Ok this one I did not know about. How do you set that up within your plugin to display the weather plugin temp?
Thanks
John[/quote]
It’s fairly straightforward. Assuming you already have the weather plugin installed:
In the Vera console, click on the “wrench” icon for the weather plugin device / temperature (low temp, current temp, etc.) that you’d like to display on your thermostat.
Click the settings tab of the weather plugin, and note the device ID # for the plugin
Click the “X” to close the weather plugin settings
Click on the wrench icon for the thermostat on which you’d like to display the weather plugin temperature
Click the advanced tab of the weather plugin, and enter the device ID # from the weather plugin into the “PMATempDevice” field
Click the “X” to close the thermostat plugin settings
Click the “Save” button in the Vera console to save your settings and restart
Someday I’ll actually get around to creating a simple UI to setup these features, but in the meantime that’s how you do it.
After that, your 3M-50 thermostat should display the weather temperature in the upper left hand corner of the thermostat (i.e. the PMA)
Thanks for the info on this Hugh. I did not know there was a plugin for Google Weather. Great idea…I actually installed it and I can see all the different devices in UI5. But entered the device ID (yes the correct one) in the “PMATempDevice” field and it still did not appear on the screen of the 3M50. In the upper left corner I still get the time of day. I even installed a second thermostat yesterday and tried it with that one. Same result. Any ideas? I am sure it is just something I have overlooked. Thx
Hmmm, it should just work. (But doesn’t every developer always say that )
However, as it’s obviously not working, let’s check a few things:
In the “advanced” settings tab for the 3M-50 thermostat, what (if any) are the values of “Model”, “FirmwareVersion”, “PMAMessage”, “PMALine”, and “PMASet”? (PMAMessage should contain the current temperature, PMALine and PMASet should both be “1”)
If you are able to access the logs on your device ( see http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Logs for a “how to” ), execute the following command to view the thermostat activity in the logs:
and then click the “Reload” button in the Vera UI to restart the processes. If you could PM me the output after it’s been running for a few minutes, or just post it here as an attachment, I’ll take a look and try to figure out what’s going on.
I use two CA8900’s which do not have an auto mode. I get around this with Luup provided by Florin. It behaves like a virtual auto mode by checking high & low setpoints & setting the mode accordingly. For $40, these thermostats do everything I need them to.
Thx…I just emailed you the logs. Actually, one of them started working today but the second one still only displays the time. Hmmm
Hmmm, it should just work. (But doesn’t every developer always say that )
However, as it’s obviously not working, let’s check a few things:
In the “advanced” settings tab for the 3M-50 thermostat, what (if any) are the values of “Model”, “FirmwareVersion”, “PMAMessage”, “PMALine”, and “PMASet”? (PMAMessage should contain the current temperature, PMALine and PMASet should both be “1”)
If you are able to access the logs on your device ( see http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Logs for a “how to” ), execute the following command to view the thermostat activity in the logs:
and then click the “Reload” button in the Vera UI to restart the processes. If you could PM me the output after it’s been running for a few minutes, or just post it here as an attachment, I’ll take a look and try to figure out what’s going on.[/quote]
I use two CA8900’s which do not have an auto mode. I get around this with Luup provided by Florin. It behaves like a virtual auto mode by checking high & low setpoints & setting the mode accordingly. For $40, these thermostats do everything I need them to.[/quote]
Same here until this past Sunday when the thermostat failed. Initially with erratic operation leading to no operation. Not the communication side of it but with operating the a/c unit. That $40 thermostat will cost me more the $200 in increased a/c bills for the next 2 months plus the emergency repair service. This is a rental home and I will NOT buy another cheap version. Costly mistake for me.
Ooooof. That’s not good. Care to explain further? Why does “no operation of a thermostat” result in increased AC bills? I would think it would result in decreased bills but pretty intolerable living conditions…
The only erratic behavior I’ve seen so far comes out of Vera, and I have yet to be able to explain it–maybe once every two months, Vera will set the AC cool setpoint of one of the thermostats to 62 degrees. Booo. I’m immediately notified of the change, so I just set it back, but it would be nice to know what’s going on.
For a rental I get hit in the pocketbook 2 ways. One, when a renter is present, they now have complete control to set any temp they want. No limitation. With the zwave version I had it set so that a minimum could not be breached. I also had it set up that if the outside doors were open for an extended period when the outside temp was high that the a/c would be turned off.
The second way is when I have no renter it will probably be left in whatever position the last renter left it instead of reverting to an unoccupied level of minimal cooling.
I plan on replacing it with a Trane thermostat. I am hopeful it is better for several shortcomings in addition to the failure itself. First I believe it includes fan control. I had the fan left on for 2 months one time before it was caught. Second is the odd tstat set to a low value thing that happens every once in a while. Even when the house was empty??? The odd behavior that pressing the heat or cool button twice in a row turns the thermostat off. And last the confusing energy savings mode that Vera does not display.
I had been planning on replacing it in 2 months, but now have to pay the price for early failure. And for much more $$ than it saved.
For the short time I have been using the Filtrete. I have been very happy. It’s like the best of both worlds for me. Wifi/cloud control but still having visibility in Vera. I’m very pleased. I added a second one this week. And I have a third one I will out in next week once I have time to get in the attic to attach the “c” wire.
@Minnies … I have been using Tranes for two years using virtual switches for summer vs winter, occupied by us or guest, with scenes to limit temp settings
OK…Too wild. Today the External Temp started working on my other thermostat today. I had not changed anything but I happened to walk by and notice it was displaying something other than the time. Not sure why it is working now. But, I am not complaining. I will probably install my 3rd Filtrete tomorrow. We will see how it goes.
Ahh, I see. So it’s not “no operation”, it’s “lack of remote operation”. Yes, that could get pricey. I assume the min/max plugin works for all Z-wave thermostats; I know it works for the CA8900.
Sorry if I did not explain it well. The thermostat failed to control the a/c unit. I had to have maintenance replace it with the standard thermostat which had no external control or monitoring at all. zwave communications worked fine. Luckily I have 2 3 way motion/light/temp sensors so I can observe the temps more or less.
Except for the failure I was planning on replacing it to gain fan control and avoid the confusing energy and toggle on/off features. Neither which would have affected me for my own home. In fact my intent was to replace the rental tstat and move it to my normal house. But that won’t happen now.
i just ordered two Honeywell z-wave stats, they have a great reputation as far as the vision pro (no z-wave) is concerned. i cant see theses being a lot different. we have installed probably about 100 of these over the years and i think we had 1 that was intermittant.
I hope i didnt make a bad decision.
Trane has a terrible reputation in the commercial trade as being extremely overpriced and average quality.
I will let you know how they configure and if i have any gliches with them.
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