Temperature DeviceAction Status Device

[Michael McSharry]

I added a status device to provide feedback of the DeviceAction control loop. The event associated with the DeviceAction can be triggered the traditional way or it can be triggered using the ON control of the new status device. An active control loop can be stopped in the same way as before by manually controlling the controlled device or it can be stopped with the OFF control of the new status device.

The status device will have the same device name as the event name and this should not manually edited since the device-to-event relationship is maintained by the location and name of the status device. Only 1 status device is created per event and it belongs to the 1st of the potential 3 control loops of the DeviceAction. I think the most anyone uses is 1 per event anyway.

The status device will be ON when the control loop is active and will show this status in the DeviceString as well as the set point limits, current control value, and state of the controlled device. This is shown in the attachment. When the DeviceStatus is OFF then the DeviceString will show "Control Inactive".

During HS startup the prior state of the control loop will be restored. Prior to this the control loop always was inactive during startup and it required a trigger action to start it.

[steve-l]

Installed the new version, but can't figure out how to create the status device. I got the impression from your description that it would be created automatically when you create an event with temperature actions... but i have created such new events and get no status device... I have also tried to find somewhere to manually add one to no avail.

I'm pretty sure I'm missing something blindingly obvious (again), but would be really grateful if you could give me a couple of pointers as I'm itching to try this new feature out!

Cheers,

Steve

[Michael McSharry]

I forgot about users who do not create a mcsTemperature house code pair. If this is your situation then download again and try again. It will be automatic. If not your situation then let me know. It is created when the plugin starts for any event that has a mcsTemperature DeviceAction and when new events are created.

[steve-l]

Brilliant!

I forgot about users who do not create a mcsTemperature house code pair. If this is your situation then download again and try again. It will be automatic. If not your situation then let me know. It is created when the plugin starts for any event that has a mcsTemperature DeviceAction and when new events are created.

Newer version installed - Thank you very much! This new feature is fantastic, exactly what I was hoping for.

I only have 2 "thermostat" events at the moment - it created a device for one of them automatically, but it only created the other one when I manually ran that event. I have it running the Nightime thermostat now and will see if it correctly swaps over to the daytime one at sunrise tomorrow.

I know you said not to manually edit it, but is it OK to move the devices to another location? They have gone into the default "temperature" group and I would like them in their proper location.

Cheers!

Steve

[Michael McSharry]

I'll see what it takes to manage the device separate from its name, but for now you cannot change the location or the name.

You are correct that it does not create the device until there is a need for it or on startup.

[steve-l]

I'll see what it takes to manage the device separate from its name, but for now you cannot change the location or the name.

You are correct that it does not create the device until there is a need for it or on startup.

OK, I'll leave them well alone for now then - especially as they're working perfectly!

Cheers,

Steve

[steve-l]

Possible problem?

Hi,

OK, just quick query... how often do the new devices check for temperature changes? I just noticed that where it gives the "Active Limits" and "Now" temps - the current temp it is reporting is wrong - it is reporting a temperature of 22.5C when it is actually 21C and falling. It has been well over an hour since it was 22.5C?

My worry is, if this is the temp it is working with then the thermostat won't trigger when the real temp falls below 20C as it is suppoesed to..

Cheers,

Steve

[Michael McSharry]

It checks it every minute, but I only update the status device when a change in control occurs. I need to update it every minute as well siince it does show the Now reading. Of course watch it, but it should trigger at your limit. I'll fix the update so the correct feedback will be showing.

[steve-l]

It checks it every minute, but I only update the status device when a change in control occurs. I need to update it every minute as well siince it does show the Now reading. Of course watch it, but it should trigger at your limit. I'll fix the update so the correct feedback will be showing.

I deliberately disabled the sunset changeover so I could see if it triggered as the temp fell. It did, and the "Now" reading updated just as you said it would.

Cheers,

Steve

[Michael McSharry]

I added the update of the DeviceAction status device to occur each minute. I also allowed the name and location to be changed. You will need to delete your existing DeviceAction status devices as new ones will be created that have the necessary information encoded to allow the name and loc to change.

[steve-l]

I added the update of the DeviceAction status device to occur each minute. I also allowed the name and location to be changed. You will need to delete your existing DeviceAction status devices as new ones will be created that have the necessary information encoded to allow the name and loc to change.

