Ok, I have thought of the BEST SmartApp for thermostat operation that will get you the most savings out of your thermostat, especially for those who are away from home frequently (most people I think).
Current problem- You set your thermostat to turn down the temperature (when set to heat) when you leave your house. 2 problems I see with this;
- When you get back home your house is X degrees colder and takes time to heat back up.
- X degrees is usually only a couple degrees off from normal temperature.
Now for how the SmartApp operates! well… I wanted to ask a couple questions about how these SmartApps operate (I know VERY little about coding) before I explain the SmartApp. Keep in mind the explanation is rather long. Also there is one thing I haven’t figured out yet. But is still possible. I’m sure I can solve this one issue with a little googling. Anyways here are the questions I have before giving my idea.
- Can a SmartApp compute a calculation using 2 numbers given by the user and a 3rd number being a number given my a ST sensor.
- The big question- There is a 4th number that is needed for the calculation I talked about in the previous question. That number would need to be the distance the nearest house member is to the house. This would require the location services being constantly updated. If this is possible, what impact will this have on phone battery usage?
I don’t know how obvious my idea is now, but there is a lot of things I have taken into consideration, and I don’t see a single flaw in this SmartApp assuming the 2 questions above are possible.