Venstar Thermostat Plugin for HS3

[Dweber85rc]

I have done a number of Thermostats as part of mcsMQTT plugin. I'm willing to include Venstar if there is somebody who has one that is willing to work with me.

DrO_77 Im sure would like to. We tried to get his setup via http get/post in your plugin and we have something sort of working but it certainly is not elegant and could benefit from someone of your skill making it a bit more plug and play. He has the t7900

[mattm55]

Sure, if I can help, let me know. AprilAire won't share API so Venstar is one of the few no cloud options.

[mattm55]

I have done a number of Thermostats as part of mcsMQTT plugin. I'm willing to include Venstar if there is somebody who has one that is willing to work with me.

How about Genmon for Generac? I have my Genmon setup for mqtt, tested working.

[Michael McSharry]

Just share with me information you have, links, etc. for Venstar or Genmon. mcsSolutions at CenturyTel dot net is my email I travel on Sunday and next week will be a good time for something like this.

I will open thread(s)s on mcsMQTT forum for the integration(s) when I have something for discussion.

[mattm55]

Venstar Developers Info : https://developer.venstar.com/

Genmon (for Generacs): https://github.com/jgyates/genmon/wiki

I have both of these and the Genmon is flawless. Just need to get it integrated into HS. Venstar has a good app but again, would like to integrate into HS.

Let me know if you need to test, info, etc...

[Michael McSharry]

Both Venstar and Genmon look to be reasonably documented. Usually the hardest part of integration of equipment is complying with the security aspects and in both these cases it appears that there are not security hurdles.

For Genmon I did not see any MQTT protocol documentation. I am assuming that the intent is to use the MQTT interface to get data into HS. I see that it has some control capability such as controlling the start and stop functions of the generator. Is this within the scope of what you want to be able to do with HS or is HS only serving as a monitor? If it includes control, then is there any information about how to do the control? Preferrable via MQTT, but can be whatever is available. From the monitor perspective what is desired beyond simple mapping of data from Genmon in HS Device Features? Any examples of the MQTT traffic that is available reporting status?

For Venstar I see ability to query current thermostat settings and sensors. This is easy to map 1-for-1 into HS Device Features. It has runtimes. I do not know what this data is intended to represent or if HS should be aware. The example they provide has 0 for everything other than the timestamp. They provide alerts. What is the expectation of what should done with the available alert data? It has the ability to control configuration settings. In my other integrations I have considered settings better handles by the facility provided by the manufacture as they would have any necessary provisions to assure settings are compatible. HS integration is for use of equipment after it has been setup. Is there any need to have settings managed via HS?

Venstar control is obvious for heatpoint and coolpoint, but I did not see any information about other properties such as fan states, mode, schedule and away. I am also unfamiliar with "spacetemp". It also seemed odd that the example in the documentation listed "availablemodes" as 0. How can a heat/cool thermostat not have any modes?

[mattm55]

Both Venstar and Genmon look to be reasonably documented. Usually the hardest part of integration of equipment is complying with the security aspects and in both these cases it appears that there are not security hurdles.

Correct. They are for local use and no security needed. However the Venstar can have security lock, which a key would be needed. Not sure how that is handled.

For Genmon I did not see any MQTT protocol documentation. I am assuming that the intent is to use the MQTT interface to get data into HS. I see that it has some control capability such as controlling the start and stop functions of the generator. Is this within the scope of what you want to be able to do with HS or is HS only serving as a monitor? If it includes control, then is there any information about how to do the control? Preferrable via MQTT, but can be whatever is available. From the monitor perspective what is desired beyond simple mapping of data from Genmon in HS Device Features? Any examples of the MQTT traffic that is available reporting status?

Genmon is great for monitoring you Generac but does provide some control. I've never used it for control. I would say monitor, then some control if setup to do that.

For Venstar I see ability to query current thermostat settings and sensors. This is easy to map 1-for-1 into HS Device Features. It has runtimes. I do not know what this data is intended to represent or if HS should be aware. The example they provide has 0 for everything other than the timestamp. They provide alerts. What is the expectation of what should done with the available alert data? It has the ability to control configuration settings. In my other integrations I have considered settings better handles by the facility provided by the manufacture as they would have any necessary provisions to assure settings are compatible. HS integration is for use of equipment after it has been setup. Is there any need to have settings managed via HS?

