Need Beta Testers for Smart Home API v2

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Xathros,

 

That seems to be the case for me too. Benoit will be back on Monday so hopefully he can get to the bottom of all these issues.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Xathros]

Hi Xathros,

 

That seems to be the case for me too. Benoit will be back on Monday so hopefully he can get to the bottom of all these issues.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Thanks Michel.  I have to say, I really like not needing to select ISY to issue commands to the other ISY.  Just may need to prefix a few things with "Office" to differentiate between similar items at home and the office.

 

-Xathros

[PurdueGuy]

I just upgraded to V2.   Echo is set to Metric=Off.   My thermostat (a Trane Z-Wave TZEMT043AB32MAA) was in Cool mode, coolpoint 74 F, room temp 75 F, not calling for cooling.

 

I said "Decrease the thermostat's temperature" and watched in the admin console.  The cool point was set to 72, and the thermostat immediately started to call for cooling.  I would have expected it to go to 73, not 72?

 

I did a test to set it to 73...worked fine.

 

Now I'm at cool point 73, room temp at 74, calling for cooling  I said "Increase thermostat's temperature" and the cool point went to 75.  Is that right?  I would have expected it to go to 74.

[bmercier]

Hi Xathros,

 

That seems to be the case for me too. Benoit will be back on Monday so hopefully he can get to the bottom of all these issues.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Hi Michel, Xathros,

 

That's a very good observation. I tried it myself, and Close was working, but open did not. My device was named "hallway".

 

FYI, with smart home skills, we don't have control over the possible wording.

 

I know "open" can be used to open a custom skill, so there is some competition over the possible use of this word, which may explain why it does not work.

 

@Michel, I think we need to report this one to Amazon.

 

Benoit.

[bmercier]

Using a Insteon 2441TH thermostat

Thermostat set to Celcius

Echo app set to metric

July 5, 4:30pm PST

 

If I tell Alexa to set the temperature to X degrees, it usually works fine and she responds with the correct number.

If I tell Alexa to increase or decrease the temperature, it also works but she responds with a value exactly double of the set point. (eg. 18 becomes 36 but still correctly shows 18 in ISY)

 

Hello Outlander,

 

Thanks for the bug report.

 

A fix has been deployed, can you try it again? I do not have an Insteon thermostat to test it, but I was able to pinpoint the issue and make a fix.

 

Thanks,

 

Benoit

[bmercier]

I just upgraded to V2.   Echo is set to Metric=Off.   My thermostat (a Trane Z-Wave TZEMT043AB32MAA) was in Cool mode, coolpoint 74 F, room temp 75 F, not calling for cooling.

 

I said "Decrease the thermostat's temperature" and watched in the admin console.  The cool point was set to 72, and the thermostat immediately started to call for cooling.  I would have expected it to go to 73, not 72?

 

I did a test to set it to 73...worked fine.

 

Now I'm at cool point 73, room temp at 74, calling for cooling  I said "Increase thermostat's temperature" and the cool point went to 75.  Is that right?  I would have expected it to go to 74.

 

Hi Purdue,

 

Thanks for the bug report, this is now fixed.

 

Just an FYI, the Amazon API works all in Celcius. 

When you increase/decrease temperature, you can specify a delta. As an example: "Alexa, increase temperature for second floor by 2 degrees"

So, the API has a delta parameter. However, when the delta is not specified in the spoken request, Amazon passes a value of 1 to the API by default. But 1 degree in celcius = 2 degrees F, which explains why you were seeing a variation of 2 degrees.

 

So, I had to differentiate between a real request for a delta of 2 degrees which would be a request for a delta of 1.11 vs a default increase/decrease with no delta specified (1 passed to the API).

 

Thanks,

 

Benoit.

[bmercier]

Sorry for coming to the party late - my PLM died the day before I upgraded to the V2 API.

 

Anyway, new PLM arrived and I started testing. When I say "Alexa, increase the downstairs thermostat temperature" it says " I can only set the temperature between 32 and 104 degrees." If I say "Alexa, set the downstairs thermostat temperature to 76 degrees", it says "downstairs thermostat is an auto mode, aiming for 76 degrees" and sets the cooling set point to 76, leaving the heating settling at 68.

