Domoticz

Hi

Just got three StellaZ set up and submitting data to Domoticz. As I'm new to Domoticz and smart thermostats I'm a bit lost on how to run these things.

Each Stella gives a temperature sensor, three SetPoints and a dimmer. Temperature is self explanatory, dimmer works as a manual switch and SetPoints can have a preset temperature value. So these reflect to the brochure Stella has: Temperature sensor and 4-mode operation (Frost, Eco, Comfort, Direct).

How do I use these SetPoints in a smart way? Do I need more than one? What are the use cases?

I have my Stellas set up so that they wake up every hour. I'm thinking of delaying this to every second hour. So that in mind every change I make might have a two hour delay before the execution. I'm aware of this limitation.

To give some context I've had this kind of thing in mind.
Case 1 - scheduled temperature change
General temp in my house is 21°C. At evening say around 20:00 I need to (start to) cool down one bedroom to 18°C. And the same room should be again 21°C in the morning maybe around 7:00.

Case 2 - single use temperature change
Temperature in the kitchen is the same as in the rest of the house, 21°C. On occasions I (wife) need(s) to turn off the thermostat (or drop the temperature to say 18°C). This needs to come on in the evening around 21:00 or if it's after 21:00 in 4 hours. Also this has to be able to be turned back on manually.

Case 3 - holiday time temperature change
The whole family is leaving the house for two weeks. For that period the temperature can drop to 15°C. After the two week period the temperature should be back to normal.

Solutions

Case 1
I can add a timer events (schedules) for one SetPoint in the selected bedroom to do these temperature changes.

Case 2
???

Case 3
???

Case3:
in the application settings, select the time plan 'holiday' and make your holiday timers (including lights/switches).
Switch back to normal when your not on holiday

I have a similar arrangement to yours.

I would be very interested to know if it is possible to use a "scene" to select a particular set of "set point temperatures"; this might answer your second use-case conveniently.

Alternatively, is it possible to program a list of set points depending on the state of a "dummy" switch (such as a switch which carries "occupancy" information)? I have not yet worked out how this could be done...

In my system I control the heating source as well as the TRVs. I am able to determine the temperature rise times and the fall times for each room (I use a separate room thermometer for this - actually a Fibaro multi-sensor - since I find the Stella temperature reporting to be a little eratic sometimes). If I want a room to cool after a certain time, I can cut the boiler off and know that the temperature will decay relatively slowly. The boiler can be switched on by a timer with an appropriate "time-advance" to ensure that the room is "up to temperature" at the desired time. This strategy ensures that the boiler is off during the night (in my case, leaving the boiler "on" pumps heat continuously out of one radiator since this one is not fitted with TRVs). If you need very accurate timing, then perhaps an outside-air temperature sensor could be used to help calculate the correct "advance time" for activating the boiler?

I have not (yet) been able to change the operating mode of the Stella valves within Domoticz (I had one that was "stuck" in Frost mode for a long while!). I am hopeful that the "control panel" will eventually offer this functionality. I use only the comfort set point control.

In case it is of interest, the Danfoss "Living Connect Z" valve (version 014G0013) apparently conatins its own internal timers and can store a time-series of set points for each day. Unfortunately, I don't think that Open Zwave is yet able to handle this functionality (someone will correct me if I am wrong on this!). By the way, this valve is NOT supported by Danfoss in the UK. I cannot comment upon the relative efficiency of these two valve types.

I would be intereste to hear how you progress... Good luck!

I've got 12 of the StellaZ on my install and i've used them in direct position control (via a virtual thermostat) and more recently, self regulation via set point control.

Both work well, but direct position control is more accurate and you can use alternative temperature feedback.

Both work well, but direct position control is more accurate and you can use alternative temperature feedback.

I am curious how you switched your StellaZ to direct valve control.
Even though thermostat_mode should be supported by Domoticz, the StellaZ do not show a thermostat_mode device in the devices-screen. Even if they would, I doubt if Domoticz allows you to select "direct valve control" as a valid input for thermostat_mode.

As a StellaZ-user i eagerly await this as a native feature, but any workarounds are duely appreciated!

If I may, I would like to know if you poll the Stellas. As I understand, polling should be used wisely as it tends to increase traffic, clothing up the ether. But if I do not poll, I do not receive temperature readings. Only wake-up messages every 5 minutes (that is what I set in the Configuration)

Direct valve control is achieved by setting the thermostatMode to 31.

Then you can set the switch level to put the valve at the desired opening.

As the StellaZ is a battery operated device, there's no point at all in polling it whilst its asleep, so look for device wake notifications and initiate the poll from that

I'm still testing the install with 12+ StellaZ's and have resorted back to self regulation, but with boiler invoked from each of the virtual thermostat's.

I think this is the best way

I also mentioned this in my other thread, but does this require scripting?

In the case of the z-way-server, if you poll the server at regular intervals, you'll find all wake notification's in there.

Ah ... I use the standard Domoticz configuration with Openzwave.
I can see the wake-ups showing up in the log file.

maybe you can work from that then?

maybe

As far as I know it is not possible with Domoticz to wait for a wake-up and then initiate a poll. So I poll these nodes anyway.
It would be great if this could be implemented!

You can also consider a conversion from battery power to DC-power, so you can at least set the wake-up interval to the minimum possible.

Anyone know if there are any plans to enable "poll on wake" functionality into Domoticz? The Stella Z seems to only wake for a second or so which means you need to poll every second so as not to miss a wake up. I'm led to believe (I'm new to z-ware) that this would have dire consequences on the network with multiple devices.

Hi,
I'm at my first experience with domoticz (installed over Pi2 + Razberry +Zway) and StellaZ.

I have read this thread as well as what else I could find on this topic but I'm still puzzled on how to control the StellaZ that is not answering to my settings.
After successful inclusion, I have the slider control (for direct mode), the 3 setpoints, and the temp.
The StellaZ automatically (default) set the wakeup time to very long (I guess a week).
I have simple questions to those of you that are successfully driving the StellaZ in a similar configuration:

1) I have enabled 'polling'. right or useless or wrong?
2) Should I initially set the wakeup time very short (a few seconds) for setting up the system? Then, what is the setting you normally use?
3) What is the default mode? (it is not *direct* since the slider has no effect even when the Stella is awake, so it must be one of the other 3 setpoints)
4) How do I change between modes? In a previous post someone gave the value of a parameter to be set. Could you kindly explain to a novice where and how we can change the parameter (and hence have the StellaZ change between all 4 modes?)

Thanks a lot in advance!!!

really? nobody that can help me with these questions on StellaZ setup in domotics?

I have set the wakeuptime to 1800 seconds, which gives you an update periode of 30 minutes.
I also enabled polling, otherwise no temp, nor slider reading, will come through.
In my devices list, the Stella appears as:
1901 Thermometer
0001901 Lighting (slider value)
0001901 Thermostat (this is the only one I change)
0001907 Thermostat
000190B Thermostat

That's it. It took a while to connect the Stella to the network, but now I get a temp reading every 30 minutes and the valve responds to the Thermostat set point changes of 0001901.

Hope this helps.

Thank you BertB!
I will try these settings. At least this would enable me to change based on a temperature setpoint.
Anyone that knows how to change modes in domoticz ? (it is a bit unconvenient to work with a single setpoint ...)

I have 4 stella Zs and I also had trouble connecting them to the Z wave network (Pi+Aeon z stick+domoticz) but once they are on they work very reliably. They are all set (by default) to respond to temperature (comfort) set-point control. I have a virtual switch (for each) to turn them on (comfort set point turned up to 22) or off (set point temperature down to 10). You can add timers to this virtual switch to turn heating on and off as you wish during the day, or switch the radiator on manually by flipping the switch.

In essence, if you edit the on action and the off action of the virtual switch you avoid any need for scripts/blockly

on: http://192.168.xxx.xx:xxxx/json.htm?type=command&param=udevice&idx=xx&nvalue=0&svalue=22
off: http://192.168.xxx.xx:xxxx/json.htm?type=command&param=udevice&idx=xx&nvalue=0&svalue=10

I have not had the needed to change mode on domoticz using this method - the default is comfort mode which is what you need to make this work. I did have polling on initially but once I've established they are working correctly i've turned this off to conserve battery. I have wake up time set at 20 minutes which means that the radiators do not respond immediately, but this short delay is something i can live with. There is no need to use direct valve control or the economy or frost settings, unless the thermostat is behind a curtain where your only option is direct valve control (otherwise it will turn the valve off very quickly). I am very happy with them, they are extremely reliable, accurate, look better than the standard TRVs they replace, and seem to have a good wife acceptability factor. Lets see whether they pay for themselves with the next heating bill.

I do not know how to change mode in Domoticz (using open Z wave and the z stick) but I have not had to. Hope this helps.

I am trying to apply the useful suggestions, but I still can't see any effect in my setup. I think I have a basic problem as a beginner ...
In the hardware node setup (the only place where I see the 'wake-up time' value) it is reported a wake-up of 604620. When I insert a shorter alternative value (as the ones you are suggesting) and click on 'apply configuration' I get the message 'Configuration send to node. If the node is asleep, this could take a while!'.
and no effect. I even tried to wake up the device manually ...

When I try to change the comfort setpoint through a virtual switch as suggested i don't see errors in the log but no effect Is this related to the device being 'asleep'? Any alternative way to change this wake-up time?
Thanks a lot!