Setting away mode automatically on Evohome

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  • paulockenden
    Automated Home Legend
    • Apr 2015
    • 1719

    #16
    I used this as the basis for my code, but I've hacked it to bits!!!

    My code is very unique to my situation (it also ties in to my burglar alarm, for example, plus lots of other 'me' specific tweaks), so isn't suitable for sharing. But if you get stuck with the Green Thermostat code give me a nudge and I'll try to help.

    Comment

    • freddyq
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Oct 2016
      • 40

      #17
      OK no problem. Green Thermostat is a ST SmartApp?

      Comment

      • paulockenden
        Automated Home Legend
        • Apr 2015
        • 1719

        #18
        Yup - click the 'this' in my comment above.

        Comment

        • freddyq
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Oct 2016
          • 40

          #19
          Ahh sorry! Missed the hyperlink there Thanks, I'll have a look...

          Comment

          • skwerl
            Automated Home Jr Member
            • Oct 2016
            • 13

            #20
            I'm getting more and more fed up with Evohome. The system is really let down by the lack of investment on the application side. Today the Totalconnect service is up/down/under maintenance/fully operational/who knows. When it is working it's pretty basic. Neither the app or the controller have holiday mode, which I find weird. I believe the pervious version of the controller did have holiday mode as a a quick action though.

            There's no option to add multiple custom quick actions.
            They still haven't fixed the issue of the app showing ghost zones.

            In general it's pretty pants and Honeywell need to think seriously about whether they want to compete in the automation sector or not. Right now the only thing saving them is that they have the best multi-zone platform but I suspect that won't last much longer.

            Does anyone know if they regularly scan this forum? Do they take feedback seriously?

            Comment

            • dty
              Automated Home Ninja
              • Aug 2016
              • 489

              #21
              Originally posted by skwerl View Post
              Neither the app or the controller have holiday mode, which I find weird.
              Is "holiday mode" different from "away"? I used "away" recently and told it how many days I was away for and it kept the house ticking over at 10C and then warmed it up ready for my return.

              Comment

              • freddyq
                Automated Home Jr Member
                • Oct 2016
                • 40

                #22
                Originally posted by skwerl View Post
                I'm getting more and more fed up with Evohome. The system is really let down by the lack of investment on the application side. Today the Totalconnect service is up/down/under maintenance/fully operational/who knows. When it is working it's pretty basic. Neither the app or the controller have holiday mode, which I find weird. I believe the pervious version of the controller did have holiday mode as a a quick action though.

                There's no option to add multiple custom quick actions.
                They still haven't fixed the issue of the app showing ghost zones.

                In general it's pretty pants and Honeywell need to think seriously about whether they want to compete in the automation sector or not. Right now the only thing saving them is that they have the best multi-zone platform but I suspect that won't last much longer.

                Does anyone know if they regularly scan this forum? Do they take feedback seriously?
                I'm not a massive fan of the app either but to be fair, as far as downtime is concerned they always email to notify of dates and times so for today's outage, I did get an email confirming the app will be down from 07:00 - 11:00 GMT. Normally the outage window is very early morning so doesn't affect us because I have a schedule setup which kicks in as normal and isn't affected by outages.

                As far as holiday mode goes, I agree with the other responder that Away mode is meant to be that - what are you expecting in a holiday mode which Away mode doesn't do?

                I've never encountered the ghost zones issue either but maybe you have to have a particular setup to get that issue.

                My gripes on the app are that:

                - It could load a lot faster - if it isn't already running on my phone in the background I see three different loading screens with the circular whirring loading sign before it eventually displays my zones.
                - Like the Nest app, the app should show a history of when the heating was triggered and switched off. This would be especially useful for those using the 'Optimum Start' and 'Optimum Stop' features so you can monitor how this changes with external weather and other factors.

                Generally I think the system should have in built geo-fencing capabilities and the ability to work with a motion sensor to set itself to away mode if no movement is detected in the house - again, something which works quite well with Nest.

