[quote=“stuart475898, post:5, topic:185976”]As I said originally, home automation is ALL about the scenes. Since I have paid ?150 I don’t think I should have to resort to plugins (and I believe PLEG costs money once you start using it heavily, so that’s another cost) to achieve what is pretty basic, and should be core functionality.[/quote]You don;t have to use plugins. You can use the inbuilt Lua script engine, writing your own code to accomplish anything you want. But, I’m being only a little bit facetious in that I know your response will be that this is “unreasonably difficult”. But, the functionality is there in a stock Vera!
The paid version of PLEG is $5. In the scheme of home automation systems, Vera and PLEG are insignificant costs. I understand that you wanted more, but this is what’s available. And PLEG makes Vera a far greater HA controller than anything else in the sub $2,000.00 category.
What happens if the PLEG developers decide to shut up shop one day? Where does that leave the Vera?
Humming along blissfully. If @RichardTSchaefer decided he couldn't be bothered anymore, nothing would change for current Vera/PLEG users. Now, you might not be able to upgrade to newer hardware or firmware without losing PLEG, but your present setup could continue to function as is without any change.
As time goes on, it appears that the only thing that props MCV up in this market is basically the hard work of plugin developers; take the plugins away from the Vera and what do you have?
There's no doubt that the plugins and apps are a massive contribution to Vera and its functionality/versatility. That's why MCV should be commended for building a decent platform with a good API and the best extensibility of any HA controller available to date. Without all that, Vera would only be slightly better than a SmartThings controller. But, in my opinion, better none the less.
Even with the extremely basic logic already built in, one particular trigger appears to be broken. I have had a case open with MCV for the last few weeks because I have a rule that states 'Energy usage for Dryer goes below 200 Watts', send me an email. As it is, this scene triggers whenever the usage changes from ANY value, to one less than 200W e.g. 0W to 1W fires the trigger, rather than when usage is above 200W and then goes below 200W, email me. How is that logic of any help to anyone? I have since been referred to PLEG by MCV, although I'm not sure if they fully understood my original email so I am giving them the benefit of the doubt for now, but we will see what they say.
But, when the wattage changes from 0 to 1, it is a change to less than 200. The condition is and should be TRUE. I get that it is not what you want, but the condition is TRUE so fire an email. With PLEG, you can stipulate a progression of conditions. You can explicitly stipulate that first the wattage must be in excess of 200, then transitioning to below 200. It will work perfectly with PLEG and it is something that you can test and use at zero cost.
We will see how things go, but if these most basic of feature requests appear to fall on deaf ears or are dismissed, I can't see myself sticking with Vera much longer.
This is a legitimate and understandable position to take. Certainly you're not the first to voice this opinion. I would be very interested to hear what you find that is superior to Vera, let alone Vera with PLEG. We all remain on the hunt for this unicorn.