day so it's completely unnoticeable.
@kris2k2, I really love the update you made to the driver to allow it to show the outside temperature. I am moving all my thermostats to Sinopé in large part because of this.
One things that I have noticed is that in the driver, it is possible to turn the display on or off. I wonder if this is something that can be done via RuleMachine? I have looked at the list of customer commands, but do not see anything that would be that...
