Tracking usage on Trane thermostat

[dinki]

I'm using a Trane thermostat and Z-wave usb stick. I am curious if there is a way to track the amount of time the ac/heater unit runs? I know that this information is viewable on the tstat, but can it be logged somehow within HS? Is the tstat device stat reported to HS or would I have to poll it constantly to see if the unit is running or not?

[Rupp]

I'm not sure the Z-Wave protocol provides the capability to transmit this information to the primary controller.

[dinki]

Right, so I figure I'd have to track it. Does HS know when the device state of the tstat changes?

[Rupp]

Right, so I figure I'd have to track it. Does HS know when the device state of the tstat changes?

If you poll it then it should. The only issue will be the lost time between polls and the fact that too much polling can wreak havoc on your Z-Wave network.

[stevea]

I'm using a Trane thermostat and Z-wave usb stick. I am curious if there is a way to track the amount of time the ac/heater unit runs? I know that this information is viewable on the tstat, but can it be logged somehow within HS? Is the tstat device stat reported to HS or would I have to poll it constantly to see if the unit is running or not?

You should look at Blade's Z-Wave Thermostat plug-in. I wrote a ASPX page that he now includes in the install, and the source is open. The page actually reads his database (where he logs when the system is heating / cooling) and totals up the times on a per-day basis. You certainly could hack / re-use the code in my web page to do what you are talking about. From what you've said, it may be that the web page is already doing what you want. I wrote it for my Tran t-stat.

Steve

[Steve Q]

I have been tracking my furnace run time for the past 4 years. I use a x10 powerflash module connected to the "humidifier" terminals on the furnace controller board. Perhaps there is a z-wave device equivalent to the x10 powerflash.

Steve Q

[rmasonjr]

I use a combination of Jon00's uptime utility and SQL Server Express/ChartDirector to track my uptime:

[bdraper]

I am also using Jon00's uptime utility. It does a real nice job.

[dinki]

I use a combination of Jon00's uptime utility and SQL Server Express/ChartDirector to track my uptime:

Would it be possible to share your scripting config information? This is exactly what I'd like to do.

[stevea]

Would it be possible to share your scripting config information? This is exactly what I'd like to do.

I don't mean to push, but... Did you look at my Graph? Like I said it is mostly an VB.NET script inside of an ASPX web page. You could lift the script and use it directly with no other components. Unless I'm missing something....

Steve

[rmasonjr]

Would it be possible to share your scripting config information? This is exactly what I'd like to do.

Here's how mine works. Keep in mind, this relies on SQL Server express and ChartDirector and Jon00's uptime monitor. stevea's approach is likely a little simpler to setup.

Here's the script:

Imports ChartDirector
Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Public Const DEVICE_LIST As String = "V13,V14"
Public Const CONN As String = "Server=HOMESEER\SQLEXPRESS;Database=uptime;integrated security=SSPI;"

Public Sub BuildGraph(ByVal Parms As Object)
    Dim data0(6) As Double
    Dim data1(6) As Double
    Dim labels(6) As String
    Dim c As XYChart = New XYChart(300, 180, &Hffffc0, &H000000, 1)
    Dim layer As LineLayer
    Dim d As Date = Now()
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim s As New SqlConnection
    Dim cm As SqlCommand
    Dim sqlDr As SqlDataReader = Nothing

    Try
        s.ConnectionString = CONN
        s.Open()

        ''build labels so that today is on the right of the graph
        For i = 6 To 0 Step -1
            labels(i) = Left(weekdayname(DatePart("w", d)), 3)
            cm = New SqlCommand("select uptime from uptime where device='V13' and CONVERT(varchar,date,112)='" & d.toString("yyyyMMdd") & "'", s)
            ''hs.writelog("debug", d.toString("yyyyMMdd"))
            sqlDr = cm.ExecuteReader
            While (sqlDr.Read)
                data0(i) = CDbl(sqlDr(0))
            End While
            sqldr.close()

