RC-80B and PCA 3 questions

[ricks]

Two questions regarding the RC-80B.

I have 3 RC-80B's running flawlessly. Well, almost Typical programming for each: higher HSP in the morning, lower during the day, higher in the evening, lower at night. One tstat always jumps to the higher HSP at midnight. Can't figure out why. I had this problem while running PCA 2x and reprogrammed when installing PCA 3 and still have this problem. Since it's only one tstat and I had the same issue under PCA 2x and PCA 3, is there a setting in the tstat that I'm missing?

Second question. At one time I used to be able to access a variable that showed when a tstat was calling for heat and when it wasn't, ie. furnance on/furnace off. I can no longer find this variable. Is it still available somewhere?

Thanks in advance. I searched the forum but found nothing similar to these questions.

Rick

 

[Brian Yokum]

Rick,

It sounds like the one thermostat that is changing at midnight might still have its internal schedule enabled. Also check to make sure you don't have a program in the controller that is changing it.

The heat/cool status is only available when using PC Access 3 with controller firmware version 3.0 or later.

 

[ricks]

Hey Brian,

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll double-check the settings on the tstat since I'm sure there is nothing in the PCA programming to cause this.

The heat/cool status is only available when using PC Access 3 with controller firmware version 3.0 or later.

I'm running PCA 3.2.0.530 on an OMNI II at firmware 3.0. I do get a "heat/cool" status but it is related to the mode of the thermostat. I am looking for a variable that tells me when the thermostat has sent an "on" or "off" signal to the furnace. Oddly enough, I used to be able to access this via the old Homeseer plugin when both PCA and the OMNI II firmware versions were 2.x.

Thanks again,

Rick

 

[Brian Yokum]

Rick,

The status you want shows up under Temperature conditions when programming. When entering a temperature condition in your automation programming select the desired thermostat, then select "System Status", then the logical operator, then the status (heating, cooling, humidifying, dehumidifying). The humidity items are just for the Omnistat2 thermostats.

 

[ricks]

Hi Brian,

Sorry for being so slow on this one but it seems rather odd to me to use a conditional.

If I have:
Timed 8:01 AM MTWTFSS
Then BASEMENT HEAT SET POINT 62

And I change it to become:
Timed 8:01 AM MTWTFSS
AND IF Basement SYSTEM STATUS IS Heating
THEN Basement HEAT SET POINT 62

Then when the tstat tells the furnance to start, this would give me the on/off status of the "furnace"? So whenever the tstat called for heat/canceled heat some variable would change?

Thanks for being so patient.

Rick

 

[Brian Yokum]

Rick,

"Basement SYSTEM STATUS" is that variable. One can check that variable to see if the thermostat is calling for heat AT THAT MOMENT. Typically, one wouldn't use it as shown in your code, since the variable would only be checked at 8:01. More likely, it would be part of an "EVERY 30 SECONDS, AND IF Basement SYSTEM STATUS IS HEATING, then do something". What exactly are you trying to accomplish? There aren't a whole lot of situations that would require one to alter programming based on the current heating/cooling status.

You need to remember that the Omni II is event driven. That is, programs are only evaluated in response to some event occuring, such as a motion detector being tripped or a specific time occuring. Firmware version 3.0 in the Omni II introduced the ability to create more complex control strategies by testing various system variables. Most of these enhancements show up in the conditional logic. To continuously evaluate these conditions one needs to test the conditions as part of "EVERY x SECONDS/MINUTES/HOURS" triggers.

 

[ricks]

Sorry to quote again...

You need to remember that the Omni II is event driven. That is, programs are only evaluated in response to some event occuring, such as a motion detector being tripped or a specific time occuring

.

I guess my confusion comes from the fact that I had considered the tstat's "call for heat" as an event, similar to the motion detector you mention. And assuming that an HAI communicating thermostat would let the HAI panel know what it just did, I would see a value of off/on in the same way the tstat tells the panel what the room temperature is.

So it sounds as though I have to poll the panel continuously to determine whether the tstat is calling for heat or not. I set it up to poll and populate a variable as you described.

Thanks again for all of your help and patience.

Rick

 

[Brian Yokum]

Rick,

I still don't see what you are trying to accomplish. The "call for heat" works the same as the current temperature. Anytime the thermostat calls for heat it reports that to the HAI controller. The HAI controller maintains that information and displays whether the thermostat is calling for heat/cool on the touchscreen. Not to confuse the issue, but the change to the heating/cooling status will also send an unsolicted notification using the Omni-Link 2 protocol to an IP connected device if desired. It is just the automation programming that is not triggered by the change in status OR the change in current temperature. To use these changes in programming, you need to put them as part of an "AND IF" condition.

