Make your own Nest for a LOT less $$
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2024
- Check out the whole script of this video @ www.DrZzs.com
We all want to be able to control the Temperature in our house to be comfortable but also to save some money. A smart thermostat, like the Nest, is a good idea, but too expensive for a lot of us.
Good news! You don't need a Nest. You can make something just as good for $20 or less!
Backlog Commands:
(This is for your Wifi & MQTT) - Backlog SSID1 YourWifiSSID; Password1 YourWifiPW; MqttHost your.mqtt.pi.ip; MqttUser yourMQTTuser; MqttPassword yourMQTTpw
(This is specific for the ThermoZzstat) - Backlog PowerRetain 1; SwitchRetain 1; gpio15 23; gpio4 22; gpio5 21; gpio14 02; setoption8 1; teleperiod 10; module 18
Important Links:
Yaml for the Configuration, Automations, and Lovelace - drzzs.com/ThermoZzstat
ESPeasy - github.com/letscontrolit/ESPE...
Tasmota - github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tas...
Termite - www.compuphase.com/software_t...
Buy the Parts:
Amazon:
D1mini - amzn.to/2IO2I7L
Relays - amzn.to/2QKC2Yp
Temp Sensor - amzn.to/2yBJSfk
AliExpress:
D1 mini - s.click.aliexpress.com/e/cnbJPbis
Relays - s.click.aliexpress.com/e/1j23i9a
Temp Sensor - s.click.aliexpress.com/e/c2QWttWY
Banggood:
D1mini - drzzs.com/D1mini
Relay - drzzs.com/D1relay
Temp Sensor - drzzs.com/Am2302
Social LINKS:
DrZzs Facebook Group: / 1969622823351838
Discord DrZzs - / discord
Discord Home Assistant - / discord
Patreon: / drzzs
Twitter: / dr_zzs
Instagram: / drzzs - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
the floating head makes me laugh. thats awesome. btw i think we may have the same barber
WOW!!! I LOVE the 'Backlog' command! I now can load each device with the SAME 10 commands and know that ALL devices have the SAME working information in them. Thanks so much.
You can also use termite to add a static IP to whatever device you're connecting to your WiFi ... You can specify netmask , router etc.
Easy and practical ! No need for AP in tasmota and find it on your net etc.
This is inspirational! A lot of us will likely have a little more work to do to accommodate Aux Heat, as well.
I'm 2 videos in and your cadence and delivery might be my favorite on the platform
As always, amazing video, I love the way you explain things, keep up the good work 🙏😊
Thank you. I will sure keep trying to make useful stuff.
Nice, the think that Nest and Ecobee will push is that they build the schedule for you. The devices learn. Hard to build that at home but this is close!
HOLY $HIT DOC!!! YOU DID IT!!! Oh man! Thanks for fillin that prescription for me! I had a fever, and the only prescription, was for someone to figure out the DIY thermostat! (Christopher Walken voice?)
This channel is so underrated!
I've been waiting for someone to do a DIY Thermostat for a while. When I do mine I'm going to add a physical small display and knob so it can be adjust from the device.
Awesome!
Would love to see how you to do it!
Let me join the club :) To be honest, the good Doctor beat me to it by a week or so - I've been waiting for a while for parts to arrive and the exact same day they finally did, DrZzs posted this video. Oh well... :) Regardless, i'll do mine as well, as I have pretty different ideas.
Thanks DrZzs. Great info for a newbie like me and it looks pretty slick.
Awesome!
That's the hope! I was a noob not long ago.
Heck, maybe I still am!
Doc! You rocks! When i grow up just wanna be like you!
hahaha
Be better!
I'm working on implementing a thermostat for my air conditioner using esphome.
thank you for your work!
Just in case nobody did a correction on this here we go... the red wire is the hot wire of the 24vac and the blue is the common the rest he had right. He did hook it up right according to the diagram. Love the tutorial these kind of projects are always fun to see how other do these types of things
Great video! I already have a non-wireless thermostat... do you think I can add this in parallel, so that AC & heat can be controlled either through HA or using existing thermostat?
I saw this video probably around the time you released it, but it's not until now that I will embark on this project. I was thinking you should have a store, maybe you do, where I can purchase a compete DIY thermostat kit. I'd spend a extra to get the kit, instead of ordering the parts myself.
