There are examples of the api that has been reversed engineered on the Web. However there is no guarantee that it will change or they will prevent access.
- Garrett
Just wondering if anybody has a functioning plugin started for the Nest thermostat yet? I am still on a quest to find a high “cool factor” thermostat that I can integrate with my Vera 3.
No plugin has been developed for the nest yet.
- Garrett
Coming back to this topic, I was thinking of picking up the Nest again. Has anyone seen better performance from the Nest compared to the Trane? Does the Nest turn on when the temperature is above the set point temp? For example, if you have the nest set to 67, does it turn on when it is 68 or does it have about a degree of room? The one thing I hate about the Trane is that it always kicks in when it reaches past the set point. Does the nest also have some sort of fan cycle mode?
- Garrett
[quote=“garrettwp, post:44, topic:171456”]Coming back to this topic, …
Does the Nest turn on when the temperature is above the set point temp? For example, if you have the nest set to 67, does it turn on when it is 68 or does it have about a degree of room? The one thing I hate about the Trane is that it always kicks in when it reaches past the set point. Does the nest also have some sort of fan cycle mode?
- Garrett[/quote]
I have the first generation Nest with Software 3.03.
My nest indicated a room temperature of 67ºF. I set it up to 67º and the thermostat didn’t call. I bumped it up to a setpoint of 68º and it immediately called.
Nest has either continuous or cycled fan control. There are a couple of features that delay the termination of a (cycled) fan call after the space is satisfied in cooling.
Let me know if I can be more help.
[quote=“garrettwp, post:44, topic:171456”]Coming back to this topic, I was thinking of picking up the Nest again. Has anyone seen better performance from the Nest compared to the Trane? Does the Nest turn on when the temperature is above the set point temp? For example, if you have the nest set to 67, does it turn on when it is 68 or does it have about a degree of room? The one thing I hate about the Trane is that it always kicks in when it reaches past the set point. Does the nest also have some sort of fan cycle mode?
- Garrett[/quote]
I’ll second chuck1026. I ended up buying the 2nd generation Nest and have been using it for 2 weeks. If set temp is 70 and the room temp drops to 69, it will start heating. Same if room temp is 70 and you turn set temp up to 71, it will start heating. If you set the auto heat/cool mode your temps must be three degrees apart. So you can set a “heat at” temp of 70 and a “cool at” temp of 73. If the temp goes above 73 it will start cooling. If the temp goes below 70 it will start heating.
The fan is changeable to ON or AUTO. You can also turn on/off the other settings like auto-away and airwave. You can enable/disable the preheat/precool option as well. This is when you have a scheduled temp of 70 at 8am it will start heating/cooling early so it reaches your temp by the set time.
I was going to upgrade to Nest 2, but I am holding off until somebody figures out a plug-in (or not).
Well I can’t promise anything, but if I do decide to get one I’ll look into making a plugin. From what I gather the 1st gen and 2nd gen. there is no real reason to upgrade. It is just slimmer and works with more heating / cooling systems.
- Garrett
My only reason for upgrading is the Nest 2 has a HUM output so it will more intelligently control my very simple humidifier during winter operation based on both indoor and outdoor temp and humidity.
Chuck
[quote=“garrettwp, post:48, topic:171456”]Well I can’t promise anything, but if I do decide to get one I’ll look into making a plugin. From what I gather the 1st gen and 2nd gen. there is no real reason to upgrade. It is just slimmer and works with more heating / cooling systems.
- Garrett[/quote]
I think you should give the Nest a try. It is a nice piece of hardware…and I could really use a basic plugin for it, lol.
[quote=“jmedemar, post:50, topic:171456”][quote=“garrettwp, post:48, topic:171456”]Well I can’t promise anything, but if I do decide to get one I’ll look into making a plugin. From what I gather the 1st gen and 2nd gen. there is no real reason to upgrade. It is just slimmer and works with more heating / cooling systems.
- Garrett[/quote]
I think you should give the Nest a try. It is a nice piece of hardware…and I could really use a basic plugin for it, lol.[/quote]
I second this! ;D
Garrett,
There are times when, if you watch it, the Nest will allow the Setpoint to be above the current temp it’s reporting, and the heater won’t be on.
eg. Nest reports current temp as “67” but Setpoint is “68”.
I’ve only ever seen it when there’s a 1deg difference, and if you set it manually, it’ll always kick in without delay.
When I’ve observed it, the room [eventually] rises to 68 and all is well. If I understand it correctly, it uses some logic to ensure it doesn’t “overshoot” the requested temp, and shuts down somewhat early…
Overall, even without the Vera hook, it’s been well worthwhile having these in the house. The Tranes were decent enough, but these have just enough “extras” to make them worthwhile (to me, at least)
For example, they:
a) Report [roughly] how long it will take to get to temp if you manually change the setting.
b) They run the Fans in an aircond after they power down the aircond unit to get the most out of the already chilled refrigerant.
c) Actually get used by the Mrs, whereas the Trane units never did
d) Much faster, and more reliable, to get to remotely than via Vera’s remote service.
That said, I still use them mostly on a schedule, or manually (via iPhone or Nexus)… so it’s entirely possible I’m not getting the total value out of them.
+1 on developing a plugin for this. I’m currently looking to install radiant heating and trying to find thermostats for that with integration to my vera hasn’t been straight forward. I currently have the RCS TStat working great on the old forced air solution (with a remote temp. sensor) but understand it’s not great for radient requirements plus the NEST looks better and seems to provide better real world functionality for non techies.
I just got Nest code working in LUA (multiple T-stat support, current state, set temp, get temp, turn on fan, etc.)
The plug-in will auto populate as many objects as you have T-stats in your Nest account, per building they are installed in. The icons will change depending on if heat, cool or nothing is running. I would welcome any other thoughts on nifty features.
Thanks!
How about posting code so others can make use of it. : ) I have not picked up a nest yet and still debating, but if and when I do, I would be more than willing to help with the plugin. Are you using the standard thermostat device type?
- Garrett
I am willing to be a guinea pig and try out the code on my 1st Gen Nest and Vera 3…
The presentation in Vera will be very much “by the book” – using the UPnP definitions:
[ul][li]HVAC_System:1 – analogous to nest’s “structure”[/li]
[li]HouseStatus:1 – nest’s “away” status[/li]
[list][li]HVAC_ZoneThermostat:1 – one or more nest devices within the system[/li]
[list][li]HVAC_UserOperatingMode:1 – obviously to set/get heating/cooling/off[/li]
[li]HVAC_FanOperatingMode:1 – will support auto and on[/li]
[li]TemperatureSetpoint:1[/li]
[li]TemperatureSensor:1[/li]
[/list][/list][/ul]
The “API” is the unofficial https path that the mobile apps use, which will require a functioning Internet connection and your nest account user name and password. The nest people could of course change or somehow disallow this path at any time, but back in February they said they had no roadmap plans for a public API so we have to make due in the meantime.
I will let people know when I’ve got a beta ready.
Salivating!!! 
Great stuff. You may also want to implement [tt]SwitchPower1, HaDevice1, EnergyMetering1[/tt] (etc) to augment the HouseStatus stuff.
You’ll see the complete list of Services to mimic inside of:
[tt]D_HVAC_ZoneThermostat1.xml[/tt]
Some of these can be “mocked up” if things like cross-Nest device states need to be supported (like Home/Away)… and coupled so that changes there are executed/reflected (etc) across the devices.
Let us know if you’d like a code.mios.com space, since these are trivial to setup.
Looking forward to testing it out. I really miss having all of my automation in one place!