Breakiing news: UK Amazon Echo works with Evohome!

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  • forza11
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Dec 2016
    • 4

    #61
    Originally posted by Conseils View Post
    P.S. I would think the Alexa - Honeywell 'Skill' is in the US version as well.
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    P.P.S. I noticed you can change the Language now between English (UK), English (US) and German in the Settings | Language option of the Alexa App...
    Perhaps this the 'Skill' and the voice are all you really wanted?

    From what I read this is not the same as changing the devices registered Locale. Changing the local had to be done 'manually', at least for the moment.
    Of course that could change, due to data protection and other legal framework influences. 'Caveat emptor' though....
    thanks for your reply, sadly the US version of the honeywell skill is tied to the US total connect site, which differs from the EU site. I made a new account on the US total connect site but i can't register the evohome, probably because they dont sell the evohome in the US. If Honeywell would have 1 international database it could've worked that way! I read that IFTTT will come to the UK early '17, so i'll hold off a bit longer before switching to the uk version.

    Do you have echo's in multiple rooms? Or does your family give commands in a central room? Also, specifically for honeywell, do you also have separate control units in each rooms or do you just have the HR92's?

    Comment

    • Conseils
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Nov 2014
      • 31

      #62
      Multiple Echo's (Reverberation??)

      We currently have an Echo and 4 Echo Dot's
      We have two Adult Amazon accounts in an 'Amazon Household' (the maximum I understand possible with Amazon, query raised with them by the way).
      We give commands to any Echo device from any room against any Zone / Room, at any time by anyone.

      I added the Honeywell Skill to both accounts in the Amazon Household with the same Room / Zone names. As otherwise it would be inconsistent and probably very confusing.
      The two Amazon accounts in the Amazon Household are using 1 Honeywell account.

      We have 1 Honeywell Evohome Connected Thermostat Pack ATP921R3100 and 10 valves (HR80's) with some Honeywell Homecomfort timer valves on additional radiators in bathrooms. Some Zones use multiple valves. No it's not a mansion (maybe an Englishman's castle ), it's just well insulated rooms in a modern house, in a cold wet part of England.

      The two Amazon Household accounts are used as ordering, play lists, favourites and music are seen by Amazon as for individuals. My wife 'pays' for Amazon Prime, so to access Amazon music I have to 'Switch to her account' or pay multiple times. Whilst I buy things like Echo's and Dot's, run the heating system accounts and other similar stuff I am interested in.

      You can perhaps see the number of possible combinations of options is significant.

      An alternate to the above scenario, the use of one account or very separate accounts against each Echo device would of course work nicely. I guess it depends if it really is a Household or not. So I could have had all devices on separate every things and thus isolated operation. Then we could not share the Amazon music with the children (they are over 16 now)... And my nice Alexa help page on our Intranet would get very complicated....And it would be a pain to administer, as no one else would do it and we would loose the flexibility of how we are using the house as the children make forays into the wild (well University at least). The kids could still run into another room and tell Alexa to turn off the heating! Thus probably immediately defeating the object of trying to run things independently! (If they can remember the 4 digit purchase pass code, they can order anything they want while they are at it. As both have IQ's well over 150, they probably already know it and I have forgotten).


      I think my main observation is that Amazon don't really cope well with my concept of a 'Household', I tend to think their interpretation more as 'An association by two individuals'.


      Originally posted by forza11 View Post
      thanks for your reply, sadly the US version of the honeywell skill is tied to the US total connect site, which differs from the EU site. I made a new account on the US total connect site but i can't register the evohome, probably because they dont sell the evohome in the US. If Honeywell would have 1 international database it could've worked that way! I read that IFTTT will come to the UK early '17, so i'll hold off a bit longer before switching to the uk version.

      Do you have echo's in multiple rooms? Or does your family give commands in a central room? Also, specifically for honeywell, do you also have separate control units in each rooms or do you just have the HR92's?

      Comment

      • jzwack-honeywell
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Jan 2016
        • 36

        #63
        Originally posted by Conseils View Post
        I have been attempting to get Alexa to recognise temperatures with decimal points...
        I have a small study and the overshoot is significant if I can't get decimal temperatures.
        Alexa 'card' has correctly understood, which points to logic in the Alexa skill on the Honeywell side.
        Last I checked with Amazon they didn't support half degrees in the skill "set temperature" API, only whole numbers. Even for C units. If they updated that, I'll fix it. Let me check again tomorrow my time!
        developer.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. API Evangelist. Views are my own.

        Comment

        • Conseils
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Nov 2014
          • 31

          #64
          API - Support for 0.5 Degrees

          It seems odd that I never noticed the full behaviour so here goes following 10 minutes of investigation to make sure I have some facts at least.

