Two Window AC units

[Mspowley (Mike)]

Before, I try to create an app for my unique situation, I figured I would ask to see if someone already has an app or code I could use.

I live in a house built in 1910. We had all new electrical and plumbing put in when we moved in. On the 3rd floor though the breaker is only 15 amps. As we learned this winter, heat does not keep well on this floor and the furnace has trouble pushing this far up. We used a small plug in heater for the winter but we were unable to plug in two unit (one for each room) as it would draw too much and trip the breaker. We put the heater in the windowless hallway between the bedrooms and it worked just fine. As are approaching Spring, I expect to have to put window AC units in each room. Problem is, running two units at the same time will trip the breaker (like the heater problem).

I am thinking someone has had this issue before and created a SmartApp to control two heavy duty switches from temp sendors in the rooms. This would be a similar setup to the SmartApp, Vertual Thermostat. The app would set desired temp from a calendar (like BASIC 5-2 DAY PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTAT SCHEDULER). Here is the kicker. The app would need to prevent both switches from being on at the same time.

Thanks for the help.

[JDRoberts]

Webcore should be able to do this easily. As you know, you will need one smart switch and one temp sensor in each room, but webcore can create a stacked conditional that tracks the status of each.

FAQ: What is WebCoRE? (And what was CoRE?)

CoRE (now WebCore) is a very powerful community – created rules engine for SmartThings. It allows you to set up stacked conditionals like “If A then B but only while C and not if D.” Setting it up can be quite complex, but there are many community members who will be glad to help you. For example, here is a piston that one member created to notify him if the dog had already been fed twice that day and he picked up the dog bowl for a third time. He needed this because he has a large family and people didn’t always remember whose turn it was to feed the dog. [image] The original version of CoRE Has now been replaced by a new version, WebCoRE, which moves the data entry to a web interface. This allows for flexibility and an architecture that requires more memory than is av…

[Ryan780]

How do your window units work? Do they come on when power is applied to them or do they require you to hit a button on them? Also, cutting power to an AC unit is VERY bad. If you read your manual it will tell you to never just pull the plug…that could fry your compressor.

If you get units that use IR remotes, you could control them with Broadlink RM Pro but you’d need a unit for each room…very expensive solution.

[JDRoberts]

There are quite a few ways to control air-conditioners these days, it just depends on the specific model. Broadlink is definitely one, But there’s also a Z wave device from remotec which integrates well with smartthings and a couple of other options as well.

FAQ: Best way to control a AC (2019)

Hi there, So what is the most elegant way to control a AC nowadays? My setup is like this: tv in living room ac in a different room (shitty ac where the line of sight to the IR is strict) I read about harmony hub… but can i control both my tv and the AC with 1 device?

I think you’ll still need Webcore to handle the stacked conditional, though, no matter what control device you end up with.

[vseven (Allan)]

@Ryan780

Also, cutting power to an AC unit is VERY bad. If you read your manual it will tell you to never just pull the plug…that could fry your compressor.

In general as long as you leave the unit off for a little while before cycling it back on (10 min?) you really shouldn’t have any damage. The refrigerant should equalize itself back out. I’m in no way is recommending it, I’m just saying it should be okay as long as you’re not cycling things on and off in a very short period of time.