Ecobee Remote Sensor Capabilities

[ISYhbsh01]

Hi,

I am looking into buying a new thermostat. The most important feature that I need, is to be able to control from the ISY using programs, when it should use the built-in sensor in the thermostat, and when to use the remote sensor. Does the Ecobee nodeserver support this?

Thanks

[larryllix]

Hi,
I am looking into buying a new thermostat. The most important feature that I need, is to be able to control from the ISY using programs, when it should use the built-in sensor in the thermostat, and when to use the remote sensor. Does the Ecobee nodeserver support this?
Thanks

The thermostat can do all that without ISY programs. You could create 12 different climates and assign them to 12 different parts of the day, switching which sensors are averaged into the temperature sensed for every climate programmed. Fan control cycling is also controllable separately for each climate programmed.

I am not sure about changing the sensor selection via the node server and I am away from my polisy now.

A other feature is 'follow me where the sensors switch ti whatever room you are in. They contain motion sensors also.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

[dakall]

11 hours ago, larryllix said:

The thermostat can do all that without ISY programs. You could create 12 different climates and assign them to 12 different parts of the day, switching which sensors are averaged into the temperature sensed for every climate programmed. Fan control cycling is also controllable separately for each climate programmed.

I am not sure about changing the sensor selection via the node server and I am away from my polisy now.

A other feature is 'follow me where the sensors switch ti whatever room you are in. They contain motion sensors also.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk
 

To expand on what @larryllix is saying, the remote sensors are selected in the time-of-day programs that are set up in the thermostat itself. I have yet to find a way to have the ISY program enable/disable them. However, the fan control  cycling can be set in an ISY program. (fan will run X minutes per hour) 

Using the Ecobee node server, I can set the control the fan based upon the outside temperature. 

 

Fan_2nd-Flr - [ID 0027][Parent 0001][Not Enabled]

If
        'Ecobee / Ecobee - 2nd Floor / Ecobee - Forecast' Temperature is 75.0°F
    And 'Ecobee / Ecobee - 2nd Floor' Climate Type is Home
 
Then
        Set 'Ecobee / Ecobee - 2nd Floor' Fan On Time 15
 
Else
        Set 'Ecobee / Ecobee - 2nd Floor' Fan On Time 0
 

[ISYhbsh01]

Thanks to everyone trying to help.

So let me clarify what I am trying to accomplish. My wife and I are hot people, and we like our bedroom colder than the average person. We have a wall unit A/C in our bedroom in addition to the central A/C. Sometimes in the fall & spring weather, we might sometimes still use our wall unit A/C, or later in the winter open the window, when others might have put on the heat already.

Our thermostat is located in the master bedroom. So what I want to do is to put a remote sensor in one of the other bedrooms, and then be able to use a program to tell the thermostat that if the wall A/C in the master bedroom is on (using an Insteon On/off module), or if the window is open (monitored via a contact sensor) then use the sensor in the other room. Otherwise, use the thermostat’s own sensor.

In the past I have had many times that the A/C was causing the heat to go on, thus causing the A/C to work even longer, and then they were fighting each other while the rest of the bedrooms were boiling away.

Thanks again.

Edited November 6, 2023 by ISYhbsh01

[Scott Korvek]

I'd suggest the Honeywell T10 series then. As was said in the other thread, you can use the app to view the remote temps and determine which ones are used to average out the reported temperature. While I'm not sure you can change which is used programmatically (ask about that to the Honeywell nodeserver developer) you can set which are used in the thermostat programs. So you can create a program in the thermostat with an evening/night start time and set it to ignore that sensor when heating/cooling the house as a whole. Then just leave the IOX to work based off of the thermostat's reported temperature for whatever need you have there.

 

And if that's the main/only thermostat- spend the time/effort to move it to a central area of the home!

Edited November 6, 2023 by Scott Korvek

[dakall]

54 minutes ago, ISYhbsh01 said:

 

In the past I have had many times that the A/C was causing the heat to go on, thus causing the A/C to work even longer, and then they were fighting each other while the rest of the bedrooms were boiling away.

 

Sounds like the old joke about putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room and letting them fight it out.

Anyway, what you want to do should be very doable. I would create 2 different "Comfort Settings" (as Ecobee calls their programs). Set up a "Normal" for typical use and a "No Bedroom" for when the window is or the bedroom AC is on. The "No Bedroom" would not use the bedroom t-stat as a sensor.

Edited November 6, 2023 by dakall

[ISYhbsh01]

9 hours ago, dakall said:

Sounds like the old joke about putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room and letting them fight it out.

Anyway, what you want to do should be very doable. I would create 2 different "Comfort Settings" (as Ecobee calls their programs). Set up a "Normal" for typical use and a "No Bedroom" for when the window is or the bedroom AC is on. The "No Bedroom" would not use the bedroom t-stat as a sensor.

I read up a bit the help section on Ecobee's website to become familiar with the way it works and how "comfort settings" work. So my question is, can you select & change from the ISY which comfort setting should be in effect now? Thanks

[dakall]

Yes. I do it all the time. The Ecobee node server lets you choose between comfort settings. (Although the NS calls them Climate Types) An added plus is that you can also chose if it will be a Permanent Hold or just until the next thermostat program change.

I have a comfort setting called Don't Run utilizing a higher AC temp and a lower heat temp that gets switched to whenever a window or door is open for more than 5 minutes. 

[ISYhbsh01]

23 hours ago, dakall said:

Yes. I do it all the time. The Ecobee node server lets you choose between comfort settings. (Although the NS calls them Climate Types) An added plus is that you can also chose if it will be a Permanent Hold or just until the next thermostat program change.

I have a comfort setting called Don't Run utilizing a higher AC temp and a lower heat temp that gets switched to whenever a window or door is open for more than 5 minutes. 

Thanks, this was very helpful.

Do you know if you can disable/mute the built-in Alexa speaker on the Smart Thermostat Premium Plus via the ISY/Nodeserver?

[larryllix]

Thanks, this was very helpful.
Do you know if you can disable/mute the built-in Alexa speaker on the Smart Thermostat Premium Plus via the ISY/Nodeserver?

yes. One of my older ecobee 4s had a switch on it to disable the speaker or the microphone.

Alexa microphones don't work well against a wall.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

[ISYhbsh01]

5 hours ago, larryllix said:

yes. One of my older ecobee 4s had a switch on it to disable the speaker or the microphone.

Alexa microphones don't work well against a wall.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

 

My question is if it can be disabled via an ISY program.

[lilyoyo1]

47 minutes ago, ISYhbsh01 said:

My question is if it can be disabled via an ISY program.

I don't use the nodeserver anymore but that was not possible when I did. You may not want to set up Alexa if you dont want to use it. Otherwise you'll need to mute it through the app.