A ST connected thermostat (optional). If used with a thermostat, then its DTH (Device Type Handler) must populate the standard OperatingState and heating/cooling setpoint attributes.
Smart vents (Keen Home, Flair, or other brands as long as they follow the ST switch/dimmer switch capabilities). Make sure to poll the thermostat on a regular basis for more accurate results.
Temp & Motion sensors in rooms (optional) for better vent adjustment
For motion detection, I donât recommend the ecobee remote sensors as they are not meant for HA scenarios. They donât update in real time in most cases.
If used with Keen Home Smart Vents: A DTH for the Keen Home Smart Vents (optional, to avoid too much polling) such as the following ones:
With the DTHs above, youâd need to press the âconfigureâ tile for each of your vents to adjust your ventâs polling interval.
The smartapp can also work with the Flair Vent, see thread here:
If you do not know how to install a custom smartapp or DTH, please refer to this thread for more details:
Features
The smartapp can work with or without a thermostat specified as input
Support of all ST connected thermostats (zigbee, z-wave, wi-fi,etc.) including Nest, ecobee, Honeywell, etc.
Full support of all thermostat modes (cool, heat, auto, etc.)
You can define up to 16 rooms where vents can be controlled based on a temp threshold defined on a room by room basis
For each room, you can indicate not only the vent switches (up to 2 per room) to be controlled, but also any ST connected temp and motion sensors that can help you to better control the vent settings
Automatic adjustments of the vent level so that your occupied rooms (based on motion detection) will get the most heating/cooling.
For each room, the occupied threshold (in minutes) can be customized based on your own needs (optional)
You may use room occupancy or not to control the vents. This is configurable on a room by room basis.
You may also override the calculated level value with a static level value for any vent controlled by the smartapp (optional).
If a thermostat is provided as input, the smartapp will adjust the vents only if the thermostatâs Operating State is not âidleâ (so your HVAC is either âHeatingâ or âCoolingâ or the fan is running).
For each room, you can specify a room temp threshold
(When cooling and room temp < threshold) or (when heating and room temp> threshold) => vents are closed;
Otherwise left open
Please note that the following safeguards have been implemented to avoid damaging your HVAC:
The smartapp checks each ventâs temperature and makes sure that itâs within the minimum and maximum range to provide safe operation.
If not within the safe temp range (between 45 and 130 degrees Farenheit), it will notify you & open all vents
It ensures that there is a minimum open level (set to 10% by default) for any vents controlled by the smartapp.
However, if the ST user wants to bypass the above safeguards, then she/he can do it by setting the bypassSafeguards flag to âtrueâ (1st page: General Setup, scroll down for more options)
Please take note of the following warning about the safeguards:
You may want to do some research in order to avoid closing too many vents in your home (based on your HVAC model).
The safeguards can be customized according to your HVAC requirements.
The smartapp is compatible with the US and metric systems (Farenheit and Celsius)
The smartapp can be activated/deactivated with a physical/virtual switch (optional)
The SmartVentManager smartapp is available at my github.
You can manually copy and paste the smartapp from my github.
You can also find the smartapp under the SmartThingsPublic github repo. If you have the github integration, you just need to select the yracine/SmartVentManager smartapp when you âUpdate From Repoâ (yracine is at the end of the âNew - only in Githubâ list).
The smartapp is a basic version of my zoned heating/cooling solutions that you can download at my store:
Amongst other features, my zoned heating/cooling solutions have the following added capabilities:
Ability to create zones inside your home (ex. upstairs bedrooms, basement, ground floor). A zone is composed of 1 to many rooms.
Ability to create schedules so that the above zones are active only during a specific period of the day
* For example: at nights, the airflow shall be directed only at the upstairs bedrooms; during the
day, the airflow shall be directed towards the ground floor and the basement, but not the upstairs
bedrooms).
Ability to set the thermostatâs setpoints to achieve best comfort and energy efficiency during a schedule run.
Ability to use contact sensors (for doors and windows) to control the vents.
Ability to run schedules based on the ST hello modes (Night, Away, Home, any custom ones)
Ability to do avg temp calculations of any ST connected remote sensors and set the thermostat to away or present (ScheduleTstatZones & ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule).
Ability to trigger alternative cooling based on outdoor temp threshold (ScheduleTstatZones & ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule).
Ability to control the vent proportionnally based on each roomâs temp differential to the thermosatâs setpoints (ScheduleTstatZones & ecobeeSetZoneWithSchedule).
