I can’t spot the “Active Fan Speed”. Is it part of one of the climate entities? you mention it is a “sensor” - does this mean it is one of the “sensor.xxx” entities? if so, what would it be called ? (I have a zillion sensor entities to search through)
It is one of the sensor.xxx entities. It is called sensor.<ac_name>_active_fan_speed. I hadn’t added this sensor into the README yet because intelligent auto wasn’t released publicly and I didn’t want to cause confusion.
The easiest way to find a sensor is to just type part of the name in the filter box of the states table in the developer tools or the entity search tool (type e on any dashboard). You can also find it by opening the more info dialog for the climate entity and choosing “Device Info” from the 3-dots menu which will show all entities related to the Air Conditioner.
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Hi all. Has anyone moved from the mihailescu2m hass-airtouch4-platform custom component to TheNoctambulist component? Any tips, experiences to share? The model is a little different, it looks like it uses cover entities (which I’ve never heard of) whereas the old one uses fan entities. I’d take me many hours to rewrite my dozens of automations for multiple air conditions, so I’d like to learn from others experiences.
The mihailescu2m has been working well for years, but it hasn’t been updated in many months and doesn’t work on HA 2025.1. I’ve locked HA to 2024.12.5 but that’s not a good long term solution.
One key thing I do is monitor the damper percentages and manipulate them directly to change damper percentages. For example, Airtouch 4 will sit with a damper open at 10% for 10 minutes until it reaches the target temperature, but in that 10 minutes the spill zone (our lounge) will go way above the target temperature. So I have automations that monitor the room damper percentages and open the room dampers more to reduce spill overheating. That looks possible with this custom component using the cover entity - right?
I’ve ony ever used TheNoctambulist custom integration - works well for me. However, I think you have to time-sample (poll) damper percentages (at least in NodeRed, they won’t create an event) - but I’m moving more and more to time-sampling for my raw inputs anyway because it’s too easy to lose a single event (eg when restarting HA).
Thanks Ian. I don’t use node red and I have no idea what time sampling is. I rarely if ever lose events, I restart HA’s docker container about once a month.
I think a few people commented in the AirTouch 4 thread that they had migrated over.
If it helps with a gradual migration, you should be able to run both integrations side by side in Home Assistant 2024.12. That would let you migrate one automation at a time.
I wonder if you would be better off tweaking the settings in the AirTouch 4 so that the temperature sensor in the spill zone is used as the controlling sensor for your AC.
I had similar problems with the AirTouch 5 spill zone overshooting until I changed the AirTouch to “Economy” mode which causes it to switch control to the spill zone temperature sensor when the other rooms reach the target rather than using the AC return air duct temperature (Economy is recommended mode for use with spill zones in the installer manual). AirTouch 4 doesn’t seem to have the same options for dynamically selecting a controlling temperature sensor, but there is some information in section 5.9.4 on page 28 of the installer manual for how to use a zone sensor to control the AC.
I don’t use NodeRed either, but I’ve never had any issues with Home Assistant automations missing updates when I had damper percentage values included in templates or triggers. Do you use the damper percentage sensors or the current_position attribute of the cover entities to monitor the dampers in NodeRed?
Thanks Ben 
I’ll have a look at that thread, and I’ll do a test using both integrations on a testing HA setup before I put it into my main setup. Having HA on docker makes that quite easy
I have my Airtouch 4 on “Economy” mode, it does help, I think it’s less advanced than AT5 system. I think I have AT4 just looking at the temps in the room, rather than the return vent or tablet sensor.
My automations basically just make sure the Airtouch keeps the room damper pretty much wide open until it’s fairly close to the target temperature then I drop it to 40% or so, rather than let it ramp down really slowly and overheat / overcool the spill.
I’ll likely move over to your component once I get a bit of time to look at it. HA 2024.12 is ok for a few months. I update HA every couple of months and something usually breaks or needs tweaking.
ah - I hadn’t spotted the sensors! (yes, I had been using the values from the cover entities)
Thank you
When you say the temperature goes over the target temperature of the spill zone, are you talking about the setpoint of the spill zone room itself? If you have other rooms set either colder or hotter than the spill zone that’s what temperature the spill will be cooling or heating too. Trying to automate around what the Airtouch needs to do isn’t ideal. Economy is the correct setting to use but if you want this to be effective put a bypass in it and it will work better and be cheaper to run.
