Plugin: AutoVirtualThermostat (AVT)

Plugins & Plugin Development General Plugin Discussion
#21

I know. And even if it helped yesterday I still see some instances of temperatures not updating, so its probably something with the FW release…

How do i pull logs? I have a USB and i’ve enabled log to USB, but I havent figured out how to read those logs?

#22

You can USB and all that, but I think using the built-in CGI log reader is the most straightforward:

[tt]http://vera_ip/cgi-bin/cmh/log.sh?Device=LuaUPnP[/tt]

Notice we don’t use the 3840 port number in this URL… it’s just straight HTTP to the Vera. This will display the log. You can copy-pasta from there.

EDIT: By the way, on temps not updating, I’ve already found a UI7 bug and reported to Vera, and they’ve committed to fix in 1.7.26. I found another bug yesterday working on a separate plug-in where UI also doesn’t update when dependent state variables change. Sigh…

#23

Thanks for this app, the french on SVT was killing me!

a few things.

  1. For some reason my heater keeps cycling on and off even though it hasn’t reached the setpoint. All settings seem to be ok so not sure why that is happening
  2. I can’t seem to control this from ALTUI
  3. Is there an easier way to set the Eco mode setpoint? Seems can only be done by modifying the variables?
    4. PLEG doesn’t seem to recognize the device well
    5. Authomation and Imperihome issues
    (all the above were fine in SVT)

Thank you

#24

I finally got around to test the AVT but I have some observations below. I did read the instructions on your site but I was unable to find answers there:

[ul][li]How do the temperature settings work ? Is it high/low temp ? Raising the Left temp will also raise the right and lowering the right temp will also lower the left. In SVT the temps were different, left for Comfort heat and right for Eco. I notice in AVT I have 2 sets of temperature settings, one for Eco and 1 for Comfort.[/li]
[li]I need to be able to add 2 heating devices. I tried adding 2 with a comma inbetween in the advance settings, but then it seems to clear the entry. I have electric heaters which I turn on/off based on the temperature.[/li]
[li]When I try to create a scene with AVT, I cannot change the temperature ?[/li]
[li]AVT does not show up in Imperihome[/li][/ul]

Thanks for your

#25

In AVT the temperature on the left is the heating setpoint (the temperature below which the thermostat will call for heat). The temperature on the right is the cooling setpoint (the temperature above which the thermostat will call for cooling). You cannot set the heating setpoint above the cooling setpoint, nor the cooling setpoint below the heating setpoint (either condition would cause heating and cooling to run simultaneously). You are correct, the Comfort and Economy setpoints are two different sets; switching energy modes switches between the two.

I need to be able to add 2 heating devices. I tried adding 2 with a comma inbetween in the advance settings, but then it seems to clear the entry. I have electric heaters which I turn on/off based on the temperature.

AVT supports only one cooling, heating, and fan device each. You can work around this by setting your second heating device on the fan device. There are delays associated with the fan device you may want to remove. Set both [tt]FanOnDelayHeating[/tt] and [tt]FanOffDelayHeating[/tt] to 0 to disable these delays. And you’ll want to keep the fan mode in Auto at all times.

When I try to create a scene with AVT, I cannot change the temperature ?

I will look into this. In the meanwhile, you can add the following Lua to your scene (for heat setpoint):

[tt]luup.call_action( “urn:upnp-org:serviceId:TemperatureSetpoint1_Heat”, “SetCurrentSetpoint”, { NewCurrentSetpoint=value }, AVTDeviceNumber );[/tt]

AVT does not show up in Imperihome

Known issue with ImperiHome. There’s a workaround that’s in test. See reply #14 in this thread.

#26

Any way to disable cooling altogether? Only need for heat. Also, what is the best way to change the economy mode setpoint?

M

#27

No way to disable cooling. Just don’t set a cooling device. Nothing will happen.

Changing the economy setpoint is done from the UI by switching to Economy mode, setting the setpoints, and returning to Comfort mode (if that’s where you want to be).

#28

Thank you. Is there any reason why I can’t switch modes in all ALTUI?

#29

I’ll look into it and report back.

#30

I will look into this. In the meanwhile, you can add the following Lua to your scene (for heat setpoint):

[tt]luup.call_action( “urn:upnp-org:serviceId:TemperatureSetpoint1_Heat”, “SetCurrentSetpoint”, { NewCurrentSetpoint=value }, AVTDeviceNumber );[/tt][/quote]

OK. This appears to be a bug in UI7’s [tt]slider_vertical[/tt] control implementation. For the moment, the above proposed Lua is the way to get the job done. In the long run, I’ve planned on switching to the newer and much better looking [tt]spinner_horizontal[/tt] control (like the ones in the Nest implementation). If you’re brave enough to try development code, the Github repository has those changes in the develop branch.

Now, on to look at what’s going on over on ALTUI…

#31

Do you mean operating mode (Off, Heat, Cool, Auto) or energy mode (Comfort, Economy)? Also, are you using ALTUI on Vera, or ALTUI on openLuup?

#32

Energy mode. Vera

#33

That’s an ALTUI thing. Apparently the implementation of the multi-state button (the sliding on-off control) on ALTUI expects only numeric state values to back it, where Vera allows string or numeric. I’ve brought this up with amg0 and he’s looking at it, and I don’t know if he’ll decide to bring his version into parity with UI7, or leave it, because nobody else has noticed until now. He’s been pretty quick to deal with other things I’ve thrown at him, though.

In the meanwhile, I can work around that by creating a shadow state variable that follows the sense of the string-based state variables. Code is already up on Github in the develop branch, if you’re feeling like an early adopter.

#34

One of my AVT devices is showing an error symbol and no temp is shown. The underlying devices are ok.

How do I troubleshoot this?

M

#35

That means that there are no valid temperature sensors. For a temperature sensor to be valid, it has to return a numeric temperature, updated within a recent period of time, and if battery powered, have a valid battery status.

A value from the sensor is considered “recent” if the timestamp of its CurrentTemperature is less than MaxSensorDelay seconds ago. The default is 3600, or one hour, which is a pretty long time.

The battery level of the sensor (if it’s battery-powered) is considered acceptable if has been provided within the last MaxSensorBattery seconds, and the level itself is greater than zero.

If a sensor is configured but ineligible, that fact will be logged in Vera’s log file. Request this URL in your browser:

[tt]http://your-vera-ip/cgi-bin/cmh/log.sh?Device=LuaUPnP[/tt]

You can browse through or use CTRL-F to search for “AutoVirtualThermostat” in that page content to find the messages that are relevant. You can more specifically search for the word “ineligible”, which is used in the messages AVT logs when a sensor is rejected.

#36

Got it. Thanks. At that point the device shuts off?

#37

Yes, for safety. If there are no valid temperature sensors, AVT goes into idle state. When a sensor updates with a valid value, it will resume operation on its own.

#38

Heating is …
Cooling is …
Ventilation is …
And did not you have a desire to add a humidity sensor? :slight_smile:

#39

No, I’ve thought about it. You’re the first to ask. My thought was to have it run the cooling device (which could be either an AC unit or dehumidifer). Would that be consistent with your expectation? Or perhaps a separate dehum device, but use the cooling device if no dehumidifier device is specified?

#40

hmm, I have a few places in which I would like to control the humidity. Bathroom, cellar …
If there is a universal device, why not use …
And in different cases, use only a fan, or together with heating.
Sorry for my English. It’s not me, it’s Google :slight_smile: