I’m new to this whole HA scene & struggling to do some pretty simple tasks of turning radiators on or off based on a calendar & work schedule. I have my Zigbee TRV’s working manually but even the most simple automation seems to involve many complex steps starting with adding HAC & some helper apps then working out whether I want a change to HVAC mode, toggle a switch or set to a specific thermostat level. I know it’s a powerful tool but can someone please point me to the easiest way to just get it to turn radiators on & then off again to a simple schedule ?
I think the issue I am hitting is that even the most basic implementation requires programming as well as sys admin knowledge & the terminology is inconsistent so although I easily set up HAOS on an old laptop & got it all running along with TRVs recognised & functional, I then spent hours trying to work out how to add a scheduler from HACS but because the helper program fails because the url is wrong on the HACS installation instructions. Then the “Add Card” button on the scheduler was recently renamed so doesn’t exist unless you know it’s now called something else & I then because it’s not working I may or may not need to add config/www somewhere but no mention in the HA handbook of where/how. It is a really high bar to even get to first base because of these gotchas.
I think I’ll stick with my Honeywell programmer for now.
Well blueprints are written for you by others and you just need to add the specific names of your equipment.
Anyway if you don’t what to use what many other have shared and you don’t share your code or have any specific question, we cannot be of much help.
Your base question,
Is there an easy way to manage central heating?
Probably not real easy, but certainly a lot simpler than rolling your own. The AHC Blueprint has many thousands of users at this point.
I personally use a thermostat for ‘control’ as then an errant HA Custom Integration that takes down HA on my won’t make my house freeze, but to each their own. I do use HA to adjust the thermostat on the edge cases, but trust the hardware more for final control.
What country are you in?
What kind of HVAC system you run?
when you write “manage” what things does this mean to you?
What is too much, when it comes to “programming” (is it VCR clock, or assembly)?
For example, in one of the properties with (vanilla) HA, i simply installed a common Z-Wave thermostat. the device showed up, and I could immediately control basic functions like heating, cooling. I bit of GUI automation, and the thermostat knows when to heat/cool the house because of presence and outside weather. Zero programming.
Thanks for response, I’m learning as I go so actually have many questions but here’s one for starters !
I’m in the UK & have standard boiler system which I hope to run completely via HA, just taking first steps. So I have a HAOS system on a dedicated Laptop with 2 x Sonoff TRV added via Zigbee & it all runs fine as in I can see them on the dashboard & turn on/off.
Since my first post I have set everything back to a fresh install no addons & just trying basic TRV control. First task is turn on 2 radiators in a room. But the automation only works for the first action not the second. The TRVs work individually & if I change the order in the automation then it’s only ever the first that works. I can also trigger the automation from within the editing menu & works fine.
Here’s the YAML code;
alias: M WFH Heating
description: “”
triggers:
type: turn_on
device_id: 0d08ae1efa761989c4bee0d032d29725
entity_id: af08f9534888d4bfd5565f01c4e98d76
domain: switch
mode: single
I thought maybe I could duplicate the automation for the second TRV but there is no option to do so. Even if I could it would soon get complex.
Is that expected behaviour or have I tucked up somewhere ?
How do I get it to turn on multiple TRV’s ?
I’m not a fan of device actions at all. I never use them.
I would try an entity operation and see if it works, or put a short delay between them.
Also this will trigger if it turns on and if it turns off, both will do the actions. Is that what you want? Seems like you might not know what it’s doing because the first trigger it will run the actions, and then every on or off trigger after that will not change the action, just turn it on again (but already on)
So how do I find out the entity of the TRV I want to switch on - there’s nothing in the dropdown menu that looks like entity ?
So I went to YAML & added the entity
type: turn_on
entity_id: switch.sonoff_trvzb_external_temperature_sensor
domain: switch
& that gets rejected as “unknown”.
How would I add a delay - again there’s no obvious route to that via the visual display so I guess it’s code or nothing ?
Are you sure you have this right ?
A temperature_sensor is Not a switch !
Also a Thermostat ( guess same with sonof ), they usually integrates as a “Climate” Entity And a “Sensor” For the Battery of the Themometer !
So how ever or what ever you have fiddled with in Sceduler, And What you are trying to do in that Automation, i think You first of All should Go To You Integration , There Note/List the names and various Types of Entities, you got from/for Your Thermostat / Device
Take (copy the name, Full name) and go to Developer-Tools, click # States , And paste ( 1 by 1 ) the names of these entities.
There You will see which States they Have, and which I.E hvac-modes they have, and other “attributes”
Do this every time you install something, So You Know what you have, and what you can/should use in various scenarios.
Also , It would be of great help, when/if you want help in here, because we can not check this for you, we dont see what you see, or what you have done
i.e Normally the only switch in a such devices is a “Child Lock” to avoid people without knowledge by acident Turn the “Climate” entity on Full " HEAT" or “OFF”
I really appreciate your efforts in trying to explain to me but I think it’s just too code-centric for my requirements - just want to add a device, click to add it to a schedule without needing to know whether it’s a device, entity, scene or integration. Too complex for what should be a simple task & trying to add a template. I’ve switched to using a Sonoff Bridge with TRV’s controlled by Ewelink & Google Home for family members to manage it.
Ok, Well above ( I Don’t Wanna Know Anything ) is Not what the Concept “HomeAutomation” really is about, It also feels like your Topic Header, is not Really “reflecting” ( Your ) Reality
If You Don’t wanna know, why border to ask, or even Join a Forum ?
Atleast to not waste other peoples times, Please Read the In-Top First Topic/Post, in This Forum
You didn’t answered, or seems to have checked/done the most simple “Tasks” i Suggested , So Don’t worry you might never Know !
It’s a simple fact , You don’t know what You have, And You don’t want to know
Sometimes i wonder how Some People can even Manage a handheld remote control
Are they intuitive clicking a button , And somehow the manage to get the exact respond they expected ?, Or did they do some kind of “research” to figure out how it works, which is what etc. ?
How Do You “learn” new things, Or Learn About You New Things ?