Support for Heatmiser WiFi Thermostats

Other Devices & Integrations Climate Control & Temperature Sensors
#1

Heatmiser have recently brought out a range of thermostats for the UK home market. They control either heat only, or heat and hot water with interfaces currently for iPad / iPod and soon to be for Android. I’d love to see some development on the Mi Casa Verde for the control of their range of thermostats.

So, if there are any plans to integrate the Heatmiser, please update this post !

Many thanks,

#2

I have purchased some of the HeatMiser network thermostats and intend to write a plugin for them. I haven’t looked at the WiFi ones to see how they differ from the network versions, so can’t comment on these. The network ones allow full programming over an RS422 link - basically it’s a Cat-5 cable back to the wiring centre and that carries all data and switching contacts.

Currently I’m trying to get the system communicating via an Ethernet to RS422 converter, so it’s early days but when I get something running I’ll post it here.

#3

Having spent a bit of time today sorting out communications to the HeatMiser thermostats, it seems the WiFi controllers have a very similar communications structure to the RS422 network version. I haven’t looked at the communications blocks in great detail, but it should be possible to support both.

It’ll take me a while to get this up and running, but I’ve now got basic communications routines in Lua to the thermostats, so it’s moving.

#4

I’m interested in this topic too. I have a Heatmiser wi-fi thermostat (it’s great) and the possibility of connecting it to Vera would persuade me to buy one. :slight_smile:

#5

I have the Heatmiser network thermostats talking to the Vera now - I haven’t looked too closely at the WiFi version but it wouldn’t be too hard to add support I think. The only real issue is changing the plugin to control via multiple IP addresses - I think the majority of the protocol is similar to the network thermostats.

I’m not real sure what the advantage of the WiFi version is though - it’s expensive (maybe £70 more expensive than the network thermostats - twice the price) and I think you’ve still got to wire it in to the mains and an actuator. The network versions use standard Cat-5 cable to connect back to the wiring centre, so it’s reasonably easy…

I should add, that if anyone is looking at these thermostats, don’t buy the Heatmiser ethernet adaptor. It’s something like £130, and I purchased something off eBay that looks exactly the same, and cost about £40 or so - it works great! It’s a Hexin HXSP-2108E Ethernet to RS422 adaptor.

It will be a little while yet before I release a plugin, but it’s coming…

#6

Thanks for the update Chris. The main advantage of the Heatmiser wi-fi version is that it is a straight replacement for the standard UK 3-wire wall thermostats fitted to most central heating systems. These have 240v AC mains live, neutral and switched live connections only, so you can fit the Heatmiser wi-fi stat as a direct replacement with no additional wiring. Given the relative positions of my thermostat and the nearest network connection, £70 seems a reasonable premium! :wink:

#7
The main advantage of the Heatmiser wi-fi version is that it is a straight replacement for the standard UK 3-wire wall thermostats fitted to most central heating systems.
Ok - that sounds fair. I hadn't thought about that as I'm currently installing the Heatmiser stats into an extension and will just retro fit the one exiting thermostat in the old part of the house with a network version.

There’s a couple of things to work out in order to support the WiFi version, but it shouldn’t be a big deal. The packet structure is a little different, but not majorly so.

Depending on how I get on with other jobs around the house, I’ll try and get the plugin released with initial functionality in a few weeks. This will probably just support basic stuff like time sync and manual control (on/off, temperature etc). Ultimately I’d like to be able to use the plugin to edit the schedule as well.

#8

Cool :slight_smile:

Now I’m the proud owner of a Vera Lite I’d be happy to volunteer for beta testing if required… :wink:

#9

Good stuff. I have the plugin kinda working now - basic stuff only in that you can control all the standard stuff such as temperature, on/off, holiday mode, override etc. I’ve currently programmed it for the PRT/HW (the hot water version), although I haven’t got the water part finished yet. I’d need to change a few things in order to support WiFi, but it’s not very much I think.

My current problem is time - the builders are finishing up on my extension this week so I need to keep a close eye on things - when they leave, I’ve got to do all the internals, so I need to make sure they aren’t leaving me too many problems to deal with :wink: Hopefully I’ll get something out (it will initially be for UI5) in the next week or two.