Great job Dr Zzs!! @The Hook Up can't wait to see you do the same but by adding Node Red! :D
Thanks!
I really want someone to help me understand how to use Pete's NodeRed thermostat programmer. If anyone can do it Rob can!
This is awesome!! I want to do this. Instead of cramming all the relays in the box could we not install it at the unit and use the existing thermostat wire for just the temperature sensor? My unit is a heat pump so I'll also need an extra relay for the heat strips and use the heat relay in this video for the reversing valve.
Thank you for the mention at 13:25 - Pete
Thanks for the work you put into that Thermostat!
I need to dig into your blog posts on the subject and try to get it working for myself.
You do great stuff. It is much appreciated by myself and many others!
Thank you!
That's so awesome Justin !!! Again, awesome video as always. I think you next one should be cheap video camera doorbell with HA. Nest and Ring is amazing but again, expensive. Say what ?? 😁😁
Ya, That's a great idea. I'll have to do some learning first, so it won't be quick, but I'll start figuring it out.
thankyou for thi video - quick check is there an updated version i should be watching?
Another Excellent video. Thanks Z
Thanks Juice!
I think the relays will get warm and affect the temperature reading. I tried te same thing with a sonoff touch.
I'd like to automate my whole home humidifier and get away from the furnace mounted dial controller. Any plans for a video to do this? Thanks!
I love you bro, thank you very much i just wanted to buy a smart thermostat set online for my dad to christmas and couldnt believe how expensive it is. I hope ill be able to build the DIYostat
i bought everything for 13 dollars, hope it will work,
thank you very much once again. If this will work im gonna save up to 200$.
Just so you know, most furnace controllers will automatically control the fan when the heat or a/c is on. Normally there are 2 (or more) different fan speeds wired to the control board. One speed is for heat and is usually, by default, set to run slower, and the other runs when the a/c is on, or when the fan is called from the thermostat. The fan is usually activated after a delay when heat is called, to prevent the system from blowing cold air initially, and may continue to run after the heat call is removed to cool down the furnace heat exchanger. In A/C mode, the fan comes on and goes off with the A/C call. With some extra relays and timers, you can use the fan to achieve some level of humidity control by running the fan for a short period of time after shutdown to reclaim the moisture from the A/C coil to help keep the humidity higher, or slow down the fan speed to help reduce humidity.
Thanks man. That's good info I didn't know.
@@DrZzs Yes, I was going comment about this also. I wouldn't fire the fan relay at all, on a call to heat or a/c if your using a furnace, the furnace will go into low speed for heat AFTER it warms up, and continue to run after you stop heating, till it cools down. For Cooling I would connect a diode from between D2 and D1 so the fan automatically turns on when you power the Y relay (or you could get fancy if your furnance/airhandler doesn't support it and add some kind of delay and after purge to the fan). This will save you from creating extra safety controls in software and now you only have to worry about the fan relay failing. You can still also call the fan by itself, and on a furnace if you call for G (fan) without Y, it will go into low speed fan again, normally the same speed it uses for heat.
Good job, you may want to read up on "hysteresis" or "dead band" as it relates to thermostats though. It's basically a (few minute) delay between cycles to keep the HVAC from short-cycling which can lead to (expensive) damage. It's built into all commercial thermostats and is adjustable in some. Easy enough to program, just something to consider. BTW, really enjoy your videos, I've been in HA for 20+ years, way before it was cool LOL - it's nice to watch your journey!
Thanks man! It's been a fun journey. I really appreciate input for guys like you that have been doing it a lot longer than me. So thanks a lot for the feedback.
I hadn't heard of Hysteresis with HVAC until I started getting comments on this video yesterday :)
From what I've gathered since then I think there are a couple things built into the "generic_thermostat" component that fulfill that.
One is the "min_cycle_duration". So the On or Off state will last for that period of time. So if it's set to 15 min, then it'll run for at least 15 min when it comes on, and when it goes off, it'll stays off for at least 15 min. I might up mine to 30 min.
Also the "cold_tolerance" and "hot_tolerance" settings create a buffer around the target temp. So it won't trigger on/off, every time it passes the exact temp, but only after it passes the target +/- the "tolerance".
Is the Hysteresis always handled in the Thermostat? Or could it be handled in the unit itself?
Again, thanks for the input!