And, many more featuresâŠ
For more details on my zoned heating/cooling solutions, please refer to this thread:
Here are some screenshots of the SmartVentManager smartapp:
How long have you been running a smart vent or any sort of zoning? I used to work in HVAC for a while and understand zoning well. What I wonder about is the concerns of static pressure. Like that the vent has a minimum open percentage to get around that. But also Iâve wondered how much difference this can really make to over all comfort then also any savings that might be made. The increase of static pressure in the ducting is slight concern for sure. Newer construction shouldnt be too much of an issue, I think anything in the 2000âs and up should have decent sealing. But you never knowâŠ
I just wonder about savings and comfort. Right now, I just do the 25% open on the vents and mostly close doors but not all the way lol. Then again I do live alone in a house too big for one person.
Hi, the main differences are indicated in bold in the 1st post above, and there are more details in the ânew version of Zoned Heating/Cooling solutionsâ thread.
Them answering the question is kind ⊠you know ⊠I wouldnât trust Billy Mays saying something isnât going to kill me. They do have a vested interest in their own product.
That being said, yea I think their solution to keeping them slightly open is a good one. The issue is that as the pressure in the lines back up, you end up leaking that conditioned air outside the ducts into your attic or basement for example. This is worse for older homes. When I installed duct we did try to tape all joints but there were times they were far from air tight. And depending on construction, if someone used just âduct tapeâ on metal ducts it will fail very soon. Proper foil tape is better, or the paint on type sealant.
So closing off vents can increase your static pressure and make you run way less efficient than not. Even âproperâ zoning by placing baffles at the takeoffs from the main trunk line, can cause this same problem. Their solution of not fully blocking flow is good.
My main question is more of how is the real world usage of them affecting the bottom line. Either in terms of money saved, or comfort in the house. I have 3 rooms that I NEVER go into. Ive done the manual partial closing of the vents and leaving the door only open a crack. So i know in my case its probably minimal benefit, but ya know⊠gadgets are good :).
I am not knocking @yvesracine app at all just making a suggestion.
I have been running Keenect since it first started in Beta and it works very well. One major thing we put in place is something you may think about adding to your app. I have a pressure differential sensor mounted on my unit with a Zwave open close sensor. If I hit 150pa back pressure it opens all vents to 100% to relieve pressure then for all vents that are included in the pressure relief function it adds 5% to their opening and will keep ding this if needed until there is a static pressure below the threshold I select on the differential sensor. This is a great function to protect your HVAC unit and the ducts.
I ask for a modest contribution for the more elaborate smartapps at my store:
ScheduleTstatZones is $15.
ScheduleRoomTempControl is only $10 as the smartapp has less features (good for controlling the vents, but not necessary for adjusting the thermostatâs setpoints).
The $100 consulting fee is for any assistance you need to configure the smartapps according to your house layout and your user requirements. I also usually recommend where to place the smart vents in your house for maximum efficiency.
Some users have very specific requirements for guests involving arrival sensors and custom ST hello modes.
I know a contributor (doctor) in LA who wants his vents to be controlled differently on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during his office workdays. The rest of the week, he spends more of his time
in his upstairs floor, and only some bedrooms vents need to be open unless a guest is around.
Based on a guestâs presence sensor, I have also defined a custom ST hello mode for him which triggers a specific schedule for the zone where the guest bedroom is located.
Thatâs the kind of requirements that my smartapps can deal with, and for this kind of requirements, I charge a consulting fee for the initial setup (when needed).
@yvesracine is it possible to set the room temp x deg higher for cooling and y deg cooler for heating in your app ? or that option is only in the paid version ?
thanks
The KeenVentManager was commissioned by Keen Home and they gave me a specific set of requirements for the development.
The distinct cooling & heating temp thresholds can bet set in ScheduleRoomTempControl ($10) along with the concept of zones & schedules. A zone is composed of 1 to many rooms.
The smartapp is available for download at my store.
You can manually copy and paste the smartapp from my github.
You can also find the smartapp under the SmartThingsPublic github repo. If you have the github integration, you just need to select the yracine/KeenVentManager smartapp when you âUpdate From Repoâ (yracine is at the end of the âNew - only in Githubâ list).
Thought Iâd jump in here and answer your questions about bottomline impact. We only have partial data at this point because most homes have only had Smart Vents for 6 months or so, but many have reported noticeable improvements in their comfort and at least one has reported a 50% reduction in his gas bill with Smart Vents paired with a Nest. Based on past research conducted by our team and others, we expect about 15% savings on average with Smart Vents. You may be interested in this efficiency study of Smart Vents from the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute.
