GadgetGuy
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Joined: June 01 2008
Location: United States
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Posts: 942
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| Posted: March 17 2017 at 07:42 | IP Logged
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Just got a Global Cache WF2IR Infrared controller working to control my Wine Room window style Air Conditioner, but when I started designing the control Macros I realized that the only AC IR signal I had to use was Power Toggle. (ie, each IR signal sent turned the AC on or off, but you don't know which).
Since I have to both heat or cool, this room in my garage, depending on outside temps I have to make sure the AC is OFF before turning on the heater, and vice versa.
Heater control is easy, as I am using an Insteon 2456S3 Appliance Link module which is a simple On/Off device.
But the Air Conditioner is always "ON" and controlled by an IR Remote or the WF2IR system via PowerHome.
While the AC is always "on," if it doesn't need to cool, it is in its idle (standby) state (on but not actually cooling).
Since the IR signal really just enables or disables cooling, and does so on a "toggle basis where each IR occurrence merely changes the AC to be the opposite of what ever enable/disable state it was in, it is not possible to really know what is going to happen when you send an IR signal to it.
If the AC unit was actually in the "OFF" state and you sent a signal thinking you were going to turn it Off, it would be turning ON instead.
This leads to almost impossible control software design. One can make a lot of educated guesses based on environment conditions and a near term temp history of the room, but it is not a sure thing.
The way this situation is normally addressed is to use discreet ON/OFF IR commands rather than a Power Toggle command, so the state of things is clearly known. However no such ON/OFF commands seem to be available for this old Kenmore window AC unit.
A search of Insteon Device Types, however, revealed a solution in the form of the Insteon 2435A5 Synchro Link Load Sensing unit.
This device senses the current used by the appliance plugged into it, and can report that current state back to PowerHome.... allowing the determination of whether the Appliance is turned on or off. It is sensitive enough to tell the difference between fully OFF, ON but in Standby, and fully ON states.
With this state feedback, one can now control the appliance with certainty, even using a "stateless" toggle control means.
I have just ordered the 2435A5, and will post more here once I get it working, in case others face this situation and are looking for a solution.
Edited by GadgetGuy - March 18 2017 at 07:24
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Topic: Controlling the State of a Stateless Dvc
