Newbie questions about Omni IIe

[rs691919]

Hi all, I had an Omni IIe installed in my house last month with four thermostats and 7 light switches.  My primary reason was initally more for the ability to control lights and stats with my iPhone because my son, who has autism, has a tendency to fiddle with the stats and leave lights on around the house.  Having played around with the automation features, I'm now hooked and I plan to add more lights and sensors.  However, having a few issues I need help with.
 
Problem #1
I have four RC-2000 stats connected to three HVAC units.  Two of the stats are connected to a single Honeywell HZ311 zone panel that controls the two zones via a damper system.  One of those stats controls the main floor zone, the second controls the basement.  My installer initially put settings in for both of those stats as "conventional".  I have since changed them both to "zone control" -- was this correct for me to do?  Currently, I have enabled the program which is available on the stat itself, but I have removed the jumper so that the buttons are disabled (again so that my son cannot fiddle with it).  The problem is that the stat does not seem to turn the HVAC unit on consistently when the program reaches the appropriate time.  For instance, I have it set to turn to 69 degrees at 530 in the the morning.  The stat setpoint changes to 69, but for the last three days it has not switched on the unit.  If I change the setpoint on PC Access or my iPhone (using iRule), it immediately changes on the stat and immediately switches the unit on.  If I put the jumper back on so that the stat buttons are enabled, it immediately runs the program and turns the stat on.  I realize that I can program it to automatically turn on at the desired time using PCAccess, but I haven't done that yet because I can't figure out how to make the setpoint return to the original programmed temp IF the setpoint is manually changed (using PC Access or iPhone).  So the question is, why is the stat not turning the unit on?  I have a common wire at both the stat and the zone panel and all the connections seem correct as far as my (limited) knowledge goes.  A secondary question, perhaps best asked in the programming section, is how to create code that will make the stat revert to the programmed setpoint if it is manually changed. 
 
 
Problem #2
This involves occupancy/motion sensors.  I do not really want to turn on lights when a room is occupied.  However, I do want to turn lights OFF when a room is NOT occupied.  It seems that motion sensors would not be a good solution because they have high false alarm thresholds and if someone is sitting in a room they might not be detected.  However, since this is a retrofit, I need to use wireless sensors that communicate with the Omni.  Does anyone know of wireless occupancy sensors that would be compatible with the Omni?  Alternatively, are there HLC/UPB switches that can communicate directly with the the Omni and still communicate wirelessly with an occupancy sensor?
 
Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Desert_AIP]

The Honeywell zone controller manages the heat and cooling calls to the HVAC system from the various t-stats.
The RC-2000s act as normal t-stats for their zones.  Conventional is probably the right setting.
 
Was it working properly before you changed the setting?
What type of HVAC system do you have?  Heat Pump? 
Single stage? Multi Stage?  Dual fuel?
 
If you change a temperature manually it will revert to the program at the next program interval. 
So at the designated time if you are using the time program (Morning, Day, Evening, Night), or the occupancy setting change (Day, Night, Away, Vacation) if you are using the occupancy mode.
This works as long as Hold is not active.

 

[rs691919]

Thanks for the reply!  Thinking back, it was probably working before I changed it to zone control.  I'll switch it back to conventional and see if that works.  It's a gas-powered forced air furnace, single stage.
 
Is there a way to program the tstat so that if the setpoint is changed manually, it will revert back to the program setpoint after, say, 30 minutes? 

 

[Desert_AIP]

You'd have to handle the revert at 30 minutes in programming, not at the T-stat.

 

[rs691919]

I've played around with how to do it using flags, but I just can't make it work.  Any thoughts? 

 

[ghanson]

You can use the EVERY command to trigger a automation event based on time interval. I am using this to make sure the thermostat stays at a preset setting when we are away. Was having an issue with maintenance people coming in and lowering the setting while working then forgetting to set it back when they left.

 

[Desert_AIP]

You have to use something like an EVERY command because the T-stat controls can't be triggers but they can be conditions.
 
Something like:
 

WHEN EVERY 30 MINUTES
    AND IF Downstairs Thermostat HEAT SETPOINT IS NOT EQUAL TO 68
        THEN Downstairs HEAT SETPOINT 68

 
 
 
Or you can define the set point as a User Setting so you can modify it more easily/
Define User Setting "Heat Setpoint" as a temperature
Then set it to = 68 (you can do this through a program line or manually through PC Access
 
Then use:

WHEN EVERY 30 MINUTES
    AND IF Downstairs HEAT SETPOINT IS NOT EQUAL TO Heat Setpoint
        THEN Downstairs HEAT SETPOINT Heat Setpoint

 
 
If you ever want to change the set point, just change the value of the user setting (i.e. 70) and you don't have to reprogram the controller.

 

[rs691919]

OK, I understand the idea of the Every 30 minutes command --- BUT, my understanding is that the "30 minutes" is divided up evenly over a 24 cycle.  Thus, if I happen to change the thermostat at minute 29, one minute later the program would change it back to the original heat setpoint.  Am I correct?  BTW, I can't thank you enough for the information and help you're giving -- I'm not trying to be obtuse, just trying to understand how the programming works!
 

 

[Desert_AIP]

The thirty minutes begins when the controller is booted after programming.
So yes your scenario is possible.

You could play with it and check every 5 minutes and start a flag timer to use as your 30 minutes or something similar.
Look at the conditionals in PCAccess under the T-stats to. See what you can use.

The best way is to figure out what the best trigger should be based on what you want to do.