I’m about to release a new release (v7.4) of my zoned Heating/Cooling solutions with new contact Sensor Logic
Allows you to invert the default logic of the contact Sensor(s): when contact is left open=> keep the vent open instead of closing it (default behavior, useful for windows or entry doors ).
The new contact logic uses event handlers for immediate action when the door/window contacts are open/closed.
For all contributors, make sure to follow the update procedure in order to get the new release.
The updated version is also available now at my store.
Hi there - new user of this solution - thank you. Would it be possible to adapt this to a deployment where there are eTRVs and heating rather than vents - but in a way use the eTRVs in a similar way to vents to control individual radiators to modify heat distribution based upon various temperature sensors and ambient conditions / forecast?
My setup - 1 Hive central heating and four controllable radiators - each with a eTRV. to control individual radiator behavior. Then numerous other temp sensors distributed and an external ambient weather station
Happy to provide further details as needed for input and consideration
If your eTRVs are connected to Smarttings and their corresponding DTH has implemented the “Dimmer Switch” capability, they should work fine within my zoned heating/cooling smartapps. I don’t care if the connected device is an eTRV or a smart vent, the smartapp can control it as long as it has implemented the required capability.
Thanks Yves, I will explore further - I am using the community Hive DTH and apps and so looks like this will fit right in - much appreciated, will keep you posted
Hi @tintin, I looked into the Hive community DTH and it has implemented the Thermostat capability. As such, my smartapp can control the DTH as a room thermostat and can send the required command to set the temperature setpoint for the zoned rooms during a schedule run.
Using what you have provided as a solution should really unlock the power of this setup to refine and augment the heating optimization using ambient temperatures, weather forecasts and individual zone/room/radiator settings - thank you my heating bill should improve thanks to you - great stuff!
Yesterday, I released a new version of my zoned Heating/Cooling Solutions (v7.4.2) which now allows to specify a temp differential to be applied to room/zone thermostats based on the Schedules’ cooling/heating setpoints in order to have warmer or cooler zoned rooms.
Those new zone’ input parameters allow for better setpoint adjustments of portable heaters, eTRVs, hot valves, radiators, windows or split AC units which act as secondary cooling/heating units in your house.
The new version of ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule and ScheduleTstatZones is available for download at my store and has been distributed to all my active contributors.
My Setup is an Ecobee3 with 8 sensors and 7 comfort settings. SmartThings with 5 ST Temp/Humidity sensors, 3 EcoNet Controls smart vents, and 6 (so far) Keen Home smart vents.
Was able to integrate it all into the app and run it with the Ecobee3 comfort profiles. In the app I have set up 6 rooms, 5 zones, and all 7 schedules. One of my comfort settings/schedules excludes the E3 remote temp sensors and closes the vents in my 2 bedrooms on Wednesday and Thursday when nobody is there.
The main one of many features that I like and sets this app above the Keen Home app and others is the ability to open all the vents when the E3 is set to fan on to circulate the air in the main level and basement.
Next up for me will be setup a smart outlet in the basement to power a fan to blow into the return air vent to the furnace to pull the cooler air to the main level.
Recommend this all, especially those with an Ecobee3 and any smart vents.
Hi,
I’ve just released new versions of the zoned Heating/Cooling solution smartapps to all my active contributors. The new versions take advantage of the new Message Queue mechanisms put in place in Ask Alexa.
My Zoned Heating/Cooling solution smartapps can also send any informational (current zone(s) and schedules running) or exception events to your chosen Ask Alexa’s Message Queue(s) as verbal notifications;
The new settings are part of the “Notification and Other settings” page. You can specify the logging level (INFO, WARN, ERROR) to be sent to Ask Alexa according to your own requirements.
The new versions can be downloaded now at my store:
I’m loving the functionality of both this app and the device handlers. With these software tools, my Keen Vents + Ecobees are making the summer heat less problematic.
Switched over to this a week ago. Between the graphs on the ecobee’s themselves and the ability to use the remote sensors as presence “things” with temperature, I have an amazing solution for my home. Keep up the amazing work!
I just released a new version this past week of my popular zoned heating/cooling smartapps (ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule & ScheduleTstatZones for any other ST connected thermostats) with additional features for zone/room thermostats
The smartapp is now able to turn off any room/zone thermostats that are not part of the scheduled zone(s) at a given time of the day;
The smartapp is also able to automatically control the fan mode & speed of any room/zone thermostats based on the temp differential between the room’s ambient temperature and the avg temperature for the schedule zone(s).
The new version (v7.6.2) is available for download at my store.
As a reminder, the smartapp uses the main thermostat’s settings as a baseline for controlling the zone/room thermostats (thermostat mode, setpoints) which are considered slaves to the master. The zones can be virtual or physical (i.e. orchestrated with smart vents to “close” a specific zone where the airflow is directed inside your home).
You can also enter a delta temperature for the scheduled zone(s) to make a zone (composed of 1 to many rooms) cooler or hotter.
The room thermostats are useful to control baseboards, eTRVs (water valves), portable heaters/coolers, mini/windows splits, etc.
P.S. All my contributors who have followed the updates procedure should have received the update by now. Otherwise, check your spam or trash folders.
I’m just beginning to realize how powerful this solution can be. Living in Arizona is hard on any cooling system during the summer. I’m definitely interested in exploring the benefits of smart vents.
I’ve been very satisfied using the ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule smartapp to control my ecobee 3 thermostat and sensors. Adding smart vents to my system may be the next step for me.
@tintin, I have the same setup with hive and energenie mihome. I tried using the SmartVents smart app, but doesn’t seem to be able to get the eTRVs working. Can you please share your setup?
@yvesracine I have installed the SmartVentManager smart app. I have configured 3 rooms with the 3 radiator valves as vents. I have configured my Hive as the main thermostat.
I can see Poll commands being sent to Hive and turn on commands being sent to the radiator valves, but no changes are made.
I will refer to the wiki and see if I missed something.
PS. I just went through the wiki and your website. I believe I am using the wrong smart app. I will read through the wiki and see which one will be suitable for my needs.