Automate "Dumb" Heatpump

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Automate "Dumb" Heatpump

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#2126976 15-Nov-2018 09:26

timmmay:

I no longer recommend Broadlink RM pro. Lately the timer for one of my devices has changed, so instead of heating in the morning and cooling in the afternoon it's switched to cool in the morning and heat in the afternoon. I fix it, but it reverts every few days. This is a heck of a bug, given the timer is the whole point of what I use the RM Pro. Also, around daylight savings change, the timer didn't work correctly, and it wouldn't let you set a timer for some times during the day.

Broadlink provides no support at all, doesn't answer emails, even though it's a paid product - a cheap paid product.

I suggest paying more to get a better quality product that's supported.

I have a couple of Broadlink devices - a single wifi power socket and a four-way power board, and this week I noticed that the timers had gone all screwy on them - they are not turning on at the times I have set, and when I checked, the times had changed by a few hours. Last night I deleted the timer settings and re-entered - will have to see if they come on correctly tonight.

peejayw

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#2126978 15-Nov-2018 09:30

I have the Broadlink RM Mini Pro and it controls my Mitsubishi heat pump just fine via the IHC app. This is interfaced with Google Assistant on my phone so I can control the heatpump verbally, all works well.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

ronw

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#2126981 15-Nov-2018 09:32

Why not use Pebble Air which works off your wifi and you can use an app on cellphone to do whatever you want to heatpump

It just works

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#2126985 15-Nov-2018 09:40

ronw:
Why not use Pebble Air which works off your wifi and you can use an app on cellphone to do whatever you want to heatpump

Because it's US$239.

My suggested ESP8266 solution (above) costs about NZ$20, is platform agnostic, and is Open Source.

timmmay

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#2127003 15-Nov-2018 09:52

ronw:
Why not use Pebble Air which works off your wifi and you can use an app on cellphone to do whatever you want to heatpump

It just works

Primary reason I choose broadlink two or three years ago is availability and price: pebble is about nz$280 each and I need two, Broadlink is about $30.

timmmay

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#2127004 15-Nov-2018 09:53

irongarment:
ronw:
Why not use Pebble Air which works off your wifi and you can use an app on cellphone to do whatever you want to heatpump

Because it's US$239.

My suggested ESP8266 solution (above) costs about NZ$20, is platform agnostic, and is Open Source.

Most people don't have the time or skills to do that.

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#2127081 15-Nov-2018 11:01

timmmay:
irongarment:
ronw:
Why not use Pebble Air which works off your wifi and you can use an app on cellphone to do whatever you want to heatpump

Because it's US$239.

My suggested ESP8266 solution (above) costs about NZ$20, is platform agnostic, and is Open Source.

Most people don't have the time or skills to do that.

I've just built some more of these for myself and for someone else on here. If there is enough demand, I'd consider building some more for a reasonable price - probably about $50/unit.

The advantage of these is you get two way control, so you can read the current state (including current room temp) off the device as well. I use Home Assistant but also can then control it via Google Assistant and HomeKit (Or Alexa of that's your thing).

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gcorgnet

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#2127087 15-Nov-2018 11:06

I'd probably buy one for $50. Cheers

davidcole

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#2127114 15-Nov-2018 11:53

happyfunball:

timmmay:

I no longer recommend Broadlink RM pro. Lately the timer for one of my devices has changed, so instead of heating in the morning and cooling in the afternoon it's switched to cool in the morning and heat in the afternoon. I fix it, but it reverts every few days. This is a heck of a bug, given the timer is the whole point of what I use the RM Pro. Also, around daylight savings change, the timer didn't work correctly, and it wouldn't let you set a timer for some times during the day.

Broadlink provides no support at all, doesn't answer emails, even though it's a paid product - a cheap paid product.

I suggest paying more to get a better quality product that's supported.

You get get better functionality at a lower price by using the RM pro with other software. I use HomeAssistant to talk to all my smart devices, from different brands, and it does the timers. Xiaomi motion sensors work together with Broadlink lights etc. If you are a bit tech savvy I think its worth diving into HA for automation needs. You can also expose HA to Siri or Alexa or Google. Its open source so updated constantly as well. I don't think it's realistic to expect every manufacturer to have great software all the time, so save yourself the frustration and use something else.

I've never used their software....like xiaomi I avoided it at all costs. If I can't talk to it in Home Assistant or OpenHAB, I'm not interested. With respect to the broadlink, there are other methods for controlling (ie a mqtt bridge....but you need something to control the timing etc, and that's where HA/OH come in).