Switching zones to percentage control also takes away room temperature control from the system and also messes with the algorithm of what the control is trying to achieve and influences the spill opening amount. Something doesn’t sound right in the way your system is setup if it’s having major overshoots.
BTW, what brand of system do you have?
If it is a Mitsubishi Elecrtric system make sure the gateway has the latest firmware as they have recently made a major improvement to the communication of sensor values with that brand.
Thanks for your thoughts Yes a bypass damper instead of spill zone would solve the problem, but the damper, ducting, and other changes plus labor would cost a couple of grand over in NZ - more that it’s worth to us.
We have a Daikin outdoor unit, minimum output power is 4kw from memory, max about 11kw. A smaller unit would have been better I think, but it’s what we have. Airtouch 4. We have it on the economy setting, which our installer knew nothing about - Polyaire told us about that one. Our installer also didn’t mention bypass dampers. I think we were one of their earlier installs and they had limited experience with Airtouch at that time.
Here’s the scenario where spill is an issue: we have the lounge (spill zone) set to 24 degrees, and the bedrooms set to 20 degrees, on heating. Without me manipulating dampers directly the Airtouch very slowly reduces the bedroom damper percentages so slowly they sit on 5% or 10% for between 5 and 15 minutes. The lounge / spill zone is already up to heat around 24 degrees, and because there’s only say 20% going into the bedrooms 80% goes into the lounge, heating it to over 26 degrees.
My solution is basically to keep the Airtouch dampers wider open until it’s close to the setpoint, then close them down so it doesn’t overshoot by too much. I agree it’s not great to have override what the Airtouch does, but it seems to work and means we don’t have to spend a bunch more money on the system that was already fairly expensive.
The bypass is is a piece of flex duct, a couple of Y pieces and a zone motor. It’s about $400 for me to add one to a system after installation. I fit many to systems that had been installed without them previously.
You need to see what the control sensor is showing at the time the room is over heating g because from what your telling me and this is very common on installations when people didn’t even know to ch age the control sensor to economy is the Daikin system never had a wall controller fitted and the field settings ch aged to what is required when using room sensors.
I have also In the past increased the min vent settings on systems that had spills to as much as I can get away with which usually is no more than 20% but doing this reduces the amount the spill is open, if 4 rooms are 20% then the spill is only open 20% max.
You just have to balance that min vent with the rooms not over shooting though, it’s a bit of a balancing act.
I don’t know how yours is setup but if your living room gets a lot of air reduce the max vent setting, I think iits always best to have these at 100% but I can’t tell what your installation is like unless I saw a duct plan.
Incorrect fan speed settings will also cause issues as this influences how quickly rooms heat up or cool down which influences how much a damper is needed to be open to maintain a temp which in turn effects the amount the spill is open. Don’t use auto fan speed as the factory brand specific auto fan does not work properly with zone controls which is why intelligent auto exists on the 5’s
The controller does a great job but it can only correct bad installations to a point.
On the Airtouch 4, the bypass opens up from 0% to 100% with no in between but it’s still better than a spill.
On the Airtouch 5, the bypass opens progressively from 0% to 100% so it’s a little more effective at ramping outdoors down and transferring air pressure softer.
I see much discussion about Economy mode, so went to read about it.
Auto: When all sensors have reached set point or are turned Off control reverts to AC sensor
Economy: Economy operates the same as Auto, except control will only revert to AC sensor when all zones with sensors are turned Off
In Auto, if a sensor reaches setpoint, dosn’t the zone turn off anyway?
I don’t understand the difference between Auto & Economy ?
That’s very interesting, thanks for that I don’t think my wife would be keen on me getting more work done to the system, and the installer here is more expensive than you. I didn’t know the bypass damper did 0% or 100% on the AT4, that’s not ideal. I might eventually upgrade to the AT5, if the AT4 ever fails.
I’ll think about the minimum opening, but I don’t think it would quite do the job given our setup. I have logic that looks something like “If the system is on heating mode and the current temperature is more than 0.4 degrees below the setpoint open the damper to 100%”, then more logic around when it hits the setpoint to shut the damper down. It works quite well.
