From a newbie - Ecobee fan hold "button" with actions and delay?

Configuration
1

I am completely new to the Home Assistant as I was living somewhat happy with just HomeKit, but stumbled upon something where I need more advanced automation
and wanted to ask here if my scenario feasible at all before diving really deep…

So the question is - would I be able to create a “switch” or something in Home Assistant that under the hood would:

  • send API call to Ecobee to start ventilation
  • wait for 10 minutes
  • send API call to Ecobee to stop ventilation
  • expose that “switch” to Homekit to use for CO2 levels automation (this one I am pretty sure is doable with HomeKit bridge)

Thanks!

2

I would use a toggle helper, an automation and a timer to accomplish this. When you flip the toggle helper from HK, it starts the automation and the timer. When the timer finishes, it calls the automation again to turn off the Ecobee. (I may not have the Ecobee service calls right, I rarely do anything with mine).

  1. Create a toggle helper in Helpers.
  2. Create a 10 minute timer in Helpers.
  3. Create an automation:
description: ""
mode: single
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - input_boolean.[your toggle helper]
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
    id: switch
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - timer.[your timer]
    from: active
    to: idle
    id: timer
action:
  - if:
      - condition: trigger
        id:
          - switch
    then:
      - service: climate.set_fan_mode
        target:
          entity_id: climate.home_thermostat
      - service: timer.start
        target:
          entity_id: timer.[your timer]
    else:
      - service: climate.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id:
            - climate.home_thermostat
  1. Expose the toggle helper to HK via HomeKit Bridge.
3

To do that, you need an API key. Do you already have one?

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4

Pretty positive I’ve snagged API key when started thinking about this project few months ago, will need to doublecheck when back at my desktop. Thank you

P.S.: sounds like they’re going crappy Chamberlain road, time to start looking for a new thermostat…

5

Good thinking. That API key is valuable now.

However it’s my understanding that using the Homekit protocol has certain advantages because it adheres to an established standard, is completely local, and does most (but not all) of what can be achieved via ecobee’s API.

In contrast, Chamberlain blocked access to the unofficial API and dropped support for Homekit.

6

Wow, thank you, that’s exactly what I needed to get started, will dig deeper now.

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