IFTTT problem

[peterf]

I wonder if anyone can offer suggestions on IFTTT configuration.

Now that the offspring has flown the nest, I've set up IFTTT to drop the heating to economy when I leave the home zone and it operates on a radius of around 200 meters. This works fine but the corresponding applet to switch it back on when I enter the zone is a bit more hit and miss.

I wonder if the main re-entry point is in a dip with a poor mobile signal, but otherwise scratching my head.

[bruce_miranda]

it depends what you are using to establish your radius. Are you using a geo fence or another method to establish entry?

[peterf]

Geofence.

I was toying with making the "entry" zone bigger but logically there'd be a problem if a left the "exit" zone but remained within the entry zone so I guess they both have to be the same size/same zone.

Re-entry seems to be working 80% + of the time but I suppose the other possibility is that I'm not waiting long enough for it to kick in, although I'm allowing 6 or 7 minutes.

[bruce_miranda]

So here is a trick I use. I use my wifi network as the exit zone trigger and a larger geo fence for my entry zone
That way the rules don't conflict and the heating turns off the moment I leave home.

[peterf]

Thanks for that. Using wifi hadn't occurred to me. Might use that for the entry trigger.

[bruce_miranda]

The issue with using the WiFi as trigger is depending what you are trying to achieve there is no pre-heating. Where as on exit you don't mind the heating being shut off instantly.

[peterf]

Yes, I appreciate that but I'm only triggering the economy mode rather than heating off. I guess that I could use the wifi on entry as a belt-and-braces to supplement the geofencing.

[robj20]

You could try using Life360 as well, thats what i use for me and the wife, it sets the heating to economy when both of us leave home and switches back on when either one of us returns. It seems to check location much more often than when i briefly tried only ifttt on only my phone.

[bruce_miranda]

I hadn't realised that Life360 allows triggering of smart systems in the house, it seems to have then moved on from the f&f spying app it started off as.
Btw how is the effect of either IFTTT OR anything else that uses your GPS location, on the phone's battery life. On my phone IFTTT appears to draw way too much battery for my comfort. Hence why I turned to using the WiFi network as my method to detect if I was home or not. My scripts run on my NAS and check if my mobile phone is on the network or not and then uses that to trigger the heating quick actions.

[peterf]

Thanks, I'll have a look at that.

[dty]

I hadn't realised that Life360 allows triggering of smart systems in the house, it seems to have then moved on from the f&f spying app it started off as.
Btw how is the effect of either IFTTT OR anything else that uses your GPS location, on the phone's battery life. On my phone IFTTT appears to draw way too much battery for my comfort. Hence why I turned to using the WiFi network as my method to detect if I was home or not. My scripts run on my NAS and check if my mobile phone is on the network or not and then uses that to trigger the heating quick actions.

On iOS, at least, geofencing is very light on the battery. It works a bit like the CS92! It checks your location relatively infrequently until it notices you moving towards or getting close to a geofence, and then it starts checking more frequently.

[bruce_miranda]

That probably explains my battery performance. I am rarely more than a mile away from home.