apostolakisl

My system definitely does not fall under the "babysitting" category. It is more like the "beehive" category. If I leave it alone, it doesn't cause me any trouble and we both go about our business being quite productive. I guess there was that unprovoked swarming that occurred when my plm died per the usual cap issue. At times I have an insufferable desire to poke the nest, adding stuff or just changing stuff around. But anymore, the bees are pretty docile. I have learned how to put a little of that magic smoke in the air first. For the most part, I have got my system in a good place and I don't poke it anymore. The only thing I tend to do now is add or tweak programs as my needs change. This really doesn't cause any headaches.

I agree. You pretty much only lose stuff that a technician would care about. You could always keep your carrier thermostat and mount next to the unit itself and switch over to it when and if the need arises for those diagnostic and configuration features. Maybe once a year or something I access my system logs and stuff for curiosity sake. And that is about all the good it does me.

OK, so I can do things like 1) change the outside temp trigger for going to stage 2 2) check fault codes 3) check run times at high cool/low cool/high heat/low heat 4) enroll new devices in the system (like a heat recovery ventilator) 5) run diagnostic tests 6) read pressures in the plenum and stuff 7) see the temp at the condenser unit And some other stuff that my brain storming isn't remembering right now. Most of that stuff is actually hidden from the regular user, but I figured out the trick to get into all of that stuff. Still, it is almost useless to have access to any of that stuff.

That is common. As Teken said, you really just need to ask your hvac guy what it is your are installing before you can get much further.

Good Point. Although, speaking at least for Carrier, you don't have to use their proprietary bus. I have one of those carrier systems and you can install a conventional thermostat. However, you lose the ability to run the diagnostic and configuration tools from a thermostat. For whatever that is worth.

Are you sure you don't have a heat pump? It is rare to put in regular resistance electric heat since it is such an expensive way to make heat. You usually only see that where it almost is never cold enough to need heat.

If you say "5 wire" and you are talking about a 5 conductor low voltage wire all sheaved together in a single jacket, and it is controlling your heating and cooling, then you do not have line voltage going to your thermostat and most any thermostat will do the trick.

OK, my bad, I guess I knew last year that crossed from/to times don't trigger and somehow forgot. I swear at one point they did. the summary page shows a crossed from/to program has a scheduled run time, but it doesn't actually run despite saying it will.

That program will trigger at both 9:35 and 9:37 and be true both times, only because of the "or $cTrue is $cTrue". Without that clause it would run at both times and be false. As mentioned, if the variable is a state variable, then it will act as a trigger also whenever it changes. If it is integer, it will just sit idle waiting for some other trigger regardless of what happens to its value. Always the "From" time and the "to" time are triggers. If from time is after the to, then it will be false. If anything else triggers the program, that particular clause will be false always. Of course adding an "or" statement connecting a by definition true statement will in turn cause this program to always be true.

You don't need any crazy programming like that. Just If From Sunset To 6:30 pm same day Then Set lights on Else Set lights off The program runs twice, at sunset and at 6:30 pm It always runs false at 6:30 (lights turn off, if already off . .. nothing happens) It runs true at sunset if it is before 6:30 (lights turn on, or stay on if someone manually turned them on) It runs false at sunset if it is after 6:30 (lights turn off if they had been manually turned on, if already off, nothing happens) Just keep in mind that if you manually turned the lights on, this program will turn them off at sunset when it occurs after 6:30.

No, that is not correct. $ical.Holiday is getting set to 0 and the rest of the programs are being triggered simultaneously. A "then" clause is "atomic" meaning that all items get set into motion simultaneously. In my experimentation, variables get set instantly for all practical purposes so all of the "run" programs are seeing the variable as set in the same "then" clause. You can put the "then" clause in any order you want and the results will be the same. Of course a "wait" clause changes that. Your program is running, it is just that it is running false because $ical.Holiday was still 0 because New Years Day program had not changed it yet. The delay as mentioned should work. Another option would be to change "$ical.Holiday" to a state variable (or have 2 versions of it, state and integer) and then the program "Holiday changed to 1" will trigger itself.

