Looking for Thermostat that works w/ ST and Zwave sensors

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
1

I’m looking for a thermostat that will work with SmartThings. I have two rooms that tend to get imbalanced at certain times of day. During those times I can turn on the central fan manually and circulate the cooler air into those warmer rooms. I want to automate this. I’ve heard the Ecobee only works with its own sensors and not the Z Wave multi sensors. I also want to adjust the thermostat when SmartThings is in Away Mode or a Vacation Mode I’ve setup. Based on this, which thermostat do I need? I really like the Ecobee. But am concerned it won’t integrate with the ST hub modes (home, away, vacation, etc).

2

I have the CT100. It works fine with my use cases. I have the following rules setup:

  1. On opening windows, turn it off. Turn it back on after closing (ST multi sensors with Thermostat Mode Director smartapp).
  2. Set it to 65 (heating) and 85 (cooling) when I am away (ST presence sensor, set by routines).
  3. Set to 73 © from 10.15 pm to 10.30 pm (just before I go to sleep, set by routines).
  4. Set it to 72 (h)/74 © after 10.30 pm (set by routines).
  5. Set it to 73 (h)/74 © when I am home during day time (ST presence sensor).
  6. Google Now + AutoVoice + Tasker + SharpTools - tell it to set the temperature I want, turn on/off fan/thermostat.

I tried adding a ST temp sensor that is kept near my bed to control the thermostat during night. I haven’t been successful with it because I think the temp sensor is faulty. Otherwise, you can control the thermostat using any temp sensor.

You can create even more rules. I have seen a smartapp that will allow control of fan also automatically, but I haven’t tried yet.

One thing to make sure is the wiring. CT100 has batteries, so it worked for me even though I didn’t have C wiring.

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3

One of the many cool things you can do with SmartThings is what you describe, without the burden of making sure all your Things are Zwave, Zigbee, or wifi. This is where SmartApps will help you do what you want.

I personally haven’t done anything like this, so you might want to search the Community. I think there was something called Thermostat Director that may be useful for you.

4

Thanks for the input. I guess I was more hopeful that Ecobee actually did work with SmartThings since they list it as a compatible device on the website.

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As far as I know it does. There are many discussion about integrating it and being able to use it in many SmartApps.

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hmm…I can’t tell for sure. My main question is can SmartThings adjust temperature settings in Ecobee based on mode. So when I go away, the thermostat adjusts. And likewise when I return. If it can, I’m buying it. Because it also works with HomeKit, which is a plus. I’d love to use Siri to control the temperature in my home!

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I know the SmartApps I use will willdo that, but I can’t say for sure how the API for the EcoBee works with ST. Perhaps @yvesracine can help you with the Ecobee questions?

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I use the Ecobee’s. They work reasonably well. The timeout issue still exists on the ST side because of the 20 app second limit.

They do not work with other sensors (only their own).

When I originally set them up I used the modes on the thermostats. I have since changed that and now I only use home and sleep. I use routines (modes) to perform the setback for away. Arrival triggers resume on the stats.

Overall, I’m happy with them. I just wish the routine error would go away on the ST side.

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@curtis.

FYI, I’ve coded a custom Device Handler (My Ecobee Device) and many smartapps for ecobee in order to access its full capabilities.

I’ve also recently coded 2 smartapps to create heating/cooling zones inside a home (whether virtual or physical ones using smart vents). One smartapp, called ScheduleTstatZones, works with any ST- connected thermostats (whether zigbee, z-wave, wifi,etc); the other one exclusively works with ecobee, and it’s called ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule.

  • They allow a room by room configuration where you specify which temp & motion sensors you want to use and whether the rooms need to be occupied or not.

  • Basically, both smartapps can average out and adjust your heating/cooling setpoints based on temp & motion sensors (just like ecobee3 does with its proprietary remote sensors); however, my smartapps can work with any temp & motion sensors as long as they are connected to ST.

  • Both smartapps can set your main thermostat and your room thermostat(s) (if any) to a specific setpoint based on your ST hello mode (away, home, any custom ones that you’ve set).

  • Also, both smartapps can change your fan mode based on a temp differential inside a zone. If the temp differential is too big (you set it up yourself as an input parameter), then you can change your fan mode to
    “circulate” or “on” depending on your requirements.

Here is the thread about my smartapps and their capabilities:

Now, there have have been discussions around the pros & cons of using “smart thermostats” such as ecobee and Nest vs. “dumb z-wave and zigbee thermostats” such as the CT-100 or others.

You’ll see in the following thread the rationale of using the smart ones vs. the dumber ones. It really depends on your requirements.

On top of it, one needs to keep in mind that ST scheduling is not as reliable as ecobee’s own scheduling. See this other thread for more details:

So, do you want to exclusively rely on ST for scheduling your heating/cooling schedules? That’s something you need to ask yourself. On the East Coast, I don’t think so…

Regards.

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10

I currently have a Nest. But it can’t do what I want and I’m curious if any of the others can. In the summer I drop the temp automatically through a routine at 12:15 to 63 degrees. When I wake up in the morning, it automatically shoots backup to 73. What I do int he summer is I switch it to heat do get the temp to warm up the freezing house and then before I leave I switch it back to cooling. For my Nest, I don’t see a way to make this happen automatically to switch from heating to cooling. Do any of the others including the new Ecobee do this with smartthings and routines?

11

@fightingmajor, the ecobee won’t do it automatically, just like the Nest.

However, just curious about your use case, could it be done automatically based on outdoor temperature thresholds?

The ScheduleTstatZones smartapp can switch from one thermostat mode to another based on some outdoor temp thresholds that you set as input parameters.

I’ve coded it this way, but never tested it as I don’t really need this feature on the East Coast.

Bye.

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Assuming that I could do it based on a time frame. For example, if M-F at 6:15am if it’s higher than 1 degree outside, turn the heat to 71. Then at 8:00am, if it’s warmer than 1 degree outside have cool switch to 77. Is this how you are saying it could work?

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Yes, with ScheduleTstatZones, you can create your own schedule(s): each schedule can have different thresholds.

You can try it out… See my github.

Bye for now.

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I use Pearl Thermostats (I bought them on ebay for $70). They are also what is sold at Best Buy (not sure of price there). They integrate well with ST and I rely on ST smartapps to control them. I am very happy. I have one issue. Periodically my phone (which is used as my presence sensor) loses conntectivity, ST thinks I left and sets my thermos to 80. I wake up in a fairly hot house.

15

I need to get rid of my Nest thermostat first.

16

@fightingmajor,

The ScheduleTstatZones smartapp can work with any ST connected thermostats…Nest included.

Bye.