Ok so I was completely wrong with assuming that dry_air is = heat.
So following this reddit
Lead me to go edit the zwcfg file.
There is the supported modes section
<SupportedModes>
<Mode index="0" label="Off" />
<Mode index="1" label="Heat" />
<Mode index="2" label="Cool" />
<Mode index="3" label="Auto" />
<Mode index="5" label="Resume" />
<Mode index="11" label="Heat Econ" />
<Mode index="12" label="Cool Econ" />
</SupportedModes>
So then there is a section below that for the command class thermostat setpoint
Because I am a 1 Heat 1 AC system I yanked out all of the other crap in there, and now I have
<Value type="decimal" genre="user" instance="1" index="2" label="Cooling 1" units="F" read_only="false" write_only="false" verify_changes="false" poll_intensity="0" min="0" max="0" value="76.0" />
<Value type="decimal" genre="user" instance="1" index="1" label="Heating 1" units="F" read_only="false" write_only="false" verify_changes="false" poll_intensity="0" min="0" max="0" value="68.0" />
Once I did this and started HA back up the thermostat now responds to my changes in HA and reflects it properly. Now will come the test tonight when the outside temp drops low enough for it to kick over to heat mode. I toyed with the idea of setting my thermostat to auto mode vs heat/cool but I really don’t want my AC running in the dead of winter especially once I fire up the woodstove.
NOTE: When editing this file shutdown home-assistant first very very important. If you don’t then your changes will be overwritten.
It appears that this is a bug with OZW and the bug has been opened for a very long time so not sure if its going to be addressed.