What is triggering that program?

Your "if" section has only integer variables. Integer variables are not triggers. You need a trigger. Like if time is 6am and i.holiday is 1. Or, you can use state variables. That will trigger anytime the variable changes. Which probably means midnight here.

"Nesting" is done more or less like this If something Then Run program 2 (if) perhaps other stuff Else something Program 2 (disabled) If whatever Then whatever Else whatever

I wrote a second set of programs that uses simpler logic. See the link below. http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/13750-i-wrote-a-new-date-variable-program/ For you, you would have an if clause that was something like If $i.month > 10 or $i.month < 4 Then do whatever.

Putting an always false statement like if 0 is 1 would push your run at startup to the else clause every time. It is 6 or half dozen, going with always true and filling out the "then" or always false and filling out the "else". But I would stick with going the true route, it just keeps the mind from spinning in circles. The basic jist is that "run at startup" is going to cause the "if" to evaluate. Really the only non-intuitive thing is that a blank "if" is evaluated as true.

1) "Run at Startup" is the same thing as saying "evaluate the if clause at boot" 2) A blank 'if" clause evaluates to true. This is true at startup or any time the "if" is asked to evaluate, regardless of what is asking it to evaluate (bootup, another program) So if you want a "then" clause to execute at boot, then leave the "if" blank or put an always true statement (like if 0 is 0) and set it to run at startup. Adding the always true "if 0 is 0" may or may not serve any purpose. At the very least it reminds you that it is true.

This is all correct. I did quite a few tests on this when writing my date programs. If you want to be certain that programs execute the "then" or "else" clauses in order, then you need the last line of the clause to call the next program. Even if you do this: If whatever Then Run program a Run program b Run program c It could happen that some of program c would execute prior to parts of program a. You just can't predict it.

I have about 70 or so insteon devices. My initial Insteon switches were all defective . . . 100%. They replaced them under warranty for the "tact switch" problem. This problem has been solved for a long time now. I have had zero Insteon switch/KPL failures since then. This is something like 5 years of use now. My PLM failed for the same reason as everyone else's (cheapo capacitors). Not covered under warranty. I replaced the capacitors myself. Supposedly this is fixed in the latest version. I had several lamp lincs fail for electrical component failure. They were covered under warranty. I am not aware of any of the current products having inherent problems. I did have a nasty power fluctuation issue a couple months ago and a separate lightening strike nearby that damaged a few things in my house . . . but none of my Insteon stuff suffered. I lost a fan on my AC unit and some relays on my Elk security panel.

Yes, I actually have that very program. I wrote it before variables existed. That program will be a trigger when it changes conditions, so in that respect, you might still prefer an integer variable for certain applications. But as far as the OP's needs are concerned, it is a no-brainer to just use the simple program.

Well, I am not sure I invented this approach. I did have to run some experiments to find out what happens when the "from" time is after the "to" time, but I was probably discovering something that was already known. To be fair, using variables for "daylight hours" has advantages as well. Mostly, it opens up when you want to have more complex conditions that don't trigger on the "from" and "to" times and also it allows you to use the else clause.

You almost had it. If On Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri From 6:00:00AM To Sunrise (same day) Then Set Scene 'Wakeup Light' On Else This program only runs true at 6am if the sun hasn't risen. If sunrise happened before 6am, it runs false at 6am. It also runs false at sunrise. So if you want to also use the else clause, keep those things in mind. In a "from to" program, if the "to" is before the "from", it will be false. Both the "from" time and "to" times will trigger the program no matter what, just at some times of the year both triggers will run false and at other times the "from" will be true.

If you are only getting an option to change the backlight level, then you are not tuning a scene on/off.

To turn KPL buttons on and off you need to create a scene and put the button in the scene. Then turn the scene off.

This should be good. I have played around with tasker and isy a bit, but pretty much have just achieved proof of concept. The wiki should help get things rolling.