I think he may have a a wall/window unit, with an IR remote. I know I have one of those with an IR remote. The issue is, there is no “absolute” temperature set point, there is only a “fan speed” toggle (low/medium/high), and a temperature up/down button, and an on/off button. You can’t set a particular tempature, without looking at the LED display on the unit.
So, the issue, even once you have the SQ remote IR Blaster learn what your AC IR commands are, you really won’t have “positive” feedback that the commands worked, and you won’t really know what temperature the unit has been set to.
You can create a state machine in software, and if you don’t lose any IR commands, in theory it should stay accurate… of course if you use the manual remote that comes with the AC unit, all bets are off.
So, I’m not sure there is a good way to get this done, assuming you have what I described (IR controlled window/wall unit)
hightop32
Unfortunately the thermostat is not gonna work cuz my case is exactly what mitch672 said (I have a wall unit).
mitch672
I think he may have a a wall/window unit, with an IR remote.
That is right!
The issue is, there is no "absolute" temperature set point, there is only a "fan speed" toggle (low/medium/high), and a temperature up/down button, and an on/off button. You can't set a particular tempature, without looking at the LED display on the unit.
If I use a z-wave thermometer in the room to check the temperature I don't really need to set a particular temperature on the AC. I can use the thermometer to make the adjustments right?
You can create a state machine in software, and if you don't lose any IR commands, in theory it should stay accurate.
i have no idea how to do that =[
of course if you use the manual remote that comes with the AC unit, all bets are off.
Is this means if I use the SQ remote to set the fan speed and the temperature (up/down) and then turn the AC off, when I turn it on again but using the IR remote and change the temp and speed it wont update the the changes on the SQ remote?
How about if I use the other products that I described? does they work with vera software or other remote? or even with vera2 hardware?
It’s just not practical. Yes, you can use a remote temperature sensor, however, there will such a huge time lag between the changes made to the AC unit, versus sensing the change, the temperature will never be correct and stable.
There just isn’t really a way to get this done that will work well, short of getting a unit that can be controlled via a traditional thermostat. The issue us, and remains, an “open loop” control, you can’t set or sense the temp setting on the AC very well.
You can play with SQ Remote and the SQ blaster, if you want to spend $200 for it, it will be able to generate the IR commands, however, you are not going to be able to get the results you expect.
The most practical use would just be remote on and off control (or scheduling) so if you are away from home you could remotely turn the unit on via an IR command from the SQ Blaster, and/or set an on/off schedule, but I would forget about the temperature control aspect…
Very well explained. The newbie here appreciate it =]
Just one more thing, I think I want to play around with the blaster not just for the AC but for other devices as well. However the price of the SQ blaster is kinda high, so I was wondering if the Harmony RF Wireless Extender or the Harmony RF System work with vera or/and the SQ remote.
The only IR interface to Vera that i know of is either the SQ Blaster or the USBUIRT, which plugs into a USB port on the Vera. The SQ Blaster interfaces via a wireless LAN, so can be put anywhere your network reaches, the USBUIRT has to be plugged into the Vera’s USB port, so more limited in locating it. The USBUIRT is a lot less money… I have one, and was not able to get it working when I furst tried (whcih was several Vera firmware revisions ago), it might work now…
I’ve recently had a lengthy discussion with MCV support on this topic. Using the UIRT, Vera is currently only capable of transmitting an IR code based on a Luup event, but cannot trigger a Luup (zwave) event based on an incoming IR code. However, based on some debugging, it appears that Vera is indeed capable of of triggering a Luup event, but that the function to that handles the incoming data is commented out. To quote MCV support:
“…I found that the Code is actually the received IR code from the USB-UIRT. Unfortunately nothing is done with it, because the function that handles the incoming data is commented out. Which means that there is no way to use it in Luup code, and thus, for events and scenes.”
I did submit a feature request for this to be included (Issue ID #0001525), but not sure what the MCV protocol is for handling such requests.
