Goodbye and Hello Routines

airplaneman777 · September 28, 2015, 4:25pm

Hello, I’m new to this whole forum. Just got my smarthings v2 up and running, coming from nexia. I noticed with routines, I can create goodbye and hello routines. Is there any way to configure those to tell your hvac system to turn off when doing goodbye, and turn the hvac system back to AUTO when doing the Hello Routine?

I only see the ability to change the temperature to a certain degree for both hello and goodbye routines. It would be nice to either be able to turn the hvac system off, and then when returning, get it back on its schedule!

Thanks!

Korey

obycode · September 28, 2015, 4:36pm

If you don’t mind getting into the programming a bit, you could definitely do this with a virtual switch. Create a virtual switch, then create a SmartApp to make the virtual switch turn the hvac off when it turns off and set it to auto when it turns on. Then you can add this virtual switch to your routine.

I’m not sure if a SmartApp like that exists already, but it would be an easy one to get started with SmartApps if you’re interested.

EDIT: It may also depend on which thermostat you are using and whether or not its device type exposes the Auto state.

bridaus · September 28, 2015, 4:55pm

I recommend keeping this simple and setting the temps to high/low amounts. Isn’t it true that you wouldn’t want your house to freeze out (if in Northeast) or get too hot for the pets, or for when you get home?

Rather than programming, just set higher limits is my 2 cents.

airplaneman777 · September 28, 2015, 5:00pm

obycode- I wouldn’t mind at all, just have no idea how to do it! I have a trane 624 thermostat for both up and downstair.

bridaus-yes, that would make sense for doing the goodbye routine. But when coming home, it would be nice to schedule it to go back on schedule (auto) to start the cooling or heating for what time of day it is…

bridaus · September 28, 2015, 5:01pm

Have the temps then set back to what you want when you arrive home using an “Arrive Home” Routine.

obycode · September 28, 2015, 5:15pm

Ok, so first, you’ll need to create a virtual switch. You can find some info on that here:

mattjfrank:

Virtual / Simulated Device Types are functional “Things” but are not physical devices you have. Installing them allows you to control them via SmartApp’s just as you would a physical smart device. Creating Virtual Devices - On/Off Switches There are many reasons you’d have the need for a virtual switch. You want one switch to control multiple other switches and/or commands. You have a multi relay device and want to control the relays individually. (currently ST doesn’t support this) You could use virtual switches the same way you’d use Hello Home Actions, to take care of multiple actions or state changes with the change of your virtual switch state. To create a Virtual Switch Login to the IDE @ https://graph.api.smartthings.com/ Click “My Devices” Click the “New Device” Button …

Then you’ll need to create a SmartApp that has a switch and a thermostat as an input. Subscribe to the switch and when it is turned off, you’ll want to call the off() method on your thermostat, and when it is turned on, you’ll want to call the auto() method. Here is a good place for getting started with SmartApps:

http://docs.smartthings.com/en/latest/smartapp-developers-guide/index.html

If you prefer to learn from examples, you can look at this SmartApp which also subscribes to a switch and takes some actions:

github.com

obycode/SmartThingsPublic/blob/master/smartapps/smartthings/the-big-switch.src/the-big-switch.groovy

/**
 *  Copyright 2015 SmartThings
 *
 *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
 *  in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed
 *  on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License
 *  for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 *
 *  The Big Switch
 *
 *  Author: SmartThings
 *
 *  Date: 2013-05-01
 */
definition(
	name: "The Big Switch",

This file has been truncated. show original

SBDOBRESCU · September 28, 2015, 5:29pm

It’s not the best practice to switch your HVAC on/off, unless you have a good reason, like opening closing the windows. You could easily set your HVAC on most energy efficient setting when you leave and than have it reset to a comfortable temperature when you come back. If you really want to change modes or turn it off all together, you could start with the “Thermostat Mode Director” in the marketplace, I think that’s all you need.

Drewbert34 · September 28, 2015, 5:45pm

Out of curiosity, what is the reasoning behind not turning off your HVAC?

Personally, I just set my heat / cool limits where I feel certain they will not be triggered vs. turning off; however, I’ve never hear anything detrimental concerning turning off completely.

airplaneman777 · September 28, 2015, 8:03pm

Thanks! I’ll work on that today!

SBDOBRESCU-what is the reason behind not turning it off? The goal is to be able to press one button (goodbye or hello) and have that do everything I need it to do. Trying to not do multiple steps!

bridaus · September 29, 2015, 12:18pm

One button (routine) will do everything you need to do. In fact if you use presence in any way, it’s zero buttons. The real issue here is that the simplest way to do this is by setting temps, ST does not natively have a method to turn HVAC off. And honestly, if I were them, I would keep it that way. @SBDOBRESCU mentioned “best practice”, not “you have to”. If you want to find code to turn it off, it exists on this community. I will never turn my HVAC off because in the Northeast that’s flood-worthy in the winter.

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