Bryant Evolution / Carrier Infinity Plugin

[KSO]

David,
Just another observation, under Device Status, the only device that shows up is the Evolution Thermostat.
Maybe the others will show up when the connection is updated?

[drule]

OK, that's a bit annoying. There doesn't seem to be a way to PM an attachment. Posting here instead. Have made a couple of changes to the code where I think the problem lies and have added some extra output to the advanced log to help narrow things down a bit.

-David

[KSO]

Bravo, You did it David.
I have all devices updated in Device Management.
But for some reason, They dont show up in Device Status.
I will keep you updated.

[drule]

Thanks KSO, glad we got it working for you. I've been a Homeseer user since version 1.0 and I've never looked at the Device Status page before! I have now and can see the same problem you are seeing. Will have to consult the SDK documentation to see if I can fix that one :-)

-David

[Daggy67]

I have a carrier infinity furnace system with the fancy t-stat where do I find out more about connecting HS3. What hardware is needed. I can't find the said plugin.
Thanx

[drule]

I have a carrier infinity furnace system with the fancy t-stat where do I find out more about connecting HS3. What hardware is needed. I can't find the said plugin.
Thanx

Hi Daggy 67,

The plugin is here:

http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=173068

If you have the right thermostat and it is communicating with the MyInifinity web service, then no additional hardware is needed.

-David

[KSO]

David,
Any luck on the devices showing up in the Device Status page?

[drule]

I've just posted an update to the Library thread. There are some extra changes to the proxy code that should reduce instances of incomplete packets being read from the Bryant/Carrier web service. I've also provided for some additional message types between the thermostat and the web service that I hadn't previously catered for.

N.B., there are a couple of extra png files in the zip that need to be extracted to your html/images/drhsEvolution folder. This seems to have sorted out the device status page for me at least.



Next up is to get control of the thermostat from the plugin working. I'm planning to remove the 'hold status' device as I don't think it is relevant to this type of thermostat. When the plugin changes a setpoint, I'm planning to switch the 'mode' to manual and have it hold until the next scheduled activity change. On the thermostats themselves you can specify a time to hold until. I'll work on that as a feature in a later release.

Cheers
-David

[Mikey]

First time caller, long time listener. Love the show, great topic!

David, I was turned on to your work a few months ago as a non-HS home automation user, and I have since purchased an HS3 system now in large part due to the potential of hooking in a Carrier Infinity system.

If I can be of any assistance in developing the app, please let me know. I was able to install it and am getting both stats to appear as devices, which is a great start!

Looking forward to participating!
-Mike

P.S. I assume that you already have a copy, but if not, I've attached the SAM spec that may or may not give some ideas as to how the data is structured between the stats and Carrier/Bryant cloud.

[drule]

First time caller, long time listener. Love the show, great topic!

David, I was turned on to your work a few months ago as a non-HS home automation user, and I have since purchased an HS3 system now in large part due to the potential of hooking in a Carrier Infinity system.

If I can be of any assistance in developing the app, please let me know. I was able to install it and am getting both stats to appear as devices, which is a great start!

Looking forward to participating!
-Mike

P.S. I assume that you already have a copy, but if not, I've attached the SAM spec that may or may not give some ideas as to how the data is structured between the stats and Carrier/Bryant cloud.

Hi Mike,

Welcome to the club! I'm pleased that you were able to get the plugin up and running. I've not done a huge amount of work on it recently, the "day job" has been getting in the way, but I have made a few tweaks here and there and will probably post an update soon.

The next major step will be implementing control of the thermostats from Homeseer. I'm still unsure of the best way to match Homeseer's features to Bryant/Carrier's. For instance, on the thermostat itself, if you manually adjust the setpoint, it will prompt you to enter an amount of time to keep this new setting for until it reverts to the schedule programmed. Homeseer doesn't naturally have that feature. I could make the new setpoint indefinite and then have a 'revert to schedule' action, or I could calculate the amount of time as the difference between 'now' and the next schedule change, or I could figure out a way to get Homeseer to prompt for an amount of time. Happy to hear other people's thoughts on how they might like to see it work.

Cheers
-David

[Mikey]

Thanks for the welcome, David. As I have a "day job", I'm amazed at the progress that you were able to manage. Like I said, it's a great start...and really was a motivator for me to change platforms (from MCV to HS).

Per your comment...

For instance, on the thermostat itself, if you manually adjust the setpoint, it will prompt you to enter an amount of time to keep this new setting for until it reverts to the schedule programmed. Homeseer doesn't naturally have that feature. I could make the new setpoint indefinite and then have a 'revert to schedule' action, or I could calculate the amount of time as the difference between 'now' and the next schedule change, or I could figure out a way to get Homeseer to prompt for an amount of time. Happy to hear other people's thoughts on how they might like to see it work.

...I've highlighted above what I think the thermostat currently does, which might be the easiest course of action to start.

That is, from my experience, the stat itself defaults to a +3 hr interval whenever a temperature is manually adjusted - and subsequently returns to the schedule. Although giving the "Hold" vs "Return to Schedule" option may be desirable to some...I tend to want the system to go back to its normal function after some time.