Your *_tolerance settings implement hysteresis - a difference between the transition in one direction (eg: heater on) and the other direction (eg: heater off). At most you might explain that in the code comments.
And of course, your minimum time before change, while not being hysteresis per se, is an alternate way of avoiding short cycles.
Yes, you already have it covered.
I am building my smart environment in Hungary. In the apartment what I rent right now there is an approx 25 years old FÉG gas boiler for heating. Now I implement my smart thermostat in this environment where I need relay for 230V 10A and 5V for AC. It's called fun :D I just ran in a little bit trouble with scheduling,but I'll sort it out soon :D based on your video DrZzs. Thanks mate, you helped me a lot :D
Perfect!
That's my goal every time.
@@DrZzs I installed the basic version of my thermostat, the scheduling is very simple. One good thing, be careful when you touch the relay when It is on 230V otherwhise It is gonna be shocking :D and you are gonna go ER for a night. Do not ask me how I know it 😁
Great video, but i have what may be a stupid question. As i like to keep my house at 65 degrees year round, I was wondering can this be set up with one profile instead of having a heat profile and a cool profile? Have HA energize a relay when ever temp is 3 degrees either side of 65. Then have HA energize a relay second if temp is 3 degrees above selected temp (AC will be wired to the normally open side of the relay) and if the house is 3 degrees below HA takes no action (heat will be wired to the normal closed point of second relay) thus heat will be energized once set point is reached both relays de-energize.
You have to be really careful to double check the wiring at the existing thermostat. A better way to explain this rather than using the colors, is by using the letters that are on the existing stat. You can also look at the where the wires terminate on the board in the furnace. I know that when I put my ecobee in, the wires were not wired according to color. According to my buddy in HVAC its pretty common for them to not be matched to the "standard"
dang it! Curse those standard-breakers!
Good advice. Thanks!
I don't get how to connect this awesomeness to my furnace
I would hope anyone smart enough to integrate a project as complex as this could decode their thermostat wiring color code
I'm confused about the wiring between relays and thermostat. Can anyone help me ?
Maybe i missed it but you need a differential setting up a of a couple of degrees to prevent on and off commands to close together temperature wise. Over or close cycling is bad especially for the ac system
Thanks! Are you still running this system? Any issues losing control from HA or network connection? Would a nest like smart thermostat require more of a raspberry pi type board?
Is there a way to add a startup delay in case of power loss of approximately 8 9 minutes? I asked because in Florida we are subject to random power outages during the summer and if you turn your AC off and right back on it can have damaging effects on the compressor
Can you please explain how you got the current values to display next to the input_number sliders? Thank you.
Red is not common, it’s 24 volt hot, which means it goes to the R terminal only and completes the circuit through the thermostat, common is usually the blue wire and it’s common because it goes to one side of everything in the hvac system and grounded, Been that way from the beginning.
I just finished a DIY Thermostat for use in Home Assistant with a BME280 and a Bistable relay (HFD2/005-S-L2-D). I do not have an Airconditioner which makes is a lot easier. It works fine, however now I have to add a schedule. I was thinking about Schedy, but now idea how to set it up. Can you test and show ?
hi, can I add a display to that? Just to see the actual temperature inside and also outside and humidity? Thanks in advance
Hi there... it seems like things have changed somewhat on the HASS front and I'm a bit lost. I'm trying to do precisely what you've detailed in this video but I'm using a BME280 sensor and running HASS in a VM. I'm having trouble getting the sensor readings to show up in HASS.
Thats awsome! Thanks
Thanks!
gretings from chile! (yes we should have those numbers form the months in the schedule)
Can we do the same thing with ESPHome? I would like to just drop some yaml's and go!
Save some rupees?! 😄😄 loved it!
I have a question 🤔🤔
how are you controlling the logic levels on the the system....? obviously is not through the relays🤔🤔🤔🤔
Any chance this could be set to zones in a home? Was thinking about setting zones in our house so we can better control the temps in each room if they are occupied or not. No sense to heat or cool and unoccupied room to normal settings if no one is there. Thoughts?
Hello! In your yaml file, how did you relate "Upstairs Fan" to the ThermoZztat topic without using customize.yaml?
Dr Z - hoping you can assist here. I would like to build this but need to include a IR blaster within it. Reason for that, I have a daikin mini-split I would like to control (via IR) based on the temp and humidity readings in the room. Suggestions to help a fellow bald brother out?