                Whether Honeywell plan to gather such feedback and incorporate into future upgrades I don't know, but I agree they should if they want to stay ahead of the competition. Maybe they are not as inclined at the moment because they have such a clear advantage over other systems in the market thanks to the zone by zone control...

                Comment

                • DBMandrake
                  Automated Home Legend
                  • Sep 2014
                  • 2361

                  #23
                  Having had a bit of a look at Tado V3 (a work college installed it a month ago) I'd say Honeywell have some catching up to do on the application side already. Tado V3 is fully zoned with radiator valves and almost the same price as Evohome per zone.

                  The radiator controllers are small and discrete looking compared to the HR92, albeit with less UI and features. There is no central controller as such, the main thermostat which is wired to control the boiler communicates with the other devices (radiator valves) wirelessly but does not have a real UI of its own - to program your schedules you use a smart phone app or website.

                  It's unclear whether the devices all have to maintain a connection to the cloud for the schedule to run, or whether they all (individual radiator controllers) "download" their schedule and then follow that schedule autonomously. (Which means an internet outage would prevent you modifying your schedules but not prevent the existing schedule being followed) This is in contrast to Evohome where the controller manages the schedule and sends commands to the individual radiator valves.

                  Geofencing with a home/away schedule is supported out of the box, as is graphing of temperatures of rooms. The devices also measure humidity as well as temperature. There are some drawbacks compared to evohome but on the whole I think the system competes head on with Evohome and has Evohome beat hands down on the application side. You can't even check your schedule through the total connect portal using a web browser on evohome, how many years later ? Why not ?
                  Last edited by DBMandrake; 22 March 2017, 10:47 AM.

                  Comment

                  • skwerl
                    Automated Home Jr Member
                    • Oct 2016
                    • 13

                    #24
                    Originally posted by freddyq View Post
                    I'm not a massive fan of the app either but to be fair, as far as downtime is concerned they always email to notify of dates and times so for today's outage, I did get an email confirming the app will be down from 07:00 - 11:00 GMT. Normally the outage window is very early morning so doesn't affect us because I have a schedule setup which kicks in as normal and isn't affected by outages.

                    As far as holiday mode goes, I agree with the other responder that Away mode is meant to be that - what are you expecting in a holiday mode which Away mode doesn't do?

                    I've never encountered the ghost zones issue either but maybe you have to have a particular setup to get that issue.

                    My gripes on the app are that:

                    - It could load a lot faster - if it isn't already running on my phone in the background I see three different loading screens with the circular whirring loading sign before it eventually displays my zones.
                    - Like the Nest app, the app should show a history of when the heating was triggered and switched off. This would be especially useful for those using the 'Optimum Start' and 'Optimum Stop' features so you can monitor how this changes with external weather and other factors.

                    Generally I think the system should have in built geo-fencing capabilities and the ability to work with a motion sensor to set itself to away mode if no movement is detected in the house - again, something which works quite well with Nest.

                    Whether Honeywell plan to gather such feedback and incorporate into future upgrades I don't know, but I agree they should if they want to stay ahead of the competition. Maybe they are not as inclined at the moment because they have such a clear advantage over other systems in the market thanks to the zone by zone control...

                    My bad. I didn't realise that press and hold gave a timer option. So I've learned something today.

                    So you got an email telling you there would be maintenance today? I didn't get that email so there's another problem.

