Hi Barry - Is there a Webcore variable that tracks when Ecobee has turned on the heat, when it goes off, etc for cooling and the other modes? I want to record via Webcore the times when these occur along with the other events in my house.
Thanks.
thermostatOperatingState gives you most of what you want, for any thermostat device (not just my Ecobee Suite) - heating, cooling, fan only, idle (check the SmartThings capabilities documentation).
Note, however, that notification of state changes can be delayed by as long as your refresh cycle period. So if you have 1 minute polling, the device may report this 59 seconds (or more) after the moment that the operation state actually changed.
You can get more detail by watching equipmentOperatingState. This is unique to my Ecobee Suite, but it reports when the humidifier, dehumidifier and aux heat are operating. It too suffers from the aforementioned delays (which are unavoidable in the current Ecobee implementation).
Note that the Web UI from ecobee will give you pretty much the same data without the state change delays - just export the data from the Home IQ pages.
Thanks for the quick response. That looks like it will give me what I want. Iām triggering a piston on a change in the state of that condition, not polling, so Iām hoping to get good timing results.
Iāll check. Thanks.
Just understand you wonāt see a change in the state until Ecobee Suite Manager polls the device for updatesā¦
Yes, thanks. I realized that after I posted that comment.
BTW, has Ecobee done anything to expose or make availalbe the motion status from their devices? They said they were thinking about doing something.
Tony -
Ecobeeās āmotionā sensors are supported by Ecobee Suite for both the thermostat and the remote sensors.
You just have to understand that they are technically not āmotionā sensors, but āoccupancyā sensors - they will only signal occupancy after seeing motion repeatedly for between 10-15 minutes; it take a similar period of no motion before they revert back to āunoccupied.ā For simplicity, most all Ecobee DTHs for SmartThings report these as motion detectors, because until recently SmartThings didnāt have the notion of āoccupancyā (which is different from both āmotionā and āpresenceā).
Yes, that has been their position for a while. But the thermostat knows motion since the display changes when you walk by it. They could make that info available to you.
I wouldnāt hold my breath on that one.
Ecobee Suite Smart Circulation Updated on October 24, 2018 at 9:44am
- V1.6.13 adds relative humidity restrictor (donāt circulate unless RH is > specified percentage).
This is an optional, minor update.
I finally have time to work look at this again. What I am trying to do is set an above outside temp to āheatā (heat pump) and set a below outside temp to āaux heatā (gas furnace, when the heat pump is not efficient). I am able to save a smart mode, but it is not changing the mode when these thresholds are met.
These are my smartmode settings:
OK. Iāll assume that you have āheatā selected for when the temperature is above 35Ā° (missing from the screen shots).
Iād like to see whatās in the Live Logging for both the āSmart Mode Aux Heatā and the āEcobeeTherm: Thermostatā. Could you please set your debug level to 5 (in Ecobee Suite Manager/Preferences), turn on Live Logging, then open/save the Helper SmartApp on your mobile. Please capture any errors that occur and send them to me an a PM?
Note that the Smart Mode Helper will re-check the temps and change the modes each time you save it, so you donāt have to wait for the temperature to changeā¦
Ecobee Suite Smart Mode updated on October 24, 2018 at 11:45am
- Version 1.6.16 fixes the initialization error when using SmartThings Sensors for external temperature and/or dewpoint
This is an optional update for most users!
Now that Iāve been using it for a few days, thermostatOperatingState is not giving me what I want. While in heating mode, I want to trigger when the furnace goes on and when it goes off. Is there another variable with that info?
Sorry, no - the thermostat makes the call for heat, but doesnāt know what the furnace actually does - there is no feedback loop from the furnace controller back to the Ecobee. In most cases, however, when the thermostat calls for heat, the furnace will turn on, and when it stops, the furnace will turn off - in between the furnace runs constantly in most cases. When the call for heat stops, the fan may continue to run to push the remaining heat out of the ductwork, but that is up to your furnace controller and/or how you configured your ecobee.
You might get more info from equipmentOperatingState, but itās all still what the thermostat is asking of the furnace, nothing comes back from the furnace. For the possible states in equipmentOperatingState, check the Ecobee API documentation.
You can also see what the Ecobee thinks is going on by logging in to your account on ecbee.com, then Home IQ, System Monitor, Download data. This gives you the state and operating durations in 5 minute increments.
Right, I know how my boiler works with the thermostat. I want to know the transitions that are under the control of the thermostat, when it calls for heat, and when it stops calling for heat.
ThermostatOperatingState gives you exactly that - heating/cooling/idle/fan only.
Or I donāt understand your original request.
So Iāll ask again - what is it you are trying to do, and why doesnāt thermostat operating state give you what you need?
Thanks!
Barry
Noticed my open window helper stopped working today. Went to check and got this error after hitting save
It looks like ThermostatOperatingState tells me when it goes from one timed event to another. So far, thatās all Iāve seen it do. But again, what I want to know if when the thermostat calls for heat (ie, puts 24V to the line to the boiler) and when it stops calling for heat (ie, when it removes the 24V on the line). I want to add the on/off times of those events to my database for all the events that are occurring in my house. Iāll also add the temps from around my house to gauge how well Ecobee is working. My database already includes when my lights go on and off, when motion starts and ends, etc. This is more data.
If there is no way to get what I want, then I suppose I could put a current measuring device on the 24V to the valve that opens when the thermostat calls for heat, but my fancy smart thermostat should be able to tell me that info.
I canāt tell anything from the info above. What version of Open Contacts helper are you using, and how have you configured it? Have you run live logging when you try to save/close it? Any errors in the log?