Venstar control is obvious for heatpoint and coolpoint, but I did not see any information about other properties such as fan states, mode, schedule and away. I am also unfamiliar with "spacetemp". It also seemed odd that the example in the documentation listed "availablemodes" as 0. How can a heat/cool thermostat not have any modes?

1. Thermostat settings and sensors are 1 to 1.
2. Runtimes I believe are daily cumulative runtimes for heat/cool for that week. It looks that way to me from my data
Example
{"runtimes":[{"ts":1676505600,"heat1":65,"heat2":0,"cool1":0,"cool2":0,"a ux1":0,"aux2":0,"fc":0},{"ts":1676592000,"heat1":69,"heat2": 0,"cool1":0,"cool2":0,"aux1":0,"aux2":0,"fc":0},{"ts":167667 8400,"heat1":97,"heat2":0,"cool1":0,"cool2":0,"aux1":0,"aux2 ":0,"fc":0},{"ts":1676764800,"heat1":170,"heat2":0,"cool1":0 ,"cool2":0,"aux1":0,"aux2":0,"fc":0},{"ts":1676851200,"heat1 ":171,"heat2":0,"cool1":0,"cool2":0,"aux1":0,"aux2":0,"fc":0 },{"ts":1676937600,"heat1":113,"heat2":0,"cool1":0,"cool2":0 ,"aux1":0,"aux2":0,"fc":0},{"ts":1676996029,"heat1":117,"hea t2":0,"cool1":0,"cool2":0,"aux1":0,"aux2":0,"fc":0}]}

3. Alerts - I don't ever use alerts but could be handy. I think mine are off anyways?
4. Manage setting should be handled by unit, not HS I think that's best
5. Here is my query/info output for example
{"name":"COTTAGE HOUSE","mode":1,"state":0,"fan":0,"fanstate":0,"tempunits":0 ,"schedule":0,"schedulepart":255,"away":0,"spacetemp":69.0," heattemp":69.0,"cooltemp":76.0,"cooltempmin":35.0,"cooltempm ax":99.0,"heattempmin":35.0,"heattempmax":99.0,"activestage" :0,"hum_active":0,"hum":43,"hum_setpoint":0,"dehum_setpoint" :99,"setpointdelta":2.0,"availablemodes":0}

If you need anything else, just ask. Good to have examples.

[Michael McSharry]

I started on the Venstar and have basic operation confirmed in a simulated environment.

I noticed that your posted /info JSON contains items that are not in the document reference. Specifically humidity control and activestages. I included them with humidity conditional upon a hum reporting.

The documentation reference is also not valid JSON. I can guess at what would be the valid format, but good to confirm if possible such as for the sensors that show in the documentation. My guess for /sensors is:

{"sensors":[{"name":"Thermostat","temp": 77},{"name":"Outdoor","temp":0}]}

Can you provide the actual results of a /query/sensors query?

I will open a thread on mcsMQTT forum to continue the Venstar integration. What I have now for the /info data the following in HS

[mattm55]

That looks great so far. One thing I noticed is the "Mode" is Off. It should show "Heat" as that was my snapshot, I think. I might be wrong with what you used?



My model T7900 includes humidity which is why I have some extra info

*I have an extra Venstar sensor (Model "acc-tsen" wired Indoor/Outdoor) connected outside.
Response: /query/sensors

{"sensors":[{"name":"Thermostat","temp":70.0,"hum":42},{"name":"Space Temp","temp":70.0},{"name":"Outdoor","temp":42.0}]}

[Michael McSharry]

Thank You for the info and the critical look at the screenshot. I started with your data and then edited it as part of testing so I think the mode is working OK. I have been testing various things, but easily could have my focus in the wrong things so need to others to evaluate. I open thread for discussion of the mcsMQTT implementation at https://forums.homeseer.com/new-content/1397617

I did not develop an simulation of the Venstar thermostat because the HTTP communications is similar to other thermostats. I did my testing using data files on my local file system that have the expected response to each HTTP endpoint. This is obviously one area this is subject to issue since it has not been tested and only patterned after similar code.

For SSDP I elected to request all services available and then look for "venstar" in the response. Once I do confirm the response is as documented then I can make the discovery more directed. It really should not make that much difference, however. The Developer Mode Console will show the SSDP request and response. The mcsMQTT debug log will contain information related to data being sent and received from the thermostat.

[mattm55]

End of Thread!

Please post anything new under the new thread located here.
https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/hs...at-integration
Thanks