Thanks for your video. I my country the most common AC is though mini split devices. Can I coordinate them like you explained or is it easier to install a sonoff basic to each of them?
might be easier to have a device on each one, then have an automation that controls them all together (if that's what you want).
Brou this video is awesome, thanks
Always happy to see you!
Thanks!
I've been using a raspberry pi but just ordered a BHT-002-GCLW its esp8266 based there is already HASS firmware for it on git hub not seen and vids on this might do my first one on flashing it
How does this entry work with homekit? will it add 2 different items?
Any updates to this video? Was thinking about using Shelly’s and templates to make it rather than all the soldiering, does that seem like a decent idea?
How would we go about setting this up with a heat pump?
Great video! Suggestion: put the AC and HEAT relay commons in series with the FAN (relay NO), so that it is physically impossible to turn on AC or HEAT without the FAN being turned on. Therefore, you do not have any risk of equipment damage, should you mistakenly 'code' incorrectly.
good thinking! thanks
Nice idea! It would still be possible to run heat abs cool at the same time, not damaging but energy wasting. Can the D1 mini handle more of this logic and be an actual thermostat instead of a wireless “dumb terminal”/network sensor and switch?
Did you ever get the node red flow to work?
Is calling it the Zzest a bit too much? :)
fantastic vid, wish the UK had the same kind of AC, we just have heat :(
Do you have a video on this Backlog that you mention?
great video Thanks
You're welcome!
Hope it's helpful!
I am new into HA. I bet this same concept could be used for a smart sprinkler computer.
it sure could
Hey Dr.
Thanks for your video.
It would be better if the smart thermo work with old panel on the wall, I mean some how they integrate and work together.
they might be fighting to gain control.. especially if the old panel is set to heat.. and the smart stat is set to AC
That would basically require keeping the existing UI and replacing its brains, so the buttons send temp adjust and function messages to HA, and the display show current temp, mode, and target temp. Possible but a much bigger project. Probably easier to get a nest or whatever at that point. Now of Honeywell sold a thermostat with mqtt support…
Thanks dr. Zzz great video
The control voltage for the furnace is 24ac I used a bridge rectifier and a cheap voltage regulator so the furnace powered my node mcu. The main letters on your furnace and stat are as fallows
R is your power
C is common
They are power connections DO NOT SHORT THEM TOGETHER.
You would use R to go to
W or W1 for heat
Y or Y1 for cool
But not at the same time make sure there is some kind of interlock between the two
G is Fan
When using y for cool it’s good to also put R to G
Thanks Sean! I super appreciate the knowledge. I'm probably just lucky I haven't messed anything up since I did this with only a basic understanding. Thanks for your contribution, much appreciated!
Just to add to that - if you have a forced air furnace, then you should run G (Fan) whenever the heat is on as well. If you only run heat and not the fan you can/probably will burn up your furnace.
I'm in the process of building an MQTT thermostat with a Nextion display powered from the R wire myself. :)
Did Dr.zzz mean the hot wire as opposed to the common wire. Using neutral/common doesn't make sense to me to send power to the ac or heat. I think that was a mistake; can anybody confirm? Thank you
Why not add some diode so that the fan relay is automatically triggered when the A/C or heat is?
Could you have the temperature sensor upstairs and the micro controller + relays downstairs connected via the existing thermostat wire instead of having it all upstairs? I ask because then it would be really simple to power the whole setup without punching a hole in the wall to connect an AC adapter.
If I understand your setup, I think that would work.
I bet you could add a feature so that if smoke is detected by the smoke alarm that it would tell the furnace to turn off. What about a feature that turns the fan on when the temperature in different rooms is different by more than x degrees.
oooh
Good ideas!
So how do I attach a small screen to this to show temperature, status, and schedule, etc?
Thanks
Glad it started working! I'm sure it's because I had it private then switched it to public. Just took a minute for the change to go through. And youtube probably sent out the new video notification before it was changed over. :)
The fan should always run for 15-30sec after the heat or AC turn off; my OEM does for both modes. What did you do to cover the loss of wifi/HA if the HVAC is running? If I didn't already have a "smart" controller I'd be all over a slightly different implementation. As it stands I'm stuck adding one to the camper for now.
Good job getting the pieces together, Dr.
