Using Zooz 4in1 sensors to control EcoBee

[tomaguero]

Background: In my apartment, I had a C-Wire and my Nest was happy. In my house, I do not. Nest was happy for many months.. until it got hot. Now the Nest will run the AC for a few hours and then kick everything off for a few minutes. It did this 3 times over 8 hours yesterday. I understand that this will likely get increasingly worse with time, pulsing even faster, and possibly killing the Nest. Also, when I bought the Nest I could use IFTTT with it, but they took it away.

I'm thinking of jumping off the Nest ship (the only other product I have is a doorbell) and getting an Ecobee, primarily because of Hubitat integration and also because it comes with a way to get around the lack of C wire.

I also have a few Zooz 4in1 sensors (Motion, Temp, Humidity, Light) and plan on getting more. Before I make the switch to Ecobee I'm trying to make sure there are integrations I'll use.

Can anyone confirm that I could have the 4in1 detect motion and set the Ecobee to heat/cool to the temperature in that room? Obviously with some checks about how much motion and if there is motion elsewhere, don't want it flipping rooms just cause a dog ran through it.

Or, could I have habitat average the temperature from multiple sensors and set the Ecobee to that? Like creating an average for the house?

For anyone else curious about Hubitat and Ecobee I'll also add that quite a few people have rules set up with contact sensors so if the window is open for a few minutes to let fresh air in it'll turn off the heat/AC. I don't have contact sensors, but I'll definitely get some for this.

[aaiyar]

@tomaguero

Nest was happy for many months.. until it got hot. Now the Nest will run the AC for a few hours and then kick everything off for a few minutes. It did this 3 times over 8 hours yesterday. I understand that this will likely get increasingly worse with time, pulsing even faster, and possibly killing the Nest.

Three things:

1. I am 99.9% sure there is nothing wrong with your Nest.
2. The issue is that your evaporator drain is mostly clogged and draining slowly; your HVAC system has a float switch that is tripping cutting off the AC. It will reset as the level of water in the pan recedes, allowing the AC to run some more until the condensed water backs up again to trip the float switch.
3. As you were unaware of this, and you have moved recently into your house, hire an HVAC technician to check your system, and plumber to auger out the HVAC drain. Maintain the drain in the future by dumping 8 oz of hydrogen peroxide (or vinegar, but not bleach - unless you know its all PVC tubing) down it every month.

[tomaguero]

HVAC guy just left saying the lack of a C wire was a problem. I've also seen the Nest shut off and say "Starts in" after running for a few hours which is a common symptom of it running out of juice because the lack of a C wire, it shuts down the AC and charges itself back up before starting again in a few minutes.

[aaiyar]

Then run an additional conductor from the air-handler to the thermostat, and use it as a C conductor. I have nothing against ecobee (used to have them from 2012 till last year).