Multiple door/window sensors with Ecobee3 using any/all logic

Other Devices & Integrations Climate Control & Temperature Sensors
#1

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any direct knowledge of how multiple door/window open/close sensors work with the Ecobee3? Specifically, can i set it up so that the thermostat turns off if any window or door with a sensor is opened, and it won’t resume until all windows & doors are closed. There are several systems out there that can handle one open/close sensor with Ecobee3, but I haven’t found any that can handle the any/all logic with multiple sensor. I’m hoping Vera will solve my problems.

Any insights & advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to everyone in advance!

#2

There are a few ways to do that. You could write some custom logic in luup fairly easily. How many sensors do you have? Here is an example of checking a single sensor state to allow/deny a scene from running.

local dID = 24 – Sensor Device ID
local allow = true – true runs scene if switch is on, false blocks it
local tripped = luup.variable_get(“urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:SecuritySensor1”,“Tripped”,dID)
return ((tripped == “1”) == allow)

#3

This thread has lots of helpful information on conditional scenes.

http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=18679.0

#4

I do this with PLEG. I test to see if either of my doors have been open for more than 5 minutes or if any windows are open. If so, I bump the thermostat to 85 degrees. When everything is closed back up, I resume the normal program.

#5

That is my future goal, once I add some more sensors, to figure out we are going “au natural” and turn off the thermostat.

#6

Although I’m not familiar with either PLEG or luup, the possibility of getting this to work is very encouraging. I did a quick search on google to find out what the differences are between the two, but nothing meaningful came up. Can someone provide me with the Reader’s Digest version of the differences? Also, what sensors would work best for this application?

#7

PLEG is an easier to understand way to program your Vera to do complex things, like AND statements. Think like scenes, which are only OR. With scenes, you may have to be creative and use a couple of virtual switches and a couple of scenes to do complicated things.

So in my case, using PLEG, I would set up some Device Properties (FrontDoorOpen, PatioDoorOpen, Window1Open, Window2Open, Outdoor_Temp and Indoor_Temp). Maybe set up a schedule ( 7am < schedule < 9 pm). Set a Condition (if ScheduleOK, and doors and windows open and outdoor temp < 85 and indoor temp < 80) and then an Action (if Condition is true, turn off AC). You can send yourself alerts if outside > 85 and you have windows and doors open for more then 1 minute. Of if it is after 9 pm and you have windows and doors open, you get an alert, maybe repeated every 5 minutes.

A real example is my garage door. If left open, I get an alert every 10 minutes the garage door is still open. Very easy to program in PLEG.

All this can be done in LUA but programming in general, and LUA in particular is more than my pea brain can handle.

#8

I’m comfortable with VBA & logic statements, so it sounds like PLEG might fit in my wheel house. Also, LUUP looks pretty intimidating.

The Fibaro sensors look really slick but uses z-wave. Any chance they would still work with Ecobee + Vera Plus + PLEG (thinking that PLEG would bridge the zigbee/z-wave platforms)? Any other sensors you think are better?

Is it as simple as getting the hardware (vera plus & sensors), downloading the PLEG plugin & writing some scripts?

#9

The Vera is the “bridge” that connects the Ecobee to PLEG and the Z-Wave sensors. There is no direct link between any sensor on the market and the Ecobee (other than the Ecobee sensors)…

#10

So, to clarify, PLEG doesn’t care if one is zigbee & the other is z-wave. In which case, the Fibaro sensors would work.

Does anyone have any other recommendations or feedback for sensor to use with PLEG & Ecobee3?

#11

PLEG doesn’t care if it’s a virtual sensor. Type of device makes absolutely no difference. PLEG can even use the presence sensors that go with the Ecobee. Once the plugin creates the devices, PLEG can use them. It’s all in how complicated you wish to make things. Start simple and work your way up. If you go for the gusto right off, it will be harder to troubleshoot things later… :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#12

With a PLEG license (very reasonably priced) you can create 4 PLEG devices, or instances, and split your logic into 4 to make it easier to read and understand. I have 1 fairly complex PLEG, 2 simple, and a test PLEG where I can play and turn it off when something is not working.

#13

So I’m on the process of doing exactly what the OP wants to do - turn off the AC (via the Ecobee3) when either one of my sliding patio windows has been open for say 5 minutes. I’m already using PLEG to tell me when the garage door has been open for a while, so that seemed to be a good starting point. Or so I thought.

I created another PLEG device and added triggers called LeftWindowOpen and RightWindowOpen. I tie them together with an ‘OR’ in a condition called SlidingWindowOpen and then use that in another condition called SlidingWindowLeftOpen which checks to see if the SlidingWindowOpen condition has been true for 5 minutes or more.

My assumption is if SlidingWindowLeftOpen evaluates true, I will tell the Ecobee to turn off the AC (still working on that). But my bigger puzzle is figuring out how to tell the Ecobee to turn the AC back on when both windows have been shut again. I’m missing some simple I’m sure, but any pointers on how to break this problem down a bit more? I’m not looking for ‘the’ answer, just a suggested approach.

#14

If you have an OFF action, you need to set up an ON action. So you can set up a condition that looks at the doors being closed, which then would be true and the action to turn On would run.

You may want to also have your logic look at outside conditions, like temperature and humidity. If it is nasty outside, and the doors are left open (kids are known to do this), instead of turning off the heat/AC, you send notifications to “shut the bloody door” 8)

#15

Thanks Don. I was reaching the same conclusion but wanted to somehow check sate to see if the ‘Off’ condition was true.

I’m still getting used to the somewhat asynchronous nature of PLEG and it’s power…

#16

I am in the middle of writing code/scenes to shut off the vents of the room where the window/door is open and reopen it when the door closes. Then force shut off the ecobee when too many of the vents are closed. Should be interesting.

#17

Yep, I use PLEG for all of this …
If the windows are open it turns off HVAC.
If outside temp is lower than inside temp and windows open … it turns on a house fan to bring in outside air.

If it gets to cold (Temp level and temperature set point are still set by thermostat) it turns off the fan.

Close the windows, fan goes off, HVAC back to normal.
Also when I leave the house it sets the HVAC to engergy savings mode (temperature setback).