Not that I’m aware of; I believe that gear is only semi Z-Wave compliant. (Some here have gotten their Harmony/Monster remotes to work as secondary controllers on Vera’s network for Z-Wave control; but that’s about it.)
Just another of my 2 cents here… while the thread was specific to a Harmony, IR triggered events should extend to any IR transmitter, whether it is a harmony, a DVR remote, etc. The SQRemote solution is great, it’s hard to deny that, but the use case is for those who like the tactile feel of a remote, want to extend their Vera functionality without the use of an apple product (for instance, my mother in law couldn’t figure out an iOS device if she had too, but, she could could certainly press a tactile button on a remote that turns off the light). Personally, I use a harmony 900 - and love it, I also use the SQRemote - and love it. They have different purposes and different uses. I wouldn’t want to replace either one, but like the OP, some of us just want to extend an IR command or two
Looks like the “thing” isn’t as simple as I was hoping. =[
[quote=“mitch672, post:7, topic:168684”]The only IR interface to Vera that i know of is either the SQ Blaster or the USBUIRT, which plugs into a USB port on the Vera. The SQ Blaster interfaces via a wireless LAN, so can be put anywhere your network reaches, the USBUIRT has to be plugged into the Vera’s USB port, so more limited in locating it. The USBUIRT is a lot less money… I have one, and was not able to get it working when I furst tried (whcih was several Vera firmware revisions ago), it might work now…
Mitch[/quote]
I think I am going with the SQ Blaster as it works wirelessly.
[quote=“Counselor, post:8, topic:168684”]I’ve recently had a lengthy discussion with MCV support on this topic. Using the UIRT, Vera is currently only capable of transmitting an IR code based on a Luup event, but cannot trigger a Luup (zwave) event based on an incoming IR code. However, based on some debugging, it appears that Vera is indeed capable of of triggering a Luup event, but that the function to that handles the incoming data is commented out. To quote MCV support:
“…I found that the Code is actually the received IR code from the USB-UIRT. Unfortunately nothing is done with it, because the function that handles the incoming data is commented out. Which means that there is no way to use it in Luup code, and thus, for events and scenes.”
I did submit a feature request for this to be included (Issue ID #0001525), but not sure what the MCV protocol is for handling such requests.[/quote]
The feature would be great. But I will be happy to just be able to transmit the IR code.
Not that I’m aware of; I believe that gear is only semi Z-Wave compliant. (Some here have gotten their Harmony/Monster remotes to work as secondary controllers on Vera’s network for Z-Wave control; but that’s about it.)[/quote]
So I guess I will have to go with the $200 SQ Blaster.
I am also gonna try contact @tbever to ask if he could get it to work and how.
Thank You!
The use of the SQ Remote by me would be because it is required to use the SQ Blaster. But it is also a pretty good way of controlling my z-wave devices from my phone when I am not at home. But it definitely doesn’t replace one harmony 900 and vice versa. =]
I just went through this scenario with sq blaster and an LG air conditioner with IR support. I use the vera for on/off commands and to set the thermostat/fan speeds but mainly rely on the onboard thermostat for temp control. I do have a separate temp/humidity sensor in that room that you could use to set up events to trigger the ac but I have not bothered with that. I am away for a couple of weeks but just know the ac controls were unit specific and getting things set up was tricky. . The guys at sq remote were great with tech support and have a device to capture the IR codes. Yoo then need to incorporate those codes into a “device” in vera using xml but the end result is worth it.
Really good to know that you could make it (with some help from the support team). =]
So you mean they have the same AC as you and could capture the codes and send them for you? Do they also guided you how to incorporate the codes?
Do you know if they are working to include AC codes to their library?
Just has some discussion about mini split remote. According to the guy who seems knowledgeable, when you push the up / down buttons on the remote it send a code for the actual temperature that appears on the remote and not the up down code, so for each temperature there is a unique code which has to be recorded.
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