Simply Automated Fan Control and HAI/HLC

[broconne]

I posted this over in the original thread but this might be a better place to ask.  Now that there is a UPB fan speed control how are people thinking about integrating it with HAI/HLC?
 
I have a couple of z-wave fan controls that operate on the "dimming range" to control the speed. 0 is off, 1-33 is low speed, 33-66 is medium and 67 to 100 is high.  This works well with the HAI panel.  However, it looks like this fan controller has a UPB link for each speed and one for off / something that won't integrate out of the box very well with HAI from a smartphone control perspective. 
 
My initial thought which I tested out was to create a mock 'UPB light' in HAI - monitor its light level from a third party program (in my case elve) then send HAI button commands from the third party program to the HAI, which would in turn send link commands.  I would have to take an empty hlc "room" and repurpose its links for this.
 
Any one have a better solution?  
 
 
 
 

 

[broconne]

I did go ahead order one and install.  I have it working, but not very pleased with the way I am eating through UPB Links.  It would be really nice if these switches operated just like the zwave ones and mapped a dimming percentage to a level.  Would be good to have the flexibility of both links and/or dimming mapping.
 
Here is what I did in case its useful for anyone else:
I assigned the Fan control unit to an HLC switch in PC Access in the same room as the lights in that room.  Mine happened to be unit 123.
 
I then took a block of rooms off of HLC and assigned them to UPB.  In my example those were units 193 to 208. I then assigned "Fan Hi" / "Fan Med" / "Fan Low" / "Fan Off" to units 193 - 196.  I then named UPB Links 145 to 148 for "Fan Hi" / "Fan Med" / "Fan Low" and "Fan Off"  Links 145 to 148 are set in the switch through upstart.
 
This lets me control the fan as if it were a normal switch through a combination of Elve and PC Access.  
 
I have the following code in PC Access to support the automation:
 

161. WHEN Dylan Fn Off ON
THEN Dylan Fan Off ON
162. WHEN Dylan Fan Off ON
THEN Dylan's Fan OFF
163. WHEN Dylan Fn Med ON
THEN Dylan Fan Med ON
164. WHEN Dylan Fan Med ON
THEN SET LIGHTING LEVEL Dylan's Fan TO 50%
165. WHEN Dylan Fn Low ON
THEN Dylan Fan Low ON
166. WHEN Dylan Fan Low ON
THEN SET LIGHTING LEVEL Dylan's Fan TO 33%
167. WHEN Dylan Fn Hi ON
THEN Dylan Fan Hi ON
168. WHEN Dylan Fan Hi ON
THEN Dylan's Fan ON


I then use Elve to monitor the lighting level of the switch:
 

if ( omni.LightLevels[123] == 0 )
{
omni.TurnOnUnit(196);
System.Log(@"Turned Dylan's Fan off");
}
if ( omni.LightLevels[123] > 0 )
{
if ( omni.LightLevels[123] <= 33 )
{
omni.TurnOnUnit(195);
System.Log(@"Set Dylan's Fan to Low");
}
}
if ( omni.LightLevels[123] > 33 )
{
if ( omni.LightLevels[123] <= 66 )
{
omni.TurnOnUnit(194);
System.Log(@"Set Dylan's Fan to Medium");
}
}
if ( omni.LightLevels[123] > 66 )
{
omni.TurnOnUnit(193);
System.Log(@"Set Dylan's Fan to High");
}


 
I don't feel like this is optimal - so any advice on a more link efficient method would be appreciated.

 

[Desert_AIP]

You could probably use a Western Mountain RUC to receive a unit dim command and retransmit a unit command to the fan controller.
Need to look at the command structure of the fan controller in UPStart to be sure.
 
If you had several fan controllers, you  could place the fan controller(s) on a separate UPB network number, creating a new set of 255 links to use, and then use the RUC to receive a unit dim command and transmit the appropriate link to the controller.
 
This won't give you the fine control of a dimmable fan controller though,
i.e. it wouldn't be able to determine a window width (dim level from 0-33, 34-66, 67-100, etc.).
 
 
 
Something like this should work with a standard UPB Switch.
 
http://www.edcheung.com/automa/nohum.htm
 
http://www.edcheung.com/automa/nohumkit.htm

 

[broconne]

Thanks Desert.  I hadn't thought about a second network just for fans.. That is a great idea and I can bridge the two networks with Elve.
 
Perfect solution, I just need another PIM now