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happyfunball

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#2127154 15-Nov-2018 13:05

davidcole:

I've never used their software....like xiaomi I avoided it at all costs. If I can't talk to it in Home Assistant or OpenHAB, I'm not interested. With respect to the broadlink, there are other methods for controlling (ie a mqtt bridge....but you need something to control the timing etc, and that's where HA/OH come in).

xiaomi talks to HA just fine, and you can use their zigbee devices directly now with a zigbee USB bridge on a Pi. Great range, small size, low price and long battery life.

amanzi

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#2127158 15-Nov-2018 13:13

happyfunball:

davidcole:

I've never used their software....like xiaomi I avoided it at all costs. If I can't talk to it in Home Assistant or OpenHAB, I'm not interested. With respect to the broadlink, there are other methods for controlling (ie a mqtt bridge....but you need something to control the timing etc, and that's where HA/OH come in).

xiaomi talks to HA just fine, and you can use their zigbee devices directly now with a zigbee USB bridge on a Pi. Great range, small size, low price and long battery life.

Do you mean that you can bypass the Xiaomi gateway completely and talk directly to the zigbee devices? That's news to me but sounds great. Do you still need the gateway to do the original set up of the devices or can you just hook up a new Xiaomi zigbee device without the gateway?

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happyfunball

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#2127167 15-Nov-2018 13:20

amanzi:
happyfunball:

davidcole:

I've never used their software....like xiaomi I avoided it at all costs. If I can't talk to it in Home Assistant or OpenHAB, I'm not interested. With respect to the broadlink, there are other methods for controlling (ie a mqtt bridge....but you need something to control the timing etc, and that's where HA/OH come in).

xiaomi talks to HA just fine, and you can use their zigbee devices directly now with a zigbee USB bridge on a Pi. Great range, small size, low price and long battery life.

Do you mean that you can bypass the Xiaomi gateway completely and talk directly to the zigbee devices? That's news to me but sounds great. Do you still need the gateway to do the original set up of the devices or can you just hook up a new Xiaomi zigbee device without the gateway?

Yes exactly. No need for the original gateway, and it reports zigbee stuff via MQTT. Very sweet. I’ll get you the link when I get to a proper keyboard.

davidcole

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#2127200 15-Nov-2018 14:07

amanzi:

happyfunball:

davidcole:

I've never used their software....like xiaomi I avoided it at all costs. If I can't talk to it in Home Assistant or OpenHAB, I'm not interested. With respect to the broadlink, there are other methods for controlling (ie a mqtt bridge....but you need something to control the timing etc, and that's where HA/OH come in).

xiaomi talks to HA just fine, and you can use their zigbee devices directly now with a zigbee USB bridge on a Pi. Great range, small size, low price and long battery life.

Do you mean that you can bypass the Xiaomi gateway completely and talk directly to the zigbee devices? That's news to me but sounds great. Do you still need the gateway to do the original set up of the devices or can you just hook up a new Xiaomi zigbee device without the gateway?

You can, but what I was actually talking about was avoiding the Xiaomi MiHome app and Broadlinks apps. Apart form initial setup, then they're removed. And any communication and control from then on is via home assistant and/or openhab

Blanch

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#2127204 15-Nov-2018 14:12

davidcole:

amanzi:

happyfunball:

davidcole:

I've never used their software....like xiaomi I avoided it at all costs. If I can't talk to it in Home Assistant or OpenHAB, I'm not interested. With respect to the broadlink, there are other methods for controlling (ie a mqtt bridge....but you need something to control the timing etc, and that's where HA/OH come in).

xiaomi talks to HA just fine, and you can use their zigbee devices directly now with a zigbee USB bridge on a Pi. Great range, small size, low price and long battery life.

Do you mean that you can bypass the Xiaomi gateway completely and talk directly to the zigbee devices? That's news to me but sounds great. Do you still need the gateway to do the original set up of the devices or can you just hook up a new Xiaomi zigbee device without the gateway?

You can, but what I was actually talking about was avoiding the Xiaomi MiHome app and Broadlinks apps. Apart form initial setup, then they're removed. And any communication and control from then on is via home assistant and/or openhab

Check out

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/zigbee2mqtt-getting-rid-of-your-proprietary-zigbee-bridges-xiaomi-hue-tradfri/52108

happyfunball

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#2127205 15-Nov-2018 14:12

DIY zigbee bridge with MQTT: https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt/wiki/Getting-started

You don't need the Xiaomi apps or gateway for configuration of Xiaomi devices, at least not with the motion/luminosity detectors which I use them for. I use the gateway on one side of the house, but where it can't reach, use the Pi with dongle instead. The Xiaomi app doesn't know about the devices configured to use the Pi, but all with together with HomeAssistant.

Long thread on it here: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/zigbee2mqtt-getting-rid-of-your-proprietary-zigbee-bridges-xiaomi-hue-tradfri/52108/845

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