 

This happens for both my Venstar thermostats and my Smarthome thermostats:

2 x Venstar w/ Insteon Adapter

1 Smarthome Insteon Thermostat

Auto Mode, 78 Cool, 68 Heat Farenheit

Tested between 7:00 and 7:25 EDT on Friday, July 1

 

Hello kingr, 

 

Thanks for the bug report.

 

Can you try it again? I fixed a bug related to insteon thermostat, which is likely to have fixed that one as well.

 

Benoit.

[Outlander]

Hello Outlander,

 

Thanks for the bug report.

 

A fix has been deployed, can you try it again? I do not have an Insteon thermostat to test it, but I was able to pinpoint the issue and make a fix.

 

Thanks,

 

Benoit

 

Benoit,

 

I just tried it again and yes it is working properly now.

 

Thanks again for the quick fix

[larryllix]

It's just too bad the whole thing seems to be geared toward ForeignHeat temperatures, and yet defaults to Celsius.

Increments of whole degrees are too coarse for Celsius stat tweaking, usually.

 

When I use Alexa to adjust a temperature setpoint, it is usually to tweak it, because somebody feels cold or hot. This only takes half a degree adjustments usually to not result in the opposite problem alternating the temperature radically.

 

This appear to be one of the main reasons Celsius users switch back to Foreignheat on stats.

[bmercier]

It's just too bad the whole thing seems to be geared toward ForeignHeat temperatures, and yet defaults to Celsius.

Increments of whole degrees are too coarse for Celsius stat tweaking, usually.

 

When I use Alexa to adjust a temperature setpoint, it is usually to tweak it, because somebody feels cold or hot. This only takes half a degree adjustments usually to not result in the opposite problem alternating the temperature radically.

 

This appear to be one of the main reasons Celsius users switch back to Foreignheat on stats.

 

Hi Larry,

 

Although at the API level it works in Celcius, it supports fractions. So if you request an increase of 1 degree Fahrenheit, the number passed to the API will be 0.56. So this works correctly under the hood.

 

Now, if one wants to use Celcius, then it has to be by increments of 1 or more.

 

Benoit.

[garybixler]

Was wondering if API V2 might support a TTS feature? I have been hoping to avoid the PI Echo remote hack to achieve this.

Thanks

Gary

[TheFallenAngel]

Hi Larry,

 

Although at the API level it works in Celcius, it supports fractions. So if you request an increase of 1 degree Fahrenheit, the number passed to the API will be 0.56. So this works correctly under the hood.

 

Now, if one wants to use Celcius, then it has to be by increments of 1 or more.

 

Benoit.

Adjustments In Celsius should be by half degree, one us too much, harsh change.

 

Cheers,

Alex

[larryllix]

Adjustments In Celsius should be by half degree, one us too much, harsh change.

 

Cheers,

Alex

Exactly. Maybe if we had western low humidity it might be different.

Even 0.5 degree C difference in a house in our climate seems to be too coarse.

At times I want to drop the whole thing with these toy thermostats and go back to my real ones where increment of 0.1 C are possible.

My old Honeywell stats had 0.5F increments or  0.2C increments. Maybe this is an admission they can't make the smart stats accurate enough to bother with more resolution. Having a heater chip built into the same box with a sensor is probably not the best design.

 

On some weather days I have to set my stat higher and some the usual day settings are OK. Of course this is dependant on your own metabolism and to some degree how much A/C is blowing out of the registers right now.

 

I really haven't determined why a temperature setting, and verified, feels too cool at one time and later too warm. I am going to start sitting on a CAO Tags to determine a better environment. 

Wife always laughs when she sees the anemometer on my hat, behind the monitor, hooked into my ISY994.

Edited July 12, 2016 by larryllix

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello everyone,

 

We heard back from the Amazon team. It seems that "Open" is not supported because of security reasons.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[larryllix]

Hello everyone,We heard back from the Amazon team. It seems that "Open" is not supported because of security reasons.With kind regards,Michel

Heard back is good!

[stusviews]

Hello everyone,

 

We heard back from the Amazon team. It seems that "Open" is not supported because of security reasons.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

I have absolutely no problem using "open" or "close" with either devices or scenes (still on V1). But, those commands have never worked for me with programs. Others have posted success using "open" and "close" with programs and yet others have not had success. Any explanation why those command work for some but not for others?