#10

Hi Chris

Any progress on this? If not I’d be happy to have a go at adapting your code for the wi-fi stat. :slight_smile:

#11

Have you seen GitHub - thoukydides/heatmiser-wifi: Web interface, SiriProxy plugin and Perl libraries for Heatmiser Wi-Fi Thermostats yet? I currently have a RF (not networked :() Heatmiser, but this will be replaced at some point this year with the wifi version…

#12

Yes Quinten, I had a look at that a couple of weeks ago but I wouldn’t know how to start adapting it for Vera!

Chris had something already working on Vera, so I imagine it would be easier to adapt his code instead.

Alan

#13

I think the network and Wifi version use different messages, although I’ve not looked at it in detail yet. Possibly the best start would be to look at the other wifi thermostat plugin thats in the app market.

#14

The others tend to use API calls, but there isn’t an API available for Heatmiser yet - they’re working on it.

#15

Good stuff. I have the plugin kinda working now - basic stuff only in that you can control all the standard stuff such as temperature, on/off, holiday mode, override etc. I’ve currently programmed it for the PRT/HW (the hot water version), although I haven’t got the water part finished yet. I’d need to change a few things in order to support WiFi, but it’s not very much I think.

My current problem is time - the builders are finishing up on my extension this week so I need to keep a close eye on things - when they leave, I’ve got to do all the internals, so I need to make sure they aren’t leaving me too many problems to deal with :wink: Hopefully I’ll get something out (it will initially be for UI5) in the next week or two.[/quote]

Hi Chris,

I’ve just installed a Heatmiser Wifi (PRT-TS) in my home and am awaiting delivery of a second one tomorrow. I have got the perl wifi stuff installed on a server and that’s been working great, so I had a look at your plugin and compared it to the perl (and php version) and they do seem awfully similar. I would really love to add them to my Vera setup, so what I wanted to propose is for me to send you the ‘spare’ heatmiser wifi thermostat to enable you to amend your plugin and provide support for it?

Is that a good idea?

Q.

#16

Hi Quentin,
At the moment I’m not sure if I can support this due to other things going on. (from memory) There’s not a huge difference between the different thermostats so this isn’t the issue. The question that I need to remind myself is how to support individual IP thermostats in the plugin as the way it’s currently written is to support a parent device that handles the communication to the individual thermostats via IP/RS-422.

Give me a week or so to have another look over the plugin to see how big a job it is…

Cheers
Chris

#17

Cheers Chris,

I tried to amend your plug in and make it suitable for the wifi version, but it is quite a bit more complex (your plugin, not the concept ;)) than I had envisaged. The wifi thermostats require a pin sent at all times, and have an individual IP address/port. The concept of having a parent with children should work, but each child needs its own IP address/port & pin, and how to create such things inside the plugin is a bit beyond me.

I also managed to ‘crash’ my thermostat as it currently won’t listen to port 8068 anymore (the one the smart phone apps use), so I can’t try anything now until I get home and kill the power to it.

#18

I think it would be better to avoid the parent/child concept if possible. It is needed on the network version since everything goes through a single gateway…

Ooops - that doesn’t sound good :frowning:

I’ll have a think next week and try and remind myself how the protocol to the WiFi version works. From memory the data blocks were largely (but not exactly) the same - I don’t recall the pin issue you mention, so this may be another issue that needs some thought…

Chris

#19

Chris

Using your plug-in as a starting point I’ve got the Heatmiser Wi-Fi talking nicely to Vera now. I had intended to try to add the wi-fi model to your plug-in, but since it’s a stand-alone device I found it was more sensible to develop a stand-alone plug-in which does not use children and requires only the thermostat device on Vera. Quinten and I have been using the plug-in for several days now (I have one stat, he has two) and it’s working well.

Comms was a big issue. The wi-fi version will only talk to one client at a time on port 8068, so if you use io.open() in the plug-in you lock out iPhone users. I’ve used a socket model which releases the port after each poll, thus allowing other clients to access the thermostat.

You’re very welcome to have a look at the code if you’re thinking about expanding your plug-in to cater for the wi-fi model, or just for interest.

#20

Hi racarter,

I’ve just got myself a Vera Lite and already have 2x Heatmier WiFi thermostats. Would it be possible to get a copy of your code as I’m keen to get them linked up.

Regards

Paul