Programming a thermostat with "Wait" commands

[Guest]

I am programming my Venstar T1900 thermostat. The program sets the temperature at 6:15 when I get downstairs. Then I have a "wait 1:15", and the thermostat setting is changed after I have left for work. Then "wait 9 hours" until it's time to return from work,and another 9 hours until it's time for bed.

 

Here is the code for a typical day:

 

If
       On Mon, Tue, Wed
       Time is  6:15:00AM

Then
       Set 'Foy.W.TH.Down t-stat - Main' 76° (Cool Setpoint)
       Set 'Foy.W.TH.Down t-stat - Main' 73° (Heat Setpoint)
       Wait  1 hour and 15 minutes 
       Set 'Foy.W.TH.Down t-stat - Main' 80° (Cool Setpoint)
       Set 'Foy.W.TH.Down t-stat - Main' 68° (Heat Setpoint)
       Wait  9 hours 
       Set 'Foy.W.TH.Down t-stat - Main' 76° (Cool Setpoint)
       Set 'Foy.W.TH.Down t-stat - Main' 73° (Heat Setpoint)
       Wait  9 hours 
       Set 'Foy.W.TH.Down t-stat - Main' 82° (Cool Setpoint)
       Set 'Foy.W.TH.Down t-stat - Main' 70° (Heat Setpoint)

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

TYPICAL DAILY SCHEDULE

Turn on A/C at 6:15 AM
Turn off A/C at 7:30 AM
Turn on A/C at 4:30 PM
Turn off A/C at 1:30 AM

 

Here are my questions:

If I manually adjust the thermostat or adjust it through the ISY, does this upset the wait command? Does it reset the wait time to a new 9 hours?

 

Is this the best way to program the thermostat? Or do I have to write a program for each adjustment time? (four adjustments a day = four times as many programs).

 

What does the "Set Schedule" button do on the thermostat status page in the ISY? When I click on it, I get "Request failed".

 

Thanks for helping me understand.

[andyf0]

I think there are better ways to do this, I'm sure others have alternate ideas. What happens on Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun? Currently the TS gets left at 82/70. If someone changed the mode to OFF at the local panel it stays off because you don't change the mode.

 

The way I do it is to drag the thermostat main node into a scene. Then you can adjust all the values for the thermostat in the scene properties (Heat/Cool/Mode etc). Set mode to AUTO. Create different scenes for the different settings you want.

 

Then you just send an ON to the scene with the settings you want and all settings are adjusted.

 

You can have different programs to change the settings based on whatever conditions you want. Yes, probably cleaner to have separate programs for different days/times.

 

If

On Mon, Tue, Wed

Time is 6:15:00AM

 

Then

Set Scene 'Morning' ON

 

 

If

On Mon, Tue, Wed

Time is 7:30:00AM

 

Then

Set Scene 'Work' ON

 

 

If

On Mon, Tue, Wed

Time is 4:30:00PM

 

Then

Set Scene 'Return' ON

 

If you return from work early you can manually send an ON to the scene 'Return' to adjust the settings early. No programs to stop running and separate setpoints to adjust.

[oberkc]

If I manually adjust the thermostat or adjust it through the ISY, does this upset the wait command? Does it reset the wait time to a new 9 hours?

 

No, I don't believe so. Your "typical day" code is triggered only by time. Changing thermostat values will not retrigger the program, thus will not interrupt on-going wait statements.

 

Is this the best way to program the thermostat? Or do I have to write a program for each adjustment time? (four adjustments a day = four times as many programs).

 

If it does what you want, then it is good. Whether using four programs versus your approach is better?...well...the only thing that I can think of is power failure. Do you get many (even short ones)? If a power failure occurs, it may interrupt an on-going wait statement and halt executing programs. Perhaps four programs would be more tolerant of this possibility. I also suspect that making schedule modifications, should the need arise, to be a bit more straightforward with four separate programs.

 

However, if you place value on minimizing the number of programs in your ISY, then your approach has merit.

[Guest]

Thanks, Andyf0 and Oberkc. Your responses were very helpful.

 

My schedule on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays are different on alternating weeks, so I have two programs for each of those days, and a separate program for Saturday (that I did not include in my post). So currently I have eight programs for each week, with two separate thermostats, for a total of 16 programs. I will have to weigh the benefits of separate programs (easier to modify the schedules, power failures, etc) against the complexity of keeping track of 50+ programs (which is mainly a nomenclature problem).

 

We do not get very many power failures here. Maybe 6-8 a year that last long enough that I have to reset the time on my microwave or oven. But that is a consideration. I've had a lot more self-inflicted outages over the past two months from cutting off circuit breakers to install new Insteon devices, but that is a short-term issue.

 

Andy, I had not thought of creating a scene for the thermostat settings, and then programing the scene to come on at specified times. I will look into that when I get home tonight. Currently, if I want the overnight temperature to be two degrees warmer, I have to change the settings in all eight programs. That's a major pain.) Changing the setting in one scene will be much easier. I am the only one living in the house (my WAF is 100%!), and I never switch from Auto to Off, but resetting the mode to Auto with each time setting makes sense. Thanks for the helpful pointers.