Poll - Possible Feature Request or Can I do it via script?

[charlesmbell]

I assume that a "poll" checks for temp and humidity only. See below:

Jul-14 7:25:39 AM Insteon Thermostat Thermostat Temp = 76
Jul-14 7:25:39 AM Insteon Thermostat Thermostat Humidity = 66
Jul-14 7:25:37 AM Insteon Thermostat TransmitInsteon: [Thermostat] [0F] [6A] [20]
Jul-14 7:25:35 AM Insteon Thermostat TransmitInsteon: [Thermostat] [0F] [6B] [03]
Jul-14 7:25:33 AM Insteon Thermostat TransmitInsteon: [Thermostat] [0F] [6A] [60]
Jul-14 7:25:31 AM Insteon Thermostat TransmitInsteon: [Thermostat] [0F] [6B] [02]
Jul-14 7:25:31 AM Insteon Thermostat POLL thermostat: Thermostat

Is there a way via poll or possibly via script to poll for 'HVAC mode'?

If plugin never receives the "HVAC switching from Cool to Off" command, the web page shows the unit is cooling when the hardware has turned it off.

[nfrobertson]

Please see my reply to your other post. There is no "HVAC device" that the Insteon Thermostat knows about (in its hardware) to poll. There is no poll command to ask the Thermostat if it's currently calling for heat/cool/off to the physical HVAC although that would be a good addition to their firmware. These are virtual devices in HS3 only. If the Insteon network fails to communicate the broadcast (call for heat on/off, or, call for cool on/off) then the plugin won't know to change the HVAC virtual device mode. I'm sorry but I don't currently know of a good way to fix this situation if the broadcast message is missed. adding more dual-band Insteon devices may help your Insteon network not miss these broadcast?

I'll go back and triple check everything to see if there's anything to be done but as best I can tell right now there aren't any additional commands to use to overcome missed broadcast call for-* messages.

Nathan

[charlesmbell]

Thanks again.

I am using some logic along with HS log events to accomplish a workaround in case a bcast is missed. Seems to be working.

details in other post http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=182705

[charlesmbell]

Nathan,

One last question. My workaround works mostly, but I was playing with my Insteon Hub IOS app and it seems that even if your plugin misses a network broadcast, the IOS Insteon app seems to be able to poll the thermostat for "cooling" or "heating". As when ever I open the app I assume it polls the devices in question as the iPhone is not on all the time to receive broadcasts.

Does the thermostat support a poll of the cooling/heating mode? Is this part of the api or maybe something proprietary smart home does with their IOS app? The app turns blue and says "coolling" when AC is running and "cool to" when AC is off.

[nfrobertson]

The plugin can poll the thermostat for Mode meaning Auto/Cool/Heat/Off but not whether it's currently calling for cooling or heating due to the current mode and temp. I will reach out to Smarthome and see if there's anything not in the documentation that allows this but as far as I know there is not. I really do wish there was as it would be a very useful update to the polling!

Based on your post, it sounds like you may have the thermostat configured as a device in your Hub and then again as a device via HS3->Insteon->InsteonThermostat ? Trying to have a single device configured two different ways in the Hub might lead to issues I think? May have to check with Mark's forum on any issues others may have with the Hub configuring a device directly in it and via Mark's Insteon plugin. The way my plugin works is it uses his as the interface to the Insteon network (PLM or Hub) and configures the Thermostat as a externally registered Insteon device. I haven't switched over to a Hub as my production machine yet, still using a USB PLM. I may have to switch soon to observe these types of behaviors.

Nathan

[charlesmbell]

Thats interesting. I do have all my insteon devices configured in the HUB app and in Marks plugin. I use your plugin as the external registration like you said.

I set mine up that way so I can use my apple watch to turn devices on/off when I am not near my pc, or a local switch. The HUB cannot do conditional statements, so I use homeseer for all my automation tasks.

I may have to search thru marks thread to see if others use the HUB and plugin at the same time. and if that causes issues. Thanks for the tip. and thanks for looking into it.

[charlesmbell]

Nathan,

I wanted to mention in this thread that I think I have remedied my issue. Although it would be nice if the api was able to poll for cooling/heating status, my issue may have been excessive polling of the hub.

Mark's PLM plugin was updated for the instreon HUB as a PLM and I think his plugin polls every second or so. The devices in the setup page of his plugin also have an option for polling the devices every x minutes. By default when you setup a device it defaults to 10 min. I have ~60 devices being polled every 10 min, plus the 1 sec polling the plugin does.

So I think excessive polling was the issue as I disabled the 10 min polling and have not had many broadcast misses since. I changed my polling interval to 60 min and still stable.

Thanks so much for looking into this, but I wanted to reply back to let you know it was a config issue.

When I upgraded to HS3, I installed a HUB PLM. My HS2 system had a serial PLM. Maybe the hub was not able to handle the same network load as the 2413S.

Thanks.

Chuck

[nfrobertson]

Thank you Chuck for this reply. I am still using my PLM (USB) but soon will likely have to switch to my Hub (test system only right now). Hopefully this find will help others with similar missed broadcast issues.

Nathan