I'll add an automation to make sure the fan runs a little longer than both the heat and AC. But I think that may be happening already inside the HVAC unit, because when mine switched on during the live stream, the fan kept running for a few minutes after I switched the heat off.
The only thing i did for wifi/power loss is the switchretain and powerretain options in Tasmota. So if it loses wifi, it'll stay in the same state when it comes back online. But, ya, there's no interface if my HA is down.
Well, I guess I could directly connect to Tasmota with the IP address of the device.
Part of my reason for not putting an interface on the thermostat is a bit selfish. We have 9 thermostats in our house. And I don't like walking to every thermostat to make changes. So I figured with HA it wouldn't be necessary anymore to "make the rounds" on the thermostats to make changes. What I might do is add buttons at the units in the basement, so if the wifi is out and not fixable, I can just go down there and switch things on/off from one location.
There's certainly more we need to get into with Climate Control.
Let's talk about it more in the next live stream!
@@DrZzs Gotcha. I'll have to make a point to listen next time my factory controller cycles to see if it or the main unit has the fan timer.
when i paste in the automation code into the .yaml i get a "missing property "action"" message on the switch line. Any ideas?
Wonder how hard it would be to toss on a Nexiton display and use ESPHome?
A person in the past will never think clever like you in the present future possibly
Great tutorial, I'll have to research this but in case anyone knows offhand - if you had a whole home ventilation damper would that just be a 4th relay? How would you know when to open/close it?
That's a good question. I don't have that situation so I can't tell you. You may have to just get into your system and see how it is controlled now. My guess would be that somewhere in your house there is a single switch that controls the opening/closing of that damper. If that is the case, then yes, it should just be another relay to take the place of (or duplicate the function of) that switch.
Let me know if you find the answer!
Good luck!
Hello, can you calibrate or set an offset for DHT11 or AM2302/DHT22 in Tasmota? I'm trying to setup a sonoff basic r2 as a light switch with a sensor DHT11 on a spare GPIO to control light and measure the temp/humidity in the room.
Great work on your channel.
An off topic question, why you chouse Home Assistant and nor OpenHAB?
correction ....why you choose Home Assistant and not OpenHAB? :-)
the floating head makes me uneasy
The red wire (R, or Rh and Rc) is not common, it's power. Your diagram is a four wire system. A lot of newer installs are at least five wire, with a black or blue common wire (C) added. This allows for powering newer digital thermostats without the need of a battery.
This isn't the same as Nest though, as Nest also allows you to set and read temperature at the thermostat also.
I've missed the floating head in the more recent videos. You should bring it back :)
For you, I will!
My only issue with a setup like this is that if your HA server goes down, you loose your HVAC control. I would prefer an esp32 based solution that publishes to MQTT. My HA setup can then control it and get data from it, but if HA were to go down the HVAC still runs.
proposing name: NESTICLE, for a thermostat with nuts :D
That is fantastic
Nesticle is already the name of an NES emulator
Just ordered my parts to do this, they will be here Saturday. Be prepared for questions..lol
Tasmostat, sounds like a good name.
wow, that is a good name. How did I miss that?!?
and, I'll be here for your questions. Things on the HA end have changed, so I'm sure there will be some differences when you start to integrate it.
@@DrZzs Thanks! I was going to ask about any changes you might make if you were doing the project again. USPS dropped the ball, I got everything except my D1's...grrr. But I had time to hack 4 sonoff basics to hook AM2302 sensors to with Tasmota.
How did you make the nest like thermostat ui
Great experience, but how reliable is this setup?
Can you trust it when you leave for a long vacation?
good question. My experience with all these DIY smart home solutions is that they are generally less reliable than their more expensive commercial counterparts. However, their reliability is also closely tied to how much care goes into the build and setup. There's no quality control in a DIY project, so there's always a higher possibility that my solder joints aren't as strong, or that my code has a spelling error.
What some folks have done with Thermostats is create a DIY smart-o-stat like this, but connect it in parallel with the old Thermostat. Then the old thermostat can act as a backup incase the DIY version experiences a problem. That's probably the most reliable option.
Hope that helps!
Don’t forget to leave the fan running for a couple of minutes after AC or heating turns off.
oh yes!
I'll write that automation and add it to the gist.
Thanks Amigo!
did you ever come up with a satisfactory name? the first thing that popped into my mind was "intelistat" I won't charge too much for the rights to the name! first video of yours and you are now book marked! thanks for your ideas.
@DrZzs do you think it's possible to create an eTRV to use on individual radiators? I know your a sonoff/tasmota fan but I assume it would need something more low power perhaps an Arduino with a stepper motor etc?
I'm sure it's possible. I don't have that kind of radiator, so I'm not sure what the best way would be to do it. Lately I've been using ESPhome a lot. That might be another option for setting up an eTRV. Steppers are a little hard for me still. I've had success with ESPhome and servos. That might be a good solution.
Hope that helps!
Hey.
I'm not the big programmer, but I have Home Assisant on a Raspberry PI and I bought some ESP32 cards, hoping to see the temperature and settings on my Danfoss ECO2 bluetooth thermostats. But I have been looking and leading, but I cannot figure it out. I've got my ESP32 on wifi and I like to find mac addresses on my thermostats. Do you have any idea what I can do? I've been looking at esphome.io/ but I can't find a platform I can use.
Thanks in advance
Similar to what I did this past summer. In my case I prefer Ethernet for all "critical" functions instead of WiFi, so I used an Arduino Uno, Ethernet shield, and 4 relay shield. Had all this stuff hanging around anyway. 3D printed a small bracket and mounted it in the furnace itself (plenty of room and convenient power source to connect small switching supply for 5V). Connected in parallel with the existing thermostat mainly for redundancy. Should something ever happen that prevents HASS from controlling things, the existing thermostat is set to "fail safe" settings to maintain minimal heat to avoid freezing pipes. I also put all my control logic within the Arduino itself. Takes 3 MQTT commands to control A/C, heat, or blower. The Arduino will automatically turn off A/C if heat is turned on, for example, and just send MQTT stats back letting HASS know what it did. That way one can never accidentally run A/C and heat at the same time for example if the automation is accidentally modified, turned off, whatever. Just another option. Edit...Should also mention that my temp/humidity sensors are just ESP8266 DHT11 modules from China that I wrote firmware for to report temp/humidity via SNMP or HTTP JSON. No reason Tasmota couldn't be used on those modules if SNMP isn't a requirement.
Awesome!
ya, I'd like to use ethernet more.
Glad to hear the parallel connection with the old thermostats works. I had considered doing that for my radiant floor.
Thanks!
That's what I want to do with this in my 5th wheel camper. If the temp goes below 32F (0C) it will kick on the furnace, but when we are campiing it will function as normal.
Is it possible to add a display and touch buttons to manually control and view actual and set temperatures?
I'm sure it is, but I'm not super savvy on how to do it. I'd use an HAswitchplate. It might not be the easiest way, but that's what I know how to use.
when i put my dht22 with the wemos inside a box, the temperature shows a higher temperature because the wemos inside the box gets warm and it will not show the right temperature (yes the front of the dht22 was sticking outside the box). i had to print a case where they are seperate and now it will give the right temperatures.
ooh, good thinking. I've been thinking I might need to go around with a really accurate thermometer and calibrate these temp sensors. I hadn't thought about how the D1mini might effect the temp.
Thanks!
for 200 years we waited ... then the bass guitar hit!
Love me some Bass!
If I had any musical talent at all, I'd play Bass Guitar. Or maybe the Cello.
:)
If you have multiple temp sensors is there a way to easily tell HA on the gui to not average but instead use the temp of just one? My goal is when we go to sleep (no kids) tell the thermostat to only care about the temp in our master instead of the whole house. Then when we wake up back to average the whole house
ooh, that's a good idea. Let me think about that. Remind me in discord and we'll try to figure out the best way and discuss it in a live stream.
Hey Doc, quick question. I have a heat pump system, so I need 4 relays instead of 3. Can the D1 Mini handle 4 relays, if so which pin would you recommend?
Tim Bryant why do you need 4 relays? Only thing you need is instead white (heater) use blue for reverse valve, and depend of your hvac is you need it hot for cold or for heat, then you always going to apply to the yellow, just reverse valve will determine hot or cold)
I need the 4th relay to have independent control of the wire coil for emergency heat. But it all ended in failure for me anyway. It was working great for a month. Then I came home one evening and it was 103 degrees in my house. Apparently one of temperature sensors failed and caused the DIY thermostat to think it hadn't reach the target temp. The heater kicked on around 1pm and never stopped still I got home around 3am the next morning (it was New Years Eve). So I have since disconnected it all till I can have time to put proper safe guards in place to make sure something like that can't happen.
Dr. Zzzs .. what's that in the ceiling on top of the metal statue ? Don't tell me it's a Alexa ;)
Not sure if this was discussed but, what if you have a thermostat with a digital display. Will the values update in home assistant when you operate from there?
not without some other kind of interface between them.
I know Aalian Kahn has been working on a smart thermostat with a display. Find him on my discord and he can tell you the status of the project. www.discord.me/drzzs
Hi DrZzs,
Don't bother with schedules, it's a half a decade old style of control that makes no sense when you have all the data that we have today. Use home/away or geofencing to determine demand, and use compensation (described below) for setpoint adjustments. :) It (schedules) was originally a good idea because it would be expensive to fit sensors throughout a building to check for occupancy or temperature. We could, however, easily define that this random office building would be in use during it's open hours. But that's half a century ago, and completely obsolete in a home like yours. :)
Details on the setpoint compensation: What you created gives you a rather sharp change in temperature two times a year, and doesn't adapt to year-to-year variations in climate. I don't know if that's necessary where you live, but here we only use the seasonal terms in a calendar - outside the window, they can switch places several times a day. :)
You could build a pretty simple solution - sounds complicated, but really isn't - that constantly will adapt your interior setpoints to the actual perceived needs (we don't necessarily prefer a static 68 °F all the time - maybe we like it slightly warmer in winter and slightly colder in summer). It'll save you money and your home will always be comfortable. Again; it's complicated to explain, but really not that hard to build.
Simply have a trigger to grab the outside air temperature at noon daily and store it in a variable. Apply a numeric delay to that variable to allow for only a change up to a certain rate from day to day. For example, a good setting here seems to be 1-2 °C per 24 h. This setting is meant to take into account the rate of seasonal change in your region as well as the insulation and thermal mass of your house. You then use this slowed down outside air temperature to scale either your setpoints directly, or scale an offset value that you then add to the setpoints - the latter being better.
For example, here temperatures vary between -15°C...+35°C, but at either end of the spectrum, there's not a huge need for adaptation. Rather, it's during the change-over, whether it happens as a result of a cooldown during a weeks worth of rain, or if it happens because winter is coming. So sensible values could be to scale your offset so that at 5°C OAT, you add 1°C to your setpoints, and at 25 °C OAT you deduct 1°C from your setpoints. Your house will then be cooled additionally in summer and heated additionally in winter - the gain obviously being that in the entire interim between those two, rather than having two moments of adjustment, you have a constant adjustment that reduces waste and increases comfort. You can also choose to use this economically rather than for comfort, and scale the setpoints in the same direction as the OAT, so you get less comfort but greatly reduce your demand for heating or cooling.
Again, it's much simpler to actually do than it is to describe. And rather than trying to understand the insulation and thermal mass of your house and how that slows down the rate of change in OAT towards the inside, simply start with a reasonable value like allowing 2 °F per 24h. If your house gets too hot/cold for a few days during change over, reduce the value slightly. If the opposite happens (overheating for a few days when the heating kicks in, cooling too much when cooling becomes needed), increase the value instead as your setup is then not compensating for the ability your house has of sloping off the change.
And as a final clarification; this solution isn't about addressing any inaccuracy in the normal control system. Obviously, you're setting a setpoint in relation to a temperature you measure inside your house, so the above compensation is already built into the regulation. The point of the above is to compensate for the humans. :) We like a bit of extra warmth in winter, or a bit of extra cooling in summer, but if you apply it all at once it's very uncomfortable and it also doesn't actually respond to the climate if it's a schedule, so odds are you increase the discomfort during the change over seasons rather than help smoothing them out for a (perceived) constantly comfortable experience. :)
I've implemented this solution in a large public building with a pretty complex range of controls; radiators for heating, air handling units, night cooling, electric windows, sun shading and much more. The building is insanely well insulated and has an enormous thermal mass, so with no compensation it overshoots demand during change over, and the occupants actually want warmer interior temperatures in winter and cooler in summer. Adding some schedule or other formula manually to some 200 rooms would be a daunting task. Instead, I implemented the above, centralized solution and offset every setpoint in the building accordingly. This ensures there's always coordination between all the different systems, and still allow for individual room adjustment, for example to provide a shaded room with a warmer setpoint than one in sunshine. The solution practically eliminated user complains about uncomfortable temperatures, and with some 600 users, that's a pretty good result for a three hour implementation. :)
I actually read all of that!
