HVAC Control using Honeywell T6 Z-Wave Pro:
I had a couple of Nest thermostats controlling my HVAC, but the presence detection was unreliable, and I wanted more control with less cloud. So I added two Honeywell T6 Z-Wave Pro thermostats.
First, I followed the Honeywell installer guide for physical install, and wiring and selection of modes for my HVAC system, which thankfully uses the default. I declined Z-Wave setup, instead first testing them to make sure heat and AC worked before I added them to HA. This went well, so I went ahead and paired Z-wave.
I have multiple use cases based on if anyone is home, like security alerts etc. so I already have good person tracking for home/away. I also have these two custom groups in my groups.yaml that help me identify if anyone is home and if everyone is home. The first group shows home if all are home, the second if any are home, and that is the one I use for home/away sensing.
group.family.all:
name: Family - Everyone
all: true
entities:
- person.1
- person.2
- person.3
group.family.any:
name: Family - Anyone
all: false
entities:
- person.1
- person.2
- person.3
I also created a drop down helper that I can select between House Modes like Home, Away, and Guest. I included Guest for use cases where a relative is watching the house or something and I want the house to act like we're home (lighting, motion alerts, etc.). I'm selecting house mode based on an automation that triggers when home or away state changes for my family group. This automation is conditional; if guest mode is enabled it will not complete. Future intent is if any indoor motion detects while I'm away, pop up an actionable notification that will allow me to flip house to Guest mode. Right now my security alerts are not dependent on mode. If someone walks in right after I drive away I will still get alerts. Here's the automation for flipping between house modes.
alias: House Mode
description: Determines House Modes based on who is home
trigger:
- platform: state
entity_id:
- group.group_family_any
to: Home
- platform: state
entity_id:
- group.group_family_any
to: Away
for:
hours: 1
minutes: 0
seconds: 0
condition:
- condition: not
conditions:
- condition: state
entity_id: input_select.housemode
state: Guest
action:
- if:
- condition: state
entity_id: group.group_family_any
state: home
then:
- service: input_select.select_option
data:
option: Home
target:
entity_id: input_select.housemode
- if:
- condition: state
entity_id: group.group_family_any
state: Away
for:
hours: 0
minutes: 0
seconds: 0
then:
- service: input_select.select_option
data:
option: away
target:
entity_id: input_select.housemode
mode: single
I already had HACS installed, so it was pretty easy to add the Custom Schedule Component and custom scheduler card integrations. I'm showing the compact display for the thermostats on my Lovelace page 0.
If wifey clicks on one of them it redirects to the Climate page where she can adjust up or down for her comfort. I set up three schedules to start - one for Upstairs, one for Downstairs, and one for Away mode that puts both of the thermostats in a broad range. In the initial schedule settings I added the entities and groups I wanted to consider, and set it up as a Scheme to control my climate entity "upstairs." This let me set up day of the week specific time windows with custom temperature bands for each. Under options I was able to make these schedules conditional based on my drop down selection of home/guest/away and I set it to reevaluate when these conditions change. Testing this I saw that whenever my dropdown changes from the house mode automation, the schedule will switch between the away schedule or home schedules. In short, it does what Nest did with less steps, better reliability, and potential for a lot more.
I have a lot more still to do here, including season dependent schedules based on min/max weather temps, disabling when windows are open, and some more complex geofencing that brings the house awake when we are headed home from a long trip. I plan to add sensors in multiple rooms to kick on the HVAC fan when the temps are unbalanced, and use ceiling fans to balance temps when windows are open. Also the interface is a bit crude - I plan to replace the front buttons with custom buttons that show state, and a more thermostat-looking view on the climate tab.
