Need help with Thermostat set point settings after away mode off

[JSP0511]

Hello all,

 

I currently have my thermostat set point programs broken up into four parts of the day.  3:30am 68, 6am 65, 2pm 68, 10:15pm 67  (with our recent newborn, my set points are a little closer then they used to be...still experimenting with them).

 

An example is:

Sleep - [iD 000A][Parent 0009]

 

If

        Time is 10:15:00PM

    And Status  'Main Floor / Thermostat - Main' is Mode Heat

    And Status  'Main Floor / FKPL A -Entrance Inside / FKPL C -Away Mode' is Off

    And Module 'Climate' Temperature >= -15 °F

 

Then

        Set 'Main Floor / Thermostat - Main' 67° (Heat Setpoint)

 

Else

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

 

 

 

When I set my "Away Mode" to on, my thermostat set point goes to 64.  When I turn my away mode off, there is no simple way to get the set point to fall back to the last thermostat program then statement, which would be ideal.

 

I used to have my programs have a time range ie: 6:00pm - 10:14pm.  This worked great for when I turned away mode off but would eliminate the ability to manually change the thermostat on the fly.  For instance, if my wife wants 70 degrees for the moment, the thermostat will go to 70, but soon after, revert to the set point of the program that controls that time section.  I guess because the ISY is always looking to set the temp during that given time period.  Since, I've eliminated the time section and just set the programs to change at a specific time, like the example above.  With this set up, I could manually change the set point as much as I want until the next program time reset it to it's respective set point.

 

I then tried to create programs that stated, if away mode "set" to off (not is off) between a given time period, then set point to X.  This did not work.  When I changed the status to "not on", it would only work if I manually queried the thermostat or refreshed from mobilinc, but would not work if I set a program to query the thermostat when away mode is set to off.  This is where I gave up for the night and turn to you.  lol

 

Maybe I have my thermostat programming all wrong.  I set this up 2-3 years ago when I got my Insteon thermostat.  The Nest had just come out but was not integratabtle with ISY.  Are my options different/better so many years later with all of the updates to the ISY and it's software?  Can I go a different route in my thermostat set up?  Is there a way to have the insteon thermostat act like a Nest, would that even be beneficial? 

 

I'd love to know how you are running your thermostat.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Jerry

[larryllix]

I use a Venstar T7900 and access it via NodeLink running on a RPi computer.

Nest will take a side computer also to interface with and then it will be through a cloud service. I feel this is getting out of hand with too many dependent devices increasing the possibility of failure.

 

Also, I do not attempt to change the schedule on my stat with ISY programming. I let the stat's built in four segment of the day programming do it for simplicity and for security of my temperatures (not messing up).

 

However I do compensate my setpoint up by 0.5C degrees when the house effect windchill outside is below certain factors. This is created by combining outside temperature and the wind speed. I use many safeguards in ISY v5.x to ensure the temperature can never go too far out of bounds.

 

Did you know you can drop programs into a folder and give the folder conditions that will only allow the programs to run if true?

 

eg.

 

'Heating on schedule' folder

Stat.heat = on

AND

stat.schedule = On

 

This can help simplify your programming logic and eliminate many programs having the same repetitive logic in every one.

 

" I guess because the ISY is always looking to set the temp during that given time period."

This is incorrect. ISY programs only run when a statement in the If section contains a factor that changes.

 

eg.

If

...from 6:30 PM

....to 10:30 PM

 

only runs the Then section at 6:30 PM and the Else section at 10:30.

 

If you have another trigger factor line that will cause a trigger then a time frame can also act as a time frame filter.

eg.

If

....stat.temp < 9999

AND

....from 6:30 PM

....to 10:30 PM

 

• at 6:30 PM will run the Then section if and only if the temperature is below 9999 degrees (always will)
• at 10:30 will run the Else section always.
• when the temperature changes will run the Then section between 6:#0 PM to 10:30 PM and run the Else section any other time.
• when another program calls the If section of the program Then section will run if the time frame is correct AND the temperature is below 9999. If any of it is False then the Else section will run.

 

IOW: only changes in the listed values used in your IF section can cause ISY programs to run, unless another program calls them. ISY programs don't watch for anything unless you program them with those values to be watched.