Support for Set Drying Mode command

[cbabkirk]

My system uses the MHK1 T-Stat kit. The kit contains the MRCH1 controller(t-stat) and the MIFH1 wireless receiver . The wireless receiver also supports a connection to other t-stats and the Redlink Gateway that communicates to my Total Home Connect account.

I would like the ability to switch the t-stat(system) to 'drying mode" based on humidity conditions in the house. The drying mode is billed as an energy efficient alternative method to the "cooling mode". What information would you need from me to add a value to your commands listed on page 8 of your user guide for FUNCTIONS to add a value for "drying"?

"Mode = 0 (Emergency Heat), 1 (Heat), 2 (Off), 3 (Cool), 4 (Auto)"

[shill]

The only way would be to grant me access to your TCC account (by adding my TCC account as a user of your home) so I could see what the web interface sends. That way I could determine whether it was even possible using the method I have for interacting with the system and capture the network traffic, as well as test it to see if it works. Drastic, but realistically the only way since there's no defined API.

[cbabkirk]

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. Before I move to grant access, I wanted to tell you that when I run my TCC dashboard on either my phone or from a browser, and select SYSTEM, all I get are HEAT, COOL, AUTO, OFF. The drying mode is not displayed. The only place I see the drying mode is in the mode menu on the actual thermostat. I am not sure this implies that TCC is not aware of or manages the drying mode. What i can do initially is to run the system in COOL mode and fire up TCC and pull the page source for you to review. I find there is a lot of data there similar to the Current Thermostat Data you display in your plugin for the root device. I could then pull that again after I switch to drying mode. I have a feeling that the mode will not show drying but I could be mistaken. Would that be of value as a first pass of the TCC source? -Cliff

[shill]

Yeah, if it's not an option on the site, even seeing the data may not help, but it's a good first step.

[cbabkirk]

I just grabbed the source while in DRYING mode. The TCC dashboard lists the system as OFF. I switched to COOL mode. It took maybe 6-8 secs and the dashboard says system in in COOL mode. Looks like it interprets DRYING mode as system is OFF. I will create a couple of files and reply here with some attachments for you to review. I will be looking at them as well for differences. -Cliff

[cbabkirk]

I just captured a page source for all the modes. (OFF, HEAT, DRYING,COOL, AUTO). I ran a text compare on the files for OFF and DRYING. Except for the fact that the weather report was Mostly Cloudy for one and Cloudy for the other, the page sources are identical. Not sure we'll be able to do this. Time to call Honeywell and find out why the DRYING mode is not supported in their TCC client. -Cliff

[cbabkirk]

I noticed that the codes for the various system modes include HEAT=1, OFF=2, DRYING=2, COOL=3, and AUTO=5. It appears they are not using code 4.

Control.Model.set(Control.Model.Property.systemSwitchPositio n, X);

[shill]

4 and 5 both mean auto. One means auto (currently cooling), the other means auto (currently hearing). That was a pleasure to figure out once upon a time!

[cbabkirk]

Time to call Honeywell tech support and ask for an API call that will fetch this. I'll let you know how this works out. How to you currently fetch the Current T-Stat data in the root device? Form TCC or other?

[shill]

They don't offer an API at all. The plug-in works by simulating user behavior on the website. Not sure they'd even be happy that it existed...

[cbabkirk]

I talked with Honeywell tech support today. Not much joy there. He seemed to think this might be configurable and asked me to select some icon or buttons that were apparently on his TCC dashboard but not on my TCC dashboard. He had me log out and back in hoping the interface would update and show the desired SETTINGS icon but it did not. So we concluded that his interface could only support the four modes that are also present in your plugin. If you are using a method that mimics the user operating the TCC client, there is no hope of pressing a button that is not there.

I did run some compares on the page sources for each mode as I noticed that when I was showing the SYSTEM modes on the client dashboard, and I selected any existing mode directly on the thermostat, the appropriate button on the TCC dashboard would light up (as you would expect). If I selected DRYING directly on the thermostat, all the buttons go dark. It seems the dashboard received a direction but there was no object to display.

Also the differences in the page source show a difference between mode OFF and mode DRYING. See excerpts below...

OFF MODE

Control.Model.set(Control.Model.Property.systemSwitchPositio n, 2);

<li class="rightborder"><a class="culture-link" data-ajax="false" href="/portal/Account/ChangeCulture?lang=en-US&amp;returnUrl=%2Fportal%2FDevice%2FControl%2F5005471" style="text-decoration: underline;">English</a> </li>

<li><a class="culture-link" data-ajax="false" href="/portal/Account/ChangeCulture?lang=fr-CA&amp;returnUrl=%2Fportal%2FDevice%2FControl%2F5005471" style="">Fran&#231;ais</a></li>



DRYING MODE

Control.Model.set(Control.Model.Property.systemSwitchPositio n, 2);

<li class="rightborder"><a class="culture-link" data-ajax="false" href="/portal/Account/ChangeCulture?lang=en-US&amp;returnUrl=%2Fportal%2FDevice%2FControl%2F5005471%3Fpage%3D1" style="text-decoration: underline;">English</a> </li>

<li><a class="culture-link" data-ajax="false" href="/portal/Account/ChangeCulture?lang=fr-CA&amp;returnUrl=%2Fportal%2FDevice%2FControl%2F5005471%3Fpage%3D1" style="">Fran&#231;ais</a></li>

I am not expecting that any of this helps but thought I would share what i found. I am wondering if a different thermostat would cause the TCC client to show the DRYING mode.

