*** No longer supported *** [RELEASE] FLAIR DEVICES with new capabilities for building physical zones in your home and controlling your mini/window splits, portable heaters/coolers

Hi,

A contribution fee is required due to the amount of work for the design, development, and testing of the devices (equivalent of a few cups of coffee).

The installation steps have been updated to reflect the fact that the installation can now proceed under the new SmartThings mobile app.

To download the SmartThings code, go to www.ecomatiqhomes.com/store

I’m happy to announce 4 more new devices under ST for better comfort and energy savings in your home automation scenarios.

My Puck device in Fahrenheit

My Puck device in Celsius

MyHVACUnit in Fahrenheit

MyHVACUnit in Celsius

MyFlairVent

Here is a referral link to get some discounts (usually 10%) at Flair:

The Flair devices enable multi zoned heating/cooling solutions for your home with new capabilities under ST:

  • Amongst others, ability to control mini/window splits, portable heaters/coolers (ex. on/off, heat/cool/dry/fan modes, low/medium/high fan speed, swing on/off commands are supported) for heating/cooling some colder/hotter rooms using scheduled zone(s).
  • Support of the US and metric systems.
  • Compatible with my Zoned heating/cooling smartapps (_ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule & est ScheduleTstatZones available at my store for targeted heating/cooling in your home)

Most recent versions:

MyFlairServiceMgrV2.2: corrects some duplicate issues when renaming the devices

MyFlairServiceMgrV2.1, MyPuckDeviceV2.1, MyFlairVent (v1.3), MyHvacUnit (v2.2),MyFlairTstat (V1.2): new major versions with faster initialization and better vent performance!

MyFlairServiceMgrV2, MyPuckDeviceV2: new major versions with new UI presentation and custom capability (setZoneSetpoint)!

MyFlairVent (v1.2), MyPuckDevice (v1.2.4) - ocfDeviceType minor adjustments

MyFlairVent (v1.2), MyPuckDevice (v1.2.3), MyFlairHvacunit (v.1.1.9c) - setLevel & ocfDeviceType minor adjustments

MyPuckDevice (v1.2.2),MyFlairVent (v1.1.8), MyHVacUnit (V1.9b), MYFlairTstat (v1.5) - new versions to correct some minor icon issues following the release of new iOS/Android ST classic mobile app.

MyHVACUnit (v1.1.9), MyPuckDevice (v1.1.7), & My FlairVent (v1.1.6)- with a workaround for some ST platform issues related to the state variable size limit that has appeared in the last month or so.

MyFlairServiceMgr (v1.1.6) - minor correction to avoid ST timeouts when creating many Flair devices under SmartThings

MyHVACUnit (v1.1.8) with some corrections for Farenheit users in setHeatingSetpoint & setCoolingSetpoint

MyPuckDevice (v1.16) & MyHVACUnit (v1.1.5) with some corrections for Farenheit & Celsius users to enforce the right increment

My Flair Vent State correction with refresh_vent() call in setLevel()- v1.1.5

My Flair Vent devices with purgeChildDevice() call in MyFlairServiceMgr to remove automatically devices- v1.1.4

My Flair Vent State correction due to some wrong vent readings- v1.1.2

My Puck device with temperature display fix v1.1.3

New Flair device versions for display in the new Samsung app

For more details on the Flair capabilities, refer to the flair website.

A contribution fee is required due to the amount of work for the design, development, and testing of the devices (equivalent of a few cups of coffee).

To download the SmartThings code, go to www.ecomatiqhomes.com/store

I’ve developed more than 10k lines of code for integrating the Flair devices into ST.

  • The code exposes all the relevant Flair devices:

    • The Puck device: the puck can be used as a sensor (temperature, humidity, room’s pressure) and a gateway for your other flair devices. With My Flair HVACUnit (see below), the puck can control your Mini/Window splits, portable heaters/coolers via IR in a smarter way.

    • The Flair smart vent: can help you directing your airflow when you mostly need it in your home for colder/hotter rooms

    • The HVAC Unit: The device can control a large number of mini/window splits, portable heaters/coolers, etc. Flair supports over 250+ brands. You can find a full list at their website. If you don’t find yours in the list, don’t worry! Flair can easily add it to its database.

    • The Flair Tstat: at the moment, the Flair virtual Tstat can only be used as a sensor (humidity, temperature, heat/cool capabilities). It can be linked to the most popular brands of smart wifi thermostats (ecobee, Nest, and pretty soon Honeywell).

