Slow state updates from EcoBee

Configuration
25

The actual trigger from ecobee is verrrrry slow to update in the ecobee app and therefore in home assistant so you have to find a different way to monitor the blower because by the time home assistant knows that the blower is on the blower turns off because it has been on for 10 mins already. Monitoring the current draw of the actual blower or the contactor controlling the blower is the best way.

26

Late to the party here, but found this thread while trying to automate some things as well the moment my HVAC turned on or off (in my case TV volume; as mines very loud).

I was extremely disappointed to learn that even years later, there no update to this problem with Ecobee’s 3+ minute polling minimum. But, I’ve been in the HA game for a while now, and know all too well there’s a solution for everything, sometimes you just have to get creative.

These Door/Window magnetic senors definitely dont get enough credit in the home automation world… I don’t think any of the 5 i have at the moment are actually used for doors or windows…
But when i was trying to make my “dumb” dryer into a” smart” dryer for HA, I used one of these on the timer dial, and when that dial reaches 0, it closes the sensor, aka Dryer is done.

Using that same idea… Heres a proof of concept video… haha yeah, it looks ridiculous, but its just a proof of concept remember… but it works flawlessly to detect the moment my HVAC is on, and when it turns off… It took a bit of tweaking to get the perfect spot though — It’s a magnet afterall… So it couldn’t be too close, or it wouldn’t release with the airflow, and too far wouldn’t trip the sensor… also had to be below the vent itself, as it’s made of metal and the little sensor sticks to it.

But… this is a solution (for vertical vents), and it cost around $30 or so. No electrical experience needed haha.

If you have a floor vent, it could still work, it would just need more paper surface area (to catch more airflow) and just the perfect distance from the main sensor to allow it to lift up just enough to trigger the sensor. Also, a vent really close to your furnace helps too. Thats the one with the strongest airflow.

Thinking outside the box, thats home automation.

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27

Got some of those useless Chinese vibration sensors just collecting dust? Yeah they’ll work too.

28

The best fix I’ve come up with is to link ecobee with Homekit Controller in HomeAssistant, rather than the ecobee configuration directly in HA.

If you use the Homekit Controller to link your ecobee, all of the states update instantly!

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29

This one is very outside of the box.

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31

Spotted! Haha

32

The only problem is that I don’t get the preset info (home/away/sleep)

33

You can still use the tradition ecobee confifguration - just use the HomeKit Controller for your states for faster response. (So in other words, you could use both ways at the same time)

34

It only supports being setup one of the two methods, not both at the same time.

35

I have mine set up both ways at the same time. Works fine.

36

Interesting, can you show your config?

37

In my configuration.yaml file, for the Ecobee integration, I have

ecobee:
  api_key: !secret ecobee_api_key

The Homekit Controller integration was found with discovery, and I configured it from Configuration -> Integrations. I had to enter a code shown on my thermostat.

So in Integrations, I see both the Ecobee integration, and the Homekit Controller integration, as two separate integrations. The entities created are climate.main_floor and climate.main_floor_homekit.

Hope that helps :slightly_smiling_face:

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38

I finally found this thread while trying to make a more responsive ecobee automation involving the fan state attribute (power on my HEPA filter in the return vent).

I setup the homekit controller integration (on 114.4) and got the homekit counterpart of my ecobee in my HA devices (using the UI wizard), but it exposes very little state - notably it does not expose the ‘fan’ state attribute (or anything that may contain similar state like ‘equipment_running’). supported_features is 5 for the homekit version, and 91 for the ecobee integration.

Am I overlooking anything obvious?

39

Again, you can use both integrations (Homekit Controller and the traditional ecobee integration) at the same time. You are not limited. I just use both because the Homekit Controller’s state of the system (idle vs not) is instant.

You want to use the hvac_action attribute from the HomeKit Controller integration to monitor the fan.

I set up a sensor:

sensor:
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      hvac_fan:
        friendly_name: "HVAC Fan"
        value_template: "{{ state_attr('climate.HVAC', 'hvac_action') }}"

Then when the state is not “idle”, the system (fan) is running.

40

I was able to set up both the Ecobee integration as well as the Homekit Controller. I can confirm that the Homekit Controller does switch the state immediately for Heating/Cooling in the HVAC_Action state attribute, but it does not appear there is a fan attribute like there is in the Ecobee integration (as @matt7664 mentions above with 5 vs 91 supported features). This would be fine if you don’t have the fan run automatically… But alas.

41

Has anyone been able to get the Homekit Controller to work to detect the fan attribute. I want to detect when my fan is on or off, not when the hvac is heating or cooling. When the fan is on without either heating or cooling, hvac_action is idle.

42

dgHA…can you explain how you got Homekit Controller to see ecobee? I don’t have a pairing code. What did you use for code or where do I find it? Thanks

43

Can you tell me how you connected the 1PM to the blower? Was it to the DC side or the AC side?
I am blowing HVAC fuses, not sure where I should tap in and what terminals to use?

Thanks in advance.

44

I just wired it into the ac side. It’s not good to use them to switch motors but I don’t ever switch mine off just use it for monitoring power consumption. Guess you could use a shelly em as well. Mine has been working for for 3 years.

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45

I faced this issue on 3 minute response times for ecobee attributes to update. I was building an automation where my humidifier (not connected to Ecobee) would turn off when the furnace fan turned off. Tried the Homekit route and still experienced the same delays.

My solution: when turning the humidifier on, I can live with the delay ~3 mins. For turning it off, the delay was more concerning and I would rather have the humidifier turn off before the furnace turned off than waiting 3 mins after the furnace turned off. So I set up a sensor to calculate the % of my actual temperature vs desired set temperature. If the value of this sensor was higher than 99.9% then that meant, the furnace is close to achieving it’s target temperature and thus is about to turn the fan off soon. At that point, the automation would turn the humidifier off. The temperature reading is still subject to the same delay but given I was okay with the humidifier turning off earlier, this worked for me.