 

[ricks]

Hi Brian,

If I look at my thermostats in PCA 3 I see status for Current, Heat, Cool, Humidity, Humidify, Dehumidify, Mode/Fan/Hold Settings with values like 66, 66, 76, xx, xx, xx, Heat, Fan Auto, Hold Off

This is where I would have guessed I would also see something like whether the "call for heat" was on or off.

I use MainLobbyServer via a serial connection to track everything on the OMNI II. I'm on firmware 3.0 and PCA 3+. All I want to do is track (see a variable change) when a tstat calls for heat and when it is not calling for heat. This way I can plot usage, etc.

Sorry if I'm making this more complicated than it is.

Rick

 

[ASIHome]

If you are using 3.0 or higher the variable you are looking for is available as an AND IF condition.

 

[ricks]

I don't understand why I am so stupid on this one. I just don't get it. Would someone be so kind as to type a demonstration code showing how an "And If" condition will make this status appear? Someone also mentioned that I may need Omnistat 2 tstats to make this work. I am using the older RC-80B's.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[Ernie]

Okay, first, make sure that on the Setup tab, Account Information, that the controller type lists 3.0 in parentheses - if it does not, click on Version Override and select Controller firmware>=3.0.

Go to your Automation tab and take the following steps:

1. Click on the gree + to add a block.
2. Click on Trigger and select Every - leave it defaulted to 5 Seconds and click on OK.
3. Click on Condition and select Temperature
4. Select the desired tstat.
5. For "Select Temperature Device Property", select System Status.
6. For "Select Logical Operator", select Is Equal To.
7. For "Select System Status", select Heating
8. Click on Ok
9. Click on Action and select OK (just for demonstration).
10. Click on OK again - you should now have a block that looks similar to:
EVERY 5 SECONDS
AND IF Tstat 1 SYSTEM STATUS IS Heating
THEN Unit 1 ON

 

[ricks]

Lajaycee,

Hey, thanks for taking the time to type that. That's what I ended up doing. To me, it still looks like I need to poll the panel for this particular piece of info, which is OK. Based on Brian's statement:

The "call for heat" works the same as the current temperature. Anytime the thermostat calls for heat it reports that to the HAI controller.

I originally had the impression that it updated PCA automatically as a thermostat variable (as opposed to a unit or flag value which I must set by polling) as I have no block that polls the panel for current temperature.

I sincerely thank everyone for all the help on this! It has really helped me to understand what is happening with the tstat reporting. I'm just surprised that the "call for heat/call for cool" status is not provided in the same manner as Room Temp, HSP, CSP, Mode, Fan, etc., ie. without writing a block to poll the panel.

Thanks all, much appreciated.

Rick

 

[Brian Yokum]

Rick,

I think there is still some confusion over the "call for heat/call for cool" status. The HAI controller continuously polls the thermostats in the system for their current status. In controller firmware 3.0 we added the current "call for heat/call for cool" status to the information that the controller automatically requests from the thermostats. The controller maintains this information in its internal database and allows this status to be tested as part of its automation programming. This "call for heat/call for cool" status is also displayed on the OmniTouch touchscreens when the thermostat is being viewed.

At the same time, we enhanced our Omni-Link and Omni-Link 2 protocols to add this status as part of an extended thermostat status message. These protocols are used by PC Access, Snap-Link, OmniTouch 5.7e/10p touchscreens, and other third-party software. These applications need to specifically request an extended thermostat status message from the HAI controller to receive the "call for heat/call for cool" status. This status is not part of the original thermostat status message. PC Access does not currently display this status, but we plan to add it to the next release of PC Access. This does not affect whether Main Lobby has access to this status. I'm not sure what protocol Main Lobby uses to communicate with the HAI controller, but regardless if it doesn't use the extended thermostat status message this status will not be available. This same extended status message is used to report the current humidity and humidity setpoints for RC-2000 thermostats, so if Main Lobby makes humidity information for the RC-2000 thermostats available I would expect the "call for heat/call for cool" status to also be available.

Hopefully, this help clear things up. If not, let me know what additional information you need.

 

[HAI_fjh]

Update: I just added the thermostat "current status" display to the Thermostat Status page. Previously the status page displayed the current temperature and humidity values, the setpoints and the system mode/fan/hold settings.

The difference between the current mode and the current status is: The mode indicates the thermostat is in the Heat, Cool or Auto mode. The "current status" indicates whether the the thermostat is currently calling for heat or cool, etc.

Note: This feature requires 3.0 or higher firmware in the controller to support the extended status request.

I will probably release the new version of PC Access, with this change, sometime next week.