            cm = New SqlCommand("select uptime from uptime where device='V14' and CONVERT(varchar,date,112)='" & d.toString("yyyyMMdd") & "'", s)
            ''hs.writelog("debug", d.toString("yyyyMMdd"))
            sqlDr = cm.ExecuteReader
            While (sqlDr.Read)
                data1(i) = CDbl(sqlDr(0))
            End While
            sqldr.close()

            d = DateAdd("d", -1, d)
        Next i

        c.setPlotArea(45, 35, 240, 120, &HFFFFFF, -1, -1, &HC0C0C0, -1)
        c.addLegend(45, 12, False, "", 8).setBackground(Chart.Transparent)
        c.addTitle("HVAC Usage in Minutes", "Arial Bold", 9, &HFFFFFF).setBackground(c.patternColor(New Integer() {&H4000, &H8000}, 2))
        c.yAxis().setLabelFormat("{value}")
        c.xAxis().setLabels(labels)
        layer = c.addLineLayer()
        layer.addDataSet(data0, &HCF4040, "LR TStat").setDataSymbol(Chart.SquareSymbol, 7)
        layer.addDataSet(data1, &H40CF40, "BR TStat").setDataSymbol(Chart.DiamondSymbol, 9)
        layer.setDataLabelFormat("{value|0}")

        c.makeChart("C:\Program Files\HomeSeer 2\html\Images\hvacUptime.jpg")
    Catch ex As exception
        hs.writelog("Uptime", ex.message)
    Finally

        s.close()
    End Try


End Sub


Public Sub Main(ByVal Parms As Object)
    Dim s As New SqlConnection
    Dim c As SqlCommand
    Dim sensors As String = DEVICE_LIST
    Dim ary() As String
    Dim i As Integer

    ary = Split(sensors, ",")
    s.ConnectionString = CONN
    Try
        s.Open()

        For i = 0 To UBound(ary)
            c = New SqlCommand("delete from uptime where device='" & ary(i) & "' and CONVERT(varchar,date,101)=CONVERT(varchar,getdate(),101)", s)
            c.executenonquery()
            c = New SqlCommand("INSERT INTO [uptime].[dbo].[uptime] ([device],[uptime],[date]) " & _
             "VALUES('" & ary(i) & "'," & CInt(hs.DeviceValue(ary(i))) & ",getdate())", s)
            c.ExecuteNonQuery()
        Next i

    Catch ex As Exception
        hs.WriteLog("uptime", ex.Message)
    Finally
        s.Close()
        c = Nothing
        s = Nothing
    End Try
End Sub

Public Sub PurgeRecords(ByVal Parms As Object)
    Dim s As New SqlConnection
    Dim c As SqlCommand

    s.ConnectionString = CONN
    Try
        s.Open()
        c = New SqlCommand("delete from uptime.dbo.uptime where(DATEDIFF(day, dateTime, GETDATE()) >= 30)", s)
        c.ExecuteNonQuery()

    Catch ex As Exception
        hs.WriteLog("uptime", ex.Message)
    Finally
        s.Close()
        c = Nothing
        s = Nothing
        hs.WriteLog("uptime", "PurgeRecords completed.")
        End Try
End Sub

Public Sub ShrinkDatabase(ByVal Parms As Object)
    Dim s As New SqlConnection
    Dim c As SqlCommand

    s.ConnectionString = CONN
    Try
        s.Open()
        c = New SqlCommand("dbcc shrinkdatabase (uptime,2)", s)
        c.ExecuteNonQuery()

    Catch ex As Exception
        hs.WriteLog("uptime", ex.Message)
    Finally
        s.Close()
        c = Nothing
        s = Nothing
        hs.WriteLog("uptime", "ShrinkDatabase completed.")
    End Try

End Sub 

[dinki]

@Steve, I did look for it but couldn't find it. Just found it as BLStat. Will give it a go.

[dinki]

@rmasonjr, thanks. I'm trying out the BLStat plugin but do appreciate your posting.

[rmasonjr]

@rmasonjr, thanks. I'm trying out the BLStat plugin but do appreciate your posting.

No problem - you wont go wrong with Blade's plugins - very high quality!