All screenshots here:

_Service Manager (with Ask Alexa Integration for verbal notifications of Daily/Weekly Summary Reports)

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=MyFlairServiceMgr#UI_and_integration_setup_workflow

_Flair Devices

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=My_Puck_device#Look_.26_Feel
http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=My_Flair_Vent#Look_.26_Feel
http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=My_Flair_HVac_Unit#Look_.26_Feel
http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=My_Flair_Thermostat#Look_.26_Feel

- Their unique design is based on a minimum number of state & atomicState variables. See the effect of state variables here:

  • The Flair devices use the latest async http requests to avoid timeouts as much as possible. They were also designed with some code optimization that allow caching of structures, zones, rooms data for better performances.

  • All Flair capabilities & attributes are exposed for easier integration with Rule Engines (SmartRules, Core or others)

- The code unlocks all Flair’s rich APIs features.

- The code has been designed to work with my ecosystem of Zoned Heating/Cooling smartapps.

  • If you have the Ask Alexa smartapp installed under SmartThings, I’ve integrated some voice reports in the Service Manager (last page) that give you a summary of all events related to the Flair devices for the past day/week (optional)**

For example, for the Flair Vent device, you’ll get the following summary voice report:

In the past 7 days, in the room Office where the vent My Flair Vent Office-186c is located,the room’s average temperature was 26.0 degrees Celsius,the room’s setpoint was 25.0 degrees in average…The vent’s average temperature collected was 28.9 degrees Celsius, the vent’s average level was 29% and there were 147 level changes.The vent’s minimum level was 0% on 2017-10-02 08:17.The vent’s maximum level was 100% on 2017-10-01 22:00.

And,for the Puck device, here is a summary voice report:

At your home, your Flair’s structure is currently in manual mode,the current Flair Away Mode is ThirdParty, and its setpoint mode is currently DeferRooms.In the past 7 days,the average room temperature was 26.7 degrees Celsius,the room’s setpoint was 24.8 degrees in average.The room’s minimum setpoint was 24.0 degrees on 2017-10-01 16:28,and the room’s maximum setpoint was 25.5 degrees on 2017-10-02 21:12.The puck’s average temp collected was 26.8 degrees Celsius.And finally, the puck’s average relative humidity observed was 43.0%.

- As a reminder, I have also built many smartapps to control any ST connected smart vents (Flair, Keen Home, EcoNet, etc.) with many smart features such as:

_ zoning with delta temp (+/-) adjustment per zone(s) activated by schedule
_ alternative cooling also activated by schedule
_ control of your vents based on any ST temp/motion/contact/presence sensors
_ built-in safeguards amongst others, the HVAC static pressure check based on the differential between the puck and the vent (need to be located in the same room)
_ avg/median/min/max temp calculations for your thermostat's setpoints adjustment based on all your ST connected sensors (similar to the ecobee's follow me feature)
_ ability to set your thermostat to Away or Present based on all your ST motion sensors (similar to ecobee's smart away feature)

Here are the names of the zoned heating/cooling smartapps:

_For the ecobee thermostat:

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=EcobeeSetZoneWithSchedule

_For any ST (z-wave, zigbee, wifi) connected thermostat with standard capabilities:

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=ScheduleTstatZones

_This last smartapp has less features but can control the vents based on rooms’ temp thresholds.

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=ScheduleRoomTempControl

Note:

My zoned heating/cooling smartapps (ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule, ScheduleTstatZones) have been designed to control your HVAC unit (window/split unit, portable heaters and coolers) in a smart way. For example, as a zone/room thermostat, ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule & ScheduleTstatZones can automatically choose the right fan speed depending on the temp differential in the zone and turn off the unit when it’s not part of the schedule zones for a specific period of the day or when a specific room is not occupied (customizable options).

For more details, refer to

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Cool product and great work on the integration, Yves. Congratulations!

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@yvesracine I’m trying to figure out if i need both the puck and hvac device handlers.

I have one puck that is sending IR commands to a window a/c.

If I get the puck device handler, I can use it as a temp sensor in ST and I can change the puck’s temp setpoint, which will then change the temp setpoint on my window a/c. Do I have that right?

What would the hvac device handler add in this case? Do I need the hvac dth to turn the a/c on and off? Or can the puck handler do that?

@marktheknife, the HVAC device is required to turn on/off the HVAC unit, to change the setpoint at the unit, to change the mode (heat,cool, fan, dry), to change the fan speed (low, medium, high), to change the swing mode (off, on, top)…

The puck can change the room’s setpoint only.

My zoned heating/cooling smartapps have been designed to control the HVAC unit in a smart way. For example, as a zone/room thermostat, ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule & ScheduleTstatZones can automatically choose the right fan speed depending on the temp differential in the zone and turn off the unit when it’s not part of the schedule zones for the period of the day or when a specific room is not occupied (customizable options).

Regards.

Hmm, ok. So it sounds like I need the hvac dth. In my case I’m not sure if the puck dth would do much for me? I only have one room, one puck, and one hvac device (with no vents). So I don’t need to set the room’s temp setpoint. Or is the puck handler required for the integration because the a/c is getting the IR commands from the puck?

