Overlapping time for unit commands, which priority?

[johnmhome]

I want to know how OPII handles two separate events that trigger the same unit on for a period of time.

Suppose I have two events like this:

	TIMED 5:01 PM MTWTFSS
		AND IF NOT AWAY
			THEN H Water pump ON FOR 4 HOURS

and

	WHEN H Water Pump
			THEN H Water pump ON FOR 2 HOURS

The second case is a button, with a confusingly similar name to the unit, BTW.

So if someone presses the button at 6pm, will the hot water pump run until 8pm (because its timer value overrides the 4 hour setting from 5pm) or will the pump stay on until 9pm because the original 4 hour timed output trumps the later, but shorter time.

 

[cornutt]

The last command sent has priority. So in your case, the pump will run until 8 PM.

 

[HAI_fjh]

Try thinking of the "ON FOR X HOURS" as "TURN THE UNIT ON, THEN SET THE COUNTDOWN TIMER TO X". After the command executes the timer will be set to "X" regardless of its previous value.

 

[johnmhome]

Great. Thanks for clarifying.

I was hoping the OPII would let the unit stay on for the command with the longest time - at least that's what I'd want in this case.

Looks like I need some more complex code that will let the unit remain on for a longer time, even if set shorter by another command.

 

[Brian Yokum]

John,

Actually, Fred's answer was not quite correct. If a unit is already "on for time x", any subsequent "on for time y" command can only extend the time remaining. It will not reduce the time. For a quick test, turn a unit on for 10 minutes. Then turn the same unit on for 5 minutes. If you check the status you'll see that the timer is still at 10 minutes. If instead you start by turning the unit on for 5 minutes, then on for 10 minutes, the timer will then again be at 10 minutes.

To set the timer to a shorter time, if desired, you need to send an on command with no time, followed by the timed command.