That all said, my sense is that the stat operates chiefly on the user applying a "comfort profile" versus manual tweaks to the temps themselves. To me, then, being able to select the "Home", "Away", "Wake", "Sleep", etc. profile is more important. In effect, by defining these profiles, I've - at least theoretically - already considered what temperature I want.

This would be how I would intend to interact with the stat since whatever inputs provided by HS would be generated by certain conditions, e.g. movement in the morning might trigger the "Wake" profile versus the individual temps.

Not sure if that helps and others may insist on updating the temps versus using the profiles.

Again, it's just exciting that I can at least see the status of the stats. For the record, I have two - one for upstairs and the other for downstairs - and the latter is further subdivided into two zones, so my system is admittedly a bit more complex. (which is why I'm happy to help development!)

-Mike

P.S. Any thoughts on how to save the plugin config settings? For whatever reason, I can never get any of them to "take", so I'm unable to view an extended log file because I can't get the plugin configured to create it, for example. Anyone else have that issue?

[JazzmanJohn]

Works well with my Carrier Infinity System...

Thanks David. This plugin is exactly what I've been looking for. I've had a Carrier Infinity system for a few years and have been disappointed that I couldn't use some of the retail available WIFI Tstats (due to multi stage, multi zone). So I finally bit the bullet and bought the expensive Infinity Tstat. I spend a lot of time first reading through this forum hoping to convince myself I'd be able to integrate the Tstat with my HS3 setup. It does indeed work. your instructions and screen shots were VERY helpful, and the integration went smoothly and quickly.

I realize the PI is not complete and has had limited testing. I am happy to provide any testing or feedback you may require as I think you have indicated you have the Bryant system rather than the Carrier system.

Right now I have successfully integrated the Tstat to my HSTouch screens as well, although I think there is limited control support in the existing PI.

Thanks again for a fine job.

JazzmanJohn

[drule]

Thanks David. This plugin is exactly what I've been looking for. I've had a Carrier Infinity system for a few years and have been disappointed that I couldn't use some of the retail available WIFI Tstats (due to multi stage, multi zone). So I finally bit the bullet and bought the expensive Infinity Tstat. I spend a lot of time first reading through this forum hoping to convince myself I'd be able to integrate the Tstat with my HS3 setup. It does indeed work. your instructions and screen shots were VERY helpful, and the integration went smoothly and quickly.

I realize the PI is not complete and has had limited testing. I am happy to provide any testing or feedback you may require as I think you have indicated you have the Bryant system rather than the Carrier system.

Right now I have successfully integrated the Tstat to my HSTouch screens as well, although I think there is limited control support in the existing PI.

Thanks again for a fine job.

JazzmanJohn

Thanks JazzmanJohn,

I haven't had time to add to the plugin recently but I do have a long list, top of which is adding control from HS->thermostat. Very pleased to hear that you have it successfully communicating with your Carrier system. If you have any ideas as to how the plugin can be improved/enhanced, please let me know.

Cheers
-David

[JazzmanJohn]

Yes, the day job can often get in the way of doing some more of the fun things we like!

I'm brand new to the thermostat so don't have a lot of suggestions at this point. Top of my list, would probably be support for multiple zones. And certainly controlling the various settings of the thermostat would be important. I also just noticed a pretty nice vacation mode, where one can set a specific profile in advance of leaving for vacation. Nice way to have the thermostat already taken care of and not forgotten in the last minute rush of leaving (although, of course that's why we all chose a thermostat than can be remotely changed!)

Thanks again.

[ufd108]

...I've highlighted above what I think the thermostat currently does, which might be the easiest course of action to start.

That is, from my experience, the stat itself defaults to a +3 hr interval whenever a temperature is manually adjusted - and subsequently returns to the schedule. Although giving the "Hold" vs "Return to Schedule" option may be desirable to some...I tend to want the system to go back to its normal function after some time.

That all said, my sense is that the stat operates chiefly on the user applying a "comfort profile" versus manual tweaks to the temps themselves. To me, then, being able to select the "Home", "Away", "Wake", "Sleep", etc. profile is more important. In effect, by defining these profiles, I've - at least theoretically - already considered what temperature I want.

This would be how I would intend to interact with the stat since whatever inputs provided by HS would be generated by certain conditions, e.g. movement in the morning might trigger the "Wake" profile versus the individual temps.

Hi David,

I'm new to this forum because I don't yet own Homeseer, but I am likely to purchase it soon to replace my Vera III system. I have a Carrier Infinity system that was just installed late last spring, and I agree with the above statements. The key to the Infinity thermostat is to use the profiles that you setup. So rather than change the temperature I agree that you should concentrate on switching between the "Home" and "Away" profiles, for example. This represents about 90% of my interaction with the thermostat. Once you find comfort settings you like it's simply a matter of overriding the system if you come home when you're normally away, or vice versa. The additional coding to allow changing the temperature manually would be a good addition but, to me, not as important. Although to have the plug-in function like typical thermostats it should probably be incorporated at some point.

I also agree with the last post, where using the vacation setting is valuable, especially if you go away and forget to set the mode on the thermostat. Of course, you could always do so from the Carrier app, but you can do everything from that app. The key is to be able to do everything for the entire HA system through one app, namely Homeseer.

Just my $0.02. I hope you do find time to finish the plug-in by the time I purchase HS3. I would love to integrate my Carrier Infinity system into my HA system, something I will never be able to do with Vera.