You are so right. What I've been using is not a great solution. I even find myself manually (through HA) adjusting the temperature or turning on/off the AC.
I'd like to make a yaml automation that'll make this happen. I don't suppose you already have something I can copy?
Would you mind popping in during a stream to help me create it?
@@DrZzs - I've been looking into Yaml (I work with other systems that are programmed differently) and it doesn't appear that Yaml itself supports any execution of logic? Basically, we need a platform where we can do some form of logic.
As you probably realise, I've been looking at HA for a while and I have no doubt logic can be made there, but where? NodeRed? Or is there some other, sensible place to perform this logic?
If you can point me in the direction of that, I'll check it out and see if I can build an example or something. I'm not really a streaming person. :)
I'm getting this error while imrighting in file editor
Logger: homeassistant.components.hassio
Source: components/hassio/__init__.py:326
Integration: Hass.io (documentation, issues)
First occurred: 2:28:56 PM (1 occurrences)
Last logged: 2:28:56 PM
Invalid config for [climate.generic_thermostat]: [initial_operation_mode] is an invalid option for [climate.generic_thermostat]. Check: climate.generic_thermostat->initial_operation_mode. (See ?, line ?). Invalid config for [climate.generic_thermostat]: [initial_operation_mode] is an invalid option for [climate.generic_thermostat]. Check: climate.generic_thermostat->initial_operation_mode. (See ?, line ?).
Looks like you are using the same thermostat sensor as me AM2302/DHT22, but on the Tasmota Web GUI there is not choice for this thermostat. Only DHT11 or AM2301 is the closes. Looks like you choose AM2301, will it still work correctly?
yes, just use the AM2301 choice. It probably showed that in the video, but you are right, I didn't say it specifically.
I like the idea of this but I don't like having my HVAC system become unresponsive if I have an issue with either my hub or my in home wifi. Seems to me that keeping the processing and control on the thermostat and then having HA alter that when needed would be the better course here.
Just my 2 cents. I very much appreciate the card info and walk through on this way of doing things.
Thanks man.
So you're thinking just run the relay system in parallel?
That's a good idea. I might have to experiment with that.
ya, that seems like a smart way to do it.
I'll wait to see how often mine runs wild. If it's a problem, then I'll do it like that.
Thanks!
No, not having two sets of relays but rather build the thermostat so it can run independently and also send and receive info with HA. So the thermostat can carry out basic operations like a standard thermostat and also accept changes from HA over MQTT.
I'm working on a build that will do this.
I've often thought about building my own thermostat but have also been nervous about it becoming un-responsive. My thought was to add a good old fassioned dumb thermostat in parallel to the relays, set at a "fail safe" temperature
I have a call scheduled with a HVAC controls engineer this weekend who's agreed to help me understand all of the usual pieces.
Can this be done with a raspberry pi 3? I would want to add a touch screen so i can still control from the Thermostat as well
I'm sure you could build a thermostat from an Rpi, but it would be very different from what I've done here.
You could do it with something like the HA switchplate. www.haswitchplate.com/
That's a D1mini with a touch display. It would take some monkeying but you could make a thermostat out of that.
I have electric floor heating installed in my home and it’s about 2500 watt. Do you think it is Safe to control it via this Methode?
wow. That's some serious juice. How is your heater controlled now? These relays I used are only rated for 10amps. If your heater runs on 120v then it's over 20amps, and even if it's on 240v it's still over 10 amps. So you don't want to use these relays to switch that circuit directly.
However, I would bet that you have a switch for that heater that doesn't carry all 2500w. It probably has a control-level, low power switch or button. What you could do is tie into that switch with a system like I made. That's really what I did too. The thermostat doesn't handle the full power of the heater/AC. It's just a control circuit. So find the switch for your heater. Figure out how it works. Then maybe you can implement something like this safely.
I'll bet it's possible, just gotta figure out how best to do it with your system.
Hope that helps!
I like it but this is still over my head
I’m watching from Chile and summer here can last from a week to five months 😅. Also thermostat aren’t that common.