Thanks!

I’ve created some flair bundles at my store. The HVAC unit bundle includes the puck device. The puck device allows you to control the Flair structure globally, i.e., the different flair modes (manual/auto, setpoint mode, Home Away mode, Away mode)…

Regards.

I see thanks. I checked out your store a week or two ago after your announcement on the flair forum. I remembered a puck only option but must have assumed there was an hvac only option; I see now imrhe hvac dth is bundled with the puck dth.

Sorry for all the questions, I haven’t purchased anything from your store before.

Am I understanding the terms at the bottom correctly that the purchase does not include any future updates to the device handlers?

It does if you follow the update procedure…

Refer to my Ecobee thread, some of my contributors have received minor updates for the last 3 years…

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Meaning an extra purchase of a support package or a positive review here, right?

I guess I’m just worried that because Flair’s own system seems to be a total sh*tshow since they started shipping their products to the bulk of users in august, that some major change could end up being necessary in the near future.

Well, with the Flair APIs and my ST integration, you won’t be as dependent on the Flair automations for sure… That’s all I can tell you…

BTW, most of my Ecobee contributors were quite happy to give me positive reviews or “liked” my thread…

2 Likes

OK thanks. I’m still working with flair to try to get an IR code issue with my a/c worked out. If they can do that, I’ll probably give your device a try.

Thanks for creating this integration.

Nicely done…and with Ask Alexa integration to boot!

2 Likes

Hey @yvesracine ,
Thank you for the hard work, I will most probably buy your Flair package very soon.
I received my pucks and vents almost 2 months ago now but I have never been able to really test them since the whole automation has been disabled as well as their API. Have you been luckier than I and able to run some more test on these devices ? Are you confident on the reliability of their hardware, API and servers.
Thanks

EDIT: From what I can read on the Flair forum now (How did I missed all these messages before?!?) it looks like you had some good test with their API. Any feedback here from your POV on the flair reliability is still be good to take :wink:

Yes, I have been able to use my devices in a reliable way with the Flair APIs.

There is also fisheromega that has been using My ecobee and my Flair devices with ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule to control the vents.

See his post at the Flair community forum:

http://forum.flair.co/t/smartthings-and-flair-integration/19/39

Regards

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Hi Yves,
I have 1 question about the Flair Tstat. From what I understand this is a way to control from smarthings the thermostat linked to my flair account.
Since I already have my ecobee thermostat in smartthings directly (I am using your MyEcobee bundle), I shouldn’t need the Flair Tstat, am I right ?
Thank you

Can someone please explain what flair Is? I have success units for air, but they also do heat & can act as a dehumidifier. I did check the flair website & they have my ductless listed…it’s dakin. I don’t have any smart thermostats because as far as i.know I can’t combine the air & heat. What can I do.with flair?
Thanks
Dom

Yes, you’re correct. The Flair Tstat can be only used as a sensor for the moment (not an actuator).

My ecobee device has already all the capabilities required to control the thermostat (and more).

Regards.

Hi, with the Flair Puck (HW) and my Puck and HVAC devices, you can probably control your unit under SmartThings (as Dailkin is a major brand, and Flair covers about 250 brands).

Under ST, My HVAC unit device can be used to turn on/off the device, change the mode (heat,cool, fan, dry), to change the fan speed (low, medium, high), to change the swing mode (off, on, top)… Whatever you can do with your remote via IR is probably supported by Flair through the Puck hardware.

However, I cannot certify that your specific model can be controlled via Flair and IR.

I’d recommend to contact Flair directly or through the forum.

https://forum.flair.co/t/puck-and-mini-split-ir-setup/600

For more details on My HVAC unit under ST (capabilities/commands available), refer to the ST community wiki:

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=My_Flair_HVac_Unit

Regards.

Hi, I’ve just released a new version of My HVACUnit DTH (v1.0g) which allows you to control most portable heaters/coolers & window/split unit using the Flair Puck (HW) and IR.

The new version includes the standard ST supportedThermostaModes & supportedThermostatFanModes attributes according to the ST thermostat capabilities. The new attributes are based on the Flair constraints attributes linked to any unit controlled by IR via Flair.

The new version is available at my store:

www.ecomatiqhomes.com/store

For more details, refer to the ST community wiki:

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=My_Flair_HVac_Unit
Regards.

Hi, the latest version (v7.8.1) of my zoned heating/cooling smartapps (ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule, ScheduleTstatZones) now include the logic to set the desired Temp at the Puck for the scheduled zone(s) inside the smartapps.

Here is the new virtual zone UI:

You can download the code at my store.

http://ecomatiqhomes.com/store
Regards.

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