                    Also, I logged a ticket with their helpdesk. I got two automated responses. One from Honeywell saying they'd get back to me in 24 hours and another from Evohome telling me they'd get back to me in 48 hours. In the email is this link -> http://evohome.honeywell.com/ which handily directs me to the login page for a company called Wheatley Group, who manage housing or some such.
                    I phoned the helpdesk - they were useless. Told me that although maintenance is ongoing it should impact users. Didn't know why the link above was redirecting to an unrelated site. Didn't know why a maintenance notification didn't reach me. Didn't know anything really. I left my number for a "manager" to call me back. I suspect that won't happen.
                    All in all - stellar service from Honeywell

                    Comment

                    • Rameses
                      Industry Expert
                      • Nov 2014
                      • 446

                      #25
                      We have away mode - (we call it away as you might be 'away', and not necessarily on holiday, ie work or just a mini-break, or had to see your relatives etc. It is in both app and device, and can be addressed via API partner integrations)

                      I don't know what you mean about multiple quick actions. If they were at the same time they would be conflicting

                      The ghost zone issue which some people experienced was fixed on the last FW update (a while back)

                      Yes we do take feedback seriously. Feel free to ring our customer services (0300 130 1299) if you wish to resolve any of the above.
                      getconnected.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. Any posts I make are purely to help if I can. Any personal views expressed are my own

                      Comment

                      • freddyq
                        Automated Home Jr Member
                        • Oct 2016
                        • 40

                        #26
                        @DBMandrake interesting to hear about Tado and how they are closing the gap. I have to say, the fact that the evohome system effectively runs on it owns wireless frequency independent of the internet is quite a big advantage both in terms of security and availability. That would be a make or break requirement for me for a smart heating system. As far as the UI and features on the HR92s goes, I didn't think much of this until recently when I had an experience where the internet went down at night and I wanted to turn off the heating once I was in the bedroom (main controller is downstairs). I just turned the dial on the HR92 and job done - no impact of internet being down or controller being downstairs. Having said that, some of those other features on the Tado are exactly what I'd expect the Evohome app to have.

                        @Skwerl I'm presuming you've checked they have your email correctly spelled etc.? I get the emails regularly, on odd occasions if you try and update several zones via the app too quickly the last change doesn't actually get applied and I also receive emails about those failures. So something is up with your email setup. I've never had to contact their customer support so can't comment on my own experience but doesn't seem great for you.

                        @Rameses will you take the suggested upgrades/improvements on this thread and get them registered somewhere internally to be looked at?

                        Comment

                        • Rameses
                          Industry Expert
                          • Nov 2014
                          • 446

                          #27
                          I can vouch that our product development teams use this forum (and others across EMEA), our customers and other sources for a source of improvement developments etc. Not all make it, and we have to balance what is possible. I can also tell you there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes on the backend which is invisible - keeping the solution secure and reliable. We take heating seriously and do not make changes lightly.

                          So yes please let keep telling us.
                          Last edited by Rameses; 22 March 2017, 11:36 AM.
                          getconnected.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. Any posts I make are purely to help if I can. Any personal views expressed are my own

                          Comment

                          • dty
                            Automated Home Ninja
                            • Aug 2016
                            • 489

                            #28
                            Originally posted by Rameses View Post
                            So yes please let keep telling us.
                            Great news! So, could you make the iPhone app not crash when setting a temporary override, please? This new feature was only introduced in the latest release, so shouldn't be too tricky to track down.

                            Comment

                            • skwerl
                              Automated Home Jr Member
                              • Oct 2016
                              • 13

                              #29
                              Originally posted by Rameses View Post
                              We have away mode - (we call it away as you might be 'away', and not necessarily on holiday, ie work or just a mini-break, or had to see your relatives etc. It is in both app and device, and can be addressed via API partner integrations)

                              I don't know what you mean about multiple quick actions. If they were at the same time they would be conflicting

                              The ghost zone issue which some people experienced was fixed on the last FW update (a while back)

                              Yes we do take feedback seriously. Feel free to ring our customer services (0300 130 1299) if you wish to resolve any of the above.
                              I mean it would be nice to be able to create >1 custom quick action

                              Comment

                              • skwerl
                                Automated Home Jr Member
                                • Oct 2016
                                • 13

                                #30
                                I get the notifications when the system loses connection with my controller. It uses the same address so can't see email itself being an issue. I'd be inclined to think Honeywell's mailer service isn't 100%

                                Comment

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