Wow, that was quick!

Newly created devices now moved into their rightful "homes" and current temperature updating correctly!

Nice work!

Cheers,

Steve

[steve-l]

I spoke too soon - there is something slightly strange going on... after it had been running for a while I checked back and noticed the temp had shot up to daytime levels... the night thermostat had turned on the day heater. When I turned the heater off, it turned it back on a short while later. When I tried to turn the night thermostat device OFF, although HS registered that the thermostat device had been turned off - the status still said it was "active". After messing around turning it on and off I eventually got it to show "inactive"...

I'm guessing that moving them to another location has screwed something up?

Sorry

Steve

[Michael McSharry]

The control can be turned off with the status device or with the device being controlled. When it is done with the status device then the update of the status device should be immediate. If done with the device being controlled (heater) then it will not show in the status device until the next update cycle which could be up to 60 seconds.

If there is a problem it should not be due to the renaming of the device. Can you define a little more completely your setup of day and night and the method that your are turning on and off the emulated thermostat?

[steve-l]

The control can be turned off with the status device or with the device being controlled. When it is done with the status device then the update of the status device should be immediate. If done with the device being controlled (heater) then it will not show in the status device until the next update cycle which could be up to 60 seconds.

If there is a problem it should not be due to the renaming of the device. Can you define a little more completely your setup of day and night and the method that your are turning on and off the emulated thermostat?

My setup: I have two heaters, called day and night. Two thermostat events; day and night, each controlling their respective heaters. They change over at sunrise & sunset. I have the thermostats turning on and off using a device action on/off on their control devices, I also issue an X10 off to the associated heater in case it is still on after the thermostat has been turned off.

What happended last night was I deleted my old control devices & Shut HS down (did end task on MCSTemp). Installed new version of MCSTemp. Fired up HS then ran both thermostat events to get it to create the devices. Also added back the sunrise/set events at this point as deleteing the devices wipes these out. I had them both running together at this point. I then shut down the "day" thermostat by clicking the "off" button of its control device, just leaving the night thermostat "running". At this point I installed an update to another plugin that I spotted in the updater and had to restart HS (MCSTemp shut down correctly this time)...

On the restart, the Night thermostat control device said it was active already - I assumed it had saved it last state when I shut it down? Normally I have to run the thermostat event manually in such circumstances... anyway an hour later when I checked the greenhouse temp had shot up. Thought I might have turned it on myself by accident so turned it off using it's own X10 "off" code. Few minutes later and it was back on and I'm guessing it was under control of the day thermostat, even though the daytime control device said it was inactive.?

At this point I was doubting whether the devices actually reflected the status of their associated events/actions so started turning then on and off using their device "on" and "off" buttons to check what happened. The Daytime thermostat turned on and off OK. The night thermostat, was refusing to turn off this way - HS would log the "off" but the status would not change, after a few goes it did eventually change but it would take a few more cycles to get it to show a reverse state.

I ended up getting them both off, restarting HS and then turning the night thermostat ON using it's control device "on" button. It has behaved itself all night. Come sunrise and it turned off correctly and the day thermostat started up and (touch wood) it is also running properly. I have just tried manually turning them (the control devices) on and off and they are still bahaving...

Is it possible theat they somehow got out of sync on the restart? The night thermostat control device was set to "active" on the restart, but there was no "event trigger 'night thermostat'", in the log as there would be normally - would it really have been active after a restart?

Anyway, think I have waffled on long enough, will keep my eye on it. Hopefully it was just a glitch...

Cheers,

Steve

[Michael McSharry]

I dont understand what would cause the initial problem that you experienced. I do want to clarify the new control device operations as this is something that confused me initially when testing.

The control device enables and disabled the "thermostat". It does not do anything to the device being controlled (heater). When the Control Device is turn OFF it simply means that the thermostat is no longer active. If the heater was ON at this time then it will remain ON. If it was OFF then it will remain OFF.

If you want to turn the heater OFF when it is ON and not have the thermostat turn it back ON, then set t he heater OFF. If the heater is already OFF and you turn it OFF then nothing will happen with the thermostat and it will continue to turn it back ON per the set points. If you want to unconditionally turn the heater OFF and stop the thermostat then you need to turn both OFF.

Going in the other direction, the thermostat can be started with either the Trigger event or with the Control Device set to ON. These are equivalent operations.