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi stusviews,

 

The problem is the combination of open and . Not just open/close.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[larryllix]

Not enough plosive sounds?

 

I had a few instances where Alexa reports she doesn't understand but still turns on/off the lights.

 

 

I have only used "turn on" and turn off" so far. They seem to work about 99% of the time.

[bmercier]

Not enough plosive sounds?

 

I had a few instances where Alexa reports she doesn't understand but still turns on/off the lights.

 

 

I have only used "turn on" and turn off" so far. They seem to work about 99% of the time.

 

 

Hi Larry,

 

Are you noticing a significant delay between the time you speak, and the time the light turns on? Constantly, or is it variable delay?

 

This looks like a timeout. The whole communication cycle for some reason could be too long, and by the time ISY portal returns status to Amazon, a timeout has expired, hence the error message that you hear.

 

Benoit.

[larryllix]

Hi Larry,

 

Are you noticing a significant delay between the time you speak, and the time the light turns on? Constantly, or is it variable delay?

 

This looks like a timeout. The whole communication cycle for some reason could be too long, and by the time ISY portal returns status to Amazon, a timeout has expired, hence the error message that you hear.

 

Benoit.

I has seemed to get slower as I use it...not sure, but right now I would say variable response times. I vocally use almost all ISY programs, no scenes, and a few single lights/devices.

 

I'll keep an eye on it for speed and see if I notice a pattern. The not understand and then did it anyway happenned twice, IIRC.

Edited July 16, 2016 by larryllix

[BJB2757]

Regarding thermostats, like many others I use "auto" so that the heat & AC do what they are supposed to...all on their own.  It's super convenient.  Thermostats with "auto" modes, including my previous Honeywell models, and my 2 current Insteon thermostats, have TWO set points, one above which the AC turns on, and the other below which the heat turns on.  (For "auto" to make sense, the "cool" set point needs to be a few degrees higher than the "heat" set point.)

 

On the Insteon thermostats, when you press the up or down arrows on the front of the thermostats, BOTH set points simply go up or down by one degree.  You can do this from the ISY as well.  In fact I have Alexa-voice-triggered IFTTT recipes tell the ISY do to the same thing.  For example, "Alexa trigger warmer" tells the ISY to raise BOTH set points by 1 degree.  Note that this might cause the AC to turn off...or it might cause the heat to turn on...which is EXACTLY what you want if you are using the "auto" mode.

 

Benoit, why not have the Echo "increase the temperature" function simply do the same thing.  Completely IGNORE the ambient temperature if the thermostat is ON in any mode.  If the thermostat is in heat mode or cool mode, simply change the set point by one degree.  If the thermostat is in auto mode, simply change BOTH set points by one degree.

 

-Barry

[G W]

An Iinteresting idea, Barry. For those that use Auto, that may be the answer.

 

Best regards,

Gary Funk

[MWareman]

Yes like it! Any other vote for.... ''If in Auto mode, increase or decrease both setpoints by 1 degree"

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello everyone,

 

+1 ... makes things much easier.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Goose66]

Regarding thermostats, like many others I use "auto" so that the heat & AC do what they are supposed to...all on their own.  It's super convenient.  Thermostats with "auto" modes, including my previous Honeywell models, and my 2 current Insteon thermostats, have TWO set points, one above which the AC turns on, and the other below which the heat turns on.  (For "auto" to make sense, the "cool" set point needs to be a few degrees higher than the "heat" set point.)

 

On the Insteon thermostats, when you press the up or down arrows on the front of the thermostats, BOTH set points simply go up or down by one degree.  You can do this from the ISY as well.  In fact I have Alexa-voice-triggered IFTTT recipes tell the ISY do to the same thing.  For example, "Alexa trigger warmer" tells the ISY to raise BOTH set points by 1 degree.  Note that this might cause the AC to turn off...or it might cause the heat to turn on...which is EXACTLY what you want if you are using the "auto" mode.

 

Benoit, why not have the Echo "increase the temperature" function simply do the same thing.  Completely IGNORE the ambient temperature if the thermostat is ON in any mode.  If the thermostat is in heat mode or cool mode, simply change the set point by one degree.  If the thermostat is in auto mode, simply change BOTH set points by one degree.

 

-Barry

 

+1