I don’t use auto fan speed, I set the fan speed manually - high to preheat, medium when we’re in the house and up, low when we’re sleeping. That also seems to work fine.
It’s not ideal that I’ve had to work all this out. Hopefully if we ever upgrade the installer might know a bit more about the systems.
Any ideas on how 0.5 degree changes can be supported? It used to be if I move one direction one degree then I can move the other direction half a degree and get where I want. But it hasn’t been working like that in the recent couple of months.
I’m using the scheduler to set the temperature throughout the day and it’s not working because it’s using half degrees.
I know we were expecting support in the main console firmware but I didn’t update last month and it doesn’t seem to have changed anything
If you have the AirTouch 5, you can change the minimum temperature step in the integration settings.
If you have a spill zone, economy mode will ensure the AC ramps down sooner because it is controlled by the room temps only. The temperature of the return air duct is almost always a few degrees hotter/colder than the rooms because the ducts are up in the roof space. When the return air sensor is used the AC will keep running at full power pumping conditioned air into the spill zone for a lot longer even if the spill zone is at temp. The further away from the return air duct the spill zone is the worse the overshoot will be.
Auto is designed for use with a bypass duct since the conditioned air is sent directly back to the return air duct the temperature difference tends to be less significant.
When the documentation talks about a zone being turned off, they mean actually switched off (not being used at all) as opposed to closed (damper at 0%) due to reaching temperature.
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In economy mode
The Airtouch follows the on zone with the biggest gap between the setpoint and the room temp, when all setpoints of on zones have been reached the control then looks at the temperature sensor of the spill zone and will continue to cool that spill zone to the lowest setpoint of the on zones in cooling or the highest setpoint of the on zones in heating.
Eg: Cooling Mode - Master bedroom is on and setpoint is 20 degrees, living room is on and set to 24 degrees but is the spill zone, when the spill is activated the living room will cool to 20 degrees because master is the coldest setpoint. The system will ramp up faster again because it is now looking at a room temperature of 24 degrees and needing to achieve 20 degrees. From that point on your wasting energy in comparison to a bypass being open which is sending air colder than the setpoint across the return air sensor and cycling the unit down or off.
In auto mode
The Airtouch follows the on zone with the biggest gap between the setpoint and the room temp, when all setpoints of on zones have been reached the control then looks at the return air temperature and as the bypass opens it both makes the outdoor unit slow down and the large change in temperature makes the system cycle quicker with no effect to the temperature of all the rooms temperatures. This is why I go on about and recommend a bypass.
I have asked about making an improved economy mode but systems can not have frequent stop starts so the trade off for a different economy version will be an off time or temperature differential. Economy needs to be renamed because it is not economical.
You also have to remember that temperature sensors perform 2 functions when either auto or economy is selected. They control the airflow and damper position into a room AND dictate which of the sensors is used to stop and start the outdoor unit again.
If all zones are turned off then the system will revert back to its return air sensor because all zones are off but the system should be set to auto off anyway for this.
In fresh/fan only mode. Temperature sensors are used for nothing more than a display of room temp. The control sensor is the return air sensor always and the on zones are fixed to 50% open.
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Thank you Smitco & Benjamin for those explanations.
My spill zone is in a room very close to the return air grill. The room does not have a temperature sensor and is rarely used, so I don’t really care about the temperature.
What would be best for me? Auto, Economy - or doesn’t really make much difference?
You should be using a spill zone that is a decent size and with a temperature sensor in it really and in economy mode, if you want to reduce the energy cost I would be fitting a sensor for what one is worth.
Ideally, The spill needs to be able to supply enough air to relive pressure off the ductwork and maintain a minimum airflow across the coil so I wouldn’t recommend small rooms and bedrooms are a no go.
Otherwise, if your leaving it as it is then I would set it to Auto so when the rooms reach setpoint, your spill opens and the system looks at the return temp.
As Ben said, this isn’t the best either because the temperature reading of the system at the return sensor is not accurate due to temperature stratification.
The integration is using 0.5 but what I’m saying is half the time it cannot affect the air touch panel. And it used to work better when it started and you just released it compared to now.