Also the MAC address and code registered in the TCC client are for the REDLINk gateway and not the thermostat. The thermostat I am using is a direct connect to the air handler. When you "operate" the TCC client from your plugin you are seeing the t-stat via the gateway. Not sure if that is a reason the the client cannot see the DRYING mode. Adding a device in the TCC client says that a WiFi t-stat or a Redlink gateway are valid choices.

-Cliff

[shill]

The only difference between the two is actually a querystring parameter of ?page=1, which seems unlikely to actually have any influence on controls. Plus as you say, with no button to push on the website, there's not much I can do, I'm afraid. Appreciate the update and the attempt to get to the bottom of it!

[cbabkirk]

Stay tuned. I haven't thrown in the towel just yet....thanks for all your guidance so far.

[cbabkirk]

Hello again. After several calls to Honeywell support it appears that even if the (Mitsubishi) t-stat I am using or even if I was to use a Honeywell WiFi t-stat that supported the drying mode, the TCC app does not know about other modes beyond OFF, HEAT, COOL, AUTO. Also the Mitsubishi t-stat I got with the system only talks REDLINK 1.0. There is a newer REDLINK 2.0 that supports from functions. Not sure what they are but would not matte in this case.

My next step is to consider if I can use a WiFi app to control my heat pump as a second t-stat in the system. Not sure that would be allowed. If so, perhaps I can use one of the other plugins that can talk to a WiFi t-stat and hope that the drying mode is available. Stay tuned...

[cbabkirk]

Hello,

Do you keep the "Current Thermostat Data", listed under the Honeywell WiFi Thermostat tab of the root device, in an INI or LOG file on the HS server? I would like to scan that query response for values. Is there something like an API call that can be made to just fetch this data? I am using some of Jon's data scraper software to look through files or webpages.


{ "success": true, "deviceLive": true, "communicationLost": false, "latestData": { "uiData": { "DispTemperature": 76, "HeatSetpoint": 70, "CoolSetpoint": 76, "DisplayUnits": "F", "StatusHeat": 0, "StatusCool": 0, "HoldUntilCapable": true, "ScheduleCapable": true, "VacationHold": 0, "DualSetpointStatus": false, "HeatNextPeriod": 88, "CoolNextPeriod": 88, "HeatLowerSetptLimit": 63, "HeatUpperSetptLimit": 83, "CoolLowerSetptLimit": 67, "CoolUpperSetptLimit": 87, "ScheduleHeatSp": 70, "ScheduleCoolSp": 76, "SwitchAutoAllowed": true, "SwitchCoolAllowed": true, "SwitchOffAllowed": true, "SwitchHeatAllowed": true, "SwitchEmergencyHeatAllowed": false, "SystemSwitchPosition": 2, "Deadband": 3, "IndoorHumidity": 128, "DeviceID": 5005471, "Commercial": false, "DispTemperatureAvailable": true, "IndoorHumiditySensorAvailable": false, "IndoorHumiditySensorNotFault": true, "VacationHoldUntilTime": 0, "TemporaryHoldUntilTime": 0, "IsInVacationHoldMode": false, "VacationHoldCancelable": false, "SetpointChangeAllowed": false, "OutdoorTemperature": 128, "OutdoorHumidity": 128, "OutdoorHumidityAvailable": false, "OutdoorTemperatureAvailable": false, "DispTemperatureStatus": 0, "IndoorHumidStatus": 128, "OutdoorTempStatus": 128, "OutdoorHumidStatus": 128, "OutdoorTemperatureSensorNotFault": true, "OutdoorHumiditySensorNotFault": true, "CurrentSetpointStatus": 0, "EquipmentOutputStatus": null }, "fanData": { "fanMode": null, "fanModeAutoAllowed": false, "fanModeOnAllowed": false, "fanModeCirculateAllowed": false, "fanModeFollowScheduleAllowed": false, "fanIsRunning": null }, "hasFan": false, "canControlHumidification": false, "drData": { "CoolSetpLimit": null, "HeatSetpLimit": null, "Phase": -1, "OptOutable": false, "DeltaCoolSP": null, "DeltaHeatSP": null, "Load": null } }, "alerts": "\r\n\r\n" }