          The Honeywell API (Probably 1.0) accepts 0.5 degrees, and reflects it back to you. Then over writes it to the nearest integer degree C!

          The Android and Apple Apps accept 0.5°C (probably API 2.X)
          So my guess at the moment is that the Honeywell version 2 API does indeed take 0.5C, as does the Evohome controller.

          So the Skill would seem either to be on version 1.0 API or not exposing full functionality.

          Hope this helps.


          Originally posted by jzwack-honeywell View Post
          Last I checked with Amazon they didn't support half degrees in the skill "set temperature" API, only whole numbers. Even for C units. If they updated that, I'll fix it. Let me check again tomorrow my time!
          Last edited by Conseils; 12 December 2016, 11:31 AM. Reason: Clarification

          Comment

          • paulockenden
            Automated Home Legend
            • Apr 2015
            • 1719

            #65
            Originally posted by Conseils View Post
            So the Skill would seem either to be on version 1.0 API or not exposing full functionality.
            Perhaps you didn't spot the '-honeywell' at the end of Joe's username. He knows exactly what's happening in the Skill!!!!

            Having said that, the (Alexa) API docs do suggest that decimal values are acceptable - it's in some of the example code.

            Joe is based in the US, so don't expect him to reply until a bit later!

            P.

            Comment

            • jzwack-honeywell
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Jan 2016
              • 36

              #66
              Sorry,

              What I mean to say was, in our initial development we could RETURN half degrees (e.g., make it say "25.5") but you couldn't tell it to set to 25.5 via voice.

              It's entirely possible they updated it and I'm not aware, so I'll double check today while I'm trying to track down the other mentioned problem (thanks to those who have sent me examples by the way!).
              Last edited by jzwack-honeywell; 12 December 2016, 04:52 PM.
              developer.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. API Evangelist. Views are my own.

              Comment

              • Conseils
                Automated Home Jr Member
                • Nov 2014
                • 31

                #67
                Alexa And Support For 0.5°C Resolution

                Hi Paul,
                Cool, hope my digging a little deeper into the API and the various references provided assist in supporting the issue.

                I look forward to Alexa supporting 0.5°C increments, especially now I have 0.1°C room temperature resolution courtesy of the API update earlier this year ;-).

                If a hand is needed debugging or testing etc. let me know.

                Compliments of the season to all.

                Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
                Perhaps you didn't spot the '-honeywell' at the end of Joe's username. He knows exactly what's happening in the Skill!!!!

                Having said that, the (Alexa) API docs do suggest that decimal values are acceptable - it's in some of the example code.

                Joe is based in the US, so don't expect him to reply until a bit later!

                P.

                Comment

                • jzwack-honeywell
                  Automated Home Jr Member
                  • Jan 2016
                  • 36

                  #68
                  I double checked this, and it's working as I thought.

                  For instance if I ask it to change "Kitchen" zone to 22.5 degrees, Alexa sends me this:
                  targetTemperature: { value: 1 } and obviously responds that's out of range.

                  If I ask to change "Kitchen" zone to 22, Alexa sends me this:
                  targetTemperature: { value: 22 }

                  I'll double check with Amazon to make sure I'm not missing something again, but when I asked a month or two ago (right around the time we launched the skill) they didn't support .5 degrees.
                  developer.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. API Evangelist. Views are my own.

                  Comment

                  • jzwack-honeywell
                    Automated Home Jr Member
                    • Jan 2016
                    • 36

                    #69
                    As a follow-up, they don't support setting half degrees by voice at the moment. So from my perspective it's working as it should.

                    If it wasn't I would have fixed it today! Haha.
                    developer.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. API Evangelist. Views are my own.

                    Comment

                    • Conseils
                      Automated Home Jr Member
                      • Nov 2014
                      • 31

                      #70
                      Alexa does not understand 0.5° temperature increments

                      Hi, thanks for looking into this.

                      When you say "they don't support setting half degrees by voice", is this Alexa that can't parse the sentence received into a floating point number?
                      or the Skill that can't cope with the received text instruction?



                      Originally posted by jzwack-honeywell View Post
                      As a follow-up, they don't support setting half degrees by voice at the moment. So from my perspective it's working as it should.

                      If it wasn't I would have fixed it today! Haha.

                      Comment

                      • jzwack-honeywell
                        Automated Home Jr Member
                        • Jan 2016
                        • 36

                        #71
                        I don't want to speak for Amazon on what they are doing or what work needs done.

                        However, whenever you attempt to speak half degrees to Alexa, I am being sent values other than what I say. For instance if I speak "22.5" to my Alexa, the skill is sent "1".

                        If the skill were sent half degree numbers, it could handle it.
                        developer.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. API Evangelist. Views are my own.

                        Comment

                        • Conseils
                          Automated Home Jr Member
                          • Nov 2014
                          • 31

                          #72
                          Hi,
                          as Alexa's maths capability stretches to floating point numbers, it seemed bizarre that one was not able to set a temperature using a float (sorry too much programming) 'decimal'.

                          I had assumed {very dangerous I know) the decoded text was passed to the skill to handle. I haven't dug into skills yet, the Raspberry Pi development platform in the UK is fairly crippled. Only half the features operate and it insists it's in the US. It seemed like the skill may have missed out decimals, from your feedback though clearly not the case.

                          One reason for looking into all this other than its extremely good, my father is going blind and Alexa could really help out as he gets on.


                          I have filled in plenty of feedback to Amazon though no response to date. Is there someone to bug at Amazon perhaps?

                          Thanks again, looking forward to some great fun and a very useful tool that will actually save some money and perhaps a little towards saving the environment.


                          Originally posted by jzwack-honeywell View Post
                          I don't want to speak for Amazon on what they are doing or what work needs done.

                          However, whenever you attempt to speak half degrees to Alexa, I am being sent values other than what I say. For instance if I speak "22.5" to my Alexa, the skill is sent "1".

                          If the skill were sent half degree numbers, it could handle it.

                          Comment

                          • jzwack-honeywell
                            Automated Home Jr Member
                            • Jan 2016
                            • 36

                            #73
                            Originally posted by Conseils View Post
                            Hi,
                            as Alexa's maths capability stretches to floating point numbers, it seemed bizarre that one was not able to set a temperature using a float (sorry too much programming) 'decimal'.
                            When working with temperatures, Alexa always uses C units. So for the US, and changing F temps I always send and receive C units from Alexa.

                            But to your point, one of the first lines in the code for changing a temperature is
                            var adujstmentValue = parseFloat(//variableForPayloadTempHere);
                            So if Alexa sends me half degrees I will process half degrees. Right now they are not sending those values.
                            developer.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. API Evangelist. Views are my own.

                            Comment

                            • paulockenden
                              Automated Home Legend
                              • Apr 2015
                              • 1719

                              #74
                              IFTTT is now working with UK Alexa.

                              Not showing as an Alexa skill yet, so for now you need to set it up from the IFTTT end, but it works fine.

                              P.

                              Comment

                              • DBMandrake
                                Automated Home Legend
                                • Sep 2014
                                • 2361

                                #75
                                Originally posted by Conseils View Post
                                The Android and Apple Apps accept 0.5°C (probably API 2.X)
                                So my guess at the moment is that the Honeywell version 2 API does indeed take 0.5C, as does the Evohome controller.
                                Originally posted by Conseils View Post
                                I look forward to Alexa supporting 0.5°C increments, especially now I have 0.1°C room temperature resolution courtesy of the API update earlier this year ;-).
                                Psst....

                                Don't tell anyone, but the Honeywell V2 Web API actually supports setting set points with at least 0.1 degree resolution, for example 21.3 degrees...

                                You can do this via Domoticz or other custom script that accesses the API. I have not tried the V1 API to see if it can also set sub 0.5 degree increments as Domoticz uses V2.

                                I have confirmed in the past that the Evohome will actually act on these in between set points in terms of regulating the temperature, although I don't recall whether it still rounds the set point to the nearest 0.5 for display on the screen. (I'm not home just now to check but will check tonight)

                                The iPhone app will not let you set a value in between 0.5 degree increments but it will display in between set points rounded to the nearest 0.1 degrees - for example if I set a zone to 5.79 in Domoticz the iPhone app reports 5.8 degrees not 6.0.

                                Returned results from the V1 and V2 API's is interesting - the V2 API will return the full two decimal place resolution for the set point:

                                Code:
                                {'temp': 16.5, 'setpoint': 5.79, 'thermostat': 'EMEA_ZONE', 'name': u'Main Bedroom', 'id': u'1438045'}
                                However the V1 API despite having greater resolution for measured temperatures seems to round set points to 0.5 degrees:
                                Code:
                                {'temp': 16.86, 'setpoint': 6.0, 'thermostat': u'EMEA_ZONE', 'name': u'Main Bedroom', 'id': 1438045}
                                So as far as retrieving temperatures and set points from the API's is concerned, for highest resolution it still seems to be best to retrieve the measured temperature from the V1 API and everything else including set point from the V2 API, which is what the Domoticz evo-update.sh script now does.

                                Interestingly when you make the initial override using Domoticz it displays the set point rounded to 0.1 degrees at first but after the next API check-in to retrieve the actual values from the server it updates to the two decimal place reading returned from the API. This seems to be a function of the Domoticz code rounding its "placeholder" value to the nearest 0.1 degrees. (Looks like some more rounding code in Domoticz that could be removed... )
                                Last edited by DBMandrake; 14 December 2016, 10:47 AM.

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