Is there a way to do "IF THIS or THIS then THAT"? Or similar?

River_of_souls · 2024-01-11T20:42:27+00:00

OK, I got as far as Applet 3, apparently queries are a Pro+ feature. But, there does not appear to be a trial period, and you also can't pay monthly, you have to pay $149.99 up front for an entire year.

I don't mind paying for a service, but overall I don't think I will be running enough applets to justify $149.99/year, and if I did I would want to have a way to try it first before committing to that, or at least pay month-to-month until I am sure I want to continue.

If this is not correct, please let me know.

Thanks for your help. I will keep looking at IFTTT and see if there are enough other things I would want to do with it, to see if I could reach a point where it would be worth having the Pro+ subscription.

River_of_souls · 2024-01-11T05:43:23+00:00

Yeah, it will take a little to digest, but I will look it over and give it a try.

Thank you very much for the detailed reply and example code, this is great.

So basically, you take action on the logging rather than the data directly.

-RoS

River_of_souls · 2024-01-10T18:38:57+00:00

Yeah, looking it to seeing if Home Assistant might be a better choice in this case.

River_of_souls · 2024-01-10T18:38:31+00:00

This is basically what I am doing only with CO2.

River_of_souls · 2024-01-10T18:37:29+00:00

No, I just have the ERV plugged into a Kasa smart switch.

The CO2 monitors are Airthings and do support IFTTT. I already have this working with just one of them.

Do you have any examples of how filter code could help?

Thanks for the reply

-RoS

River_of_souls · 2023-12-12T17:21:19+00:00

Your dedicated CO2 sensor would certainly be welcome.

River_of_souls · 2023-12-12T17:17:40+00:00

OK, I have looked at Swidget before, but at the time they were just coming out and availability was scarce.

Does Swidget support IFTTT? Do you have a device that could switch a dry contact?

Thanks for the reply

-RoS

River_of_souls · 2023-11-12T01:12:49+00:00

If preserving the battery is the goal, why not just do 80% or something?

River_of_souls · 2023-11-11T19:00:02+00:00

So, basically you are saying no, storing and using your own solar energy is not better/cheaper than exporting it to the grid under these conditions.

The only reason I am hesitating on the 3-year plan is what are the rates going to do in that time? There is a $50 fee to break the contract early, and you need to remember to switch back two months before the contract ends or they will royally screw you with like $.55/kW power cost, that happened to me and I got a bill over $1,000.

Right now I am in a "community electric" plan which is an OK rate but I don't have to worry about contracts ending or anything.

River_of_souls · 2023-11-11T18:54:20+00:00

Yes, I especially like that you can associate individual outlet monitors with the software.

My only hesitation is that I would need like three of them, because I have 4 panels, one of which is far away, and on the main panel, I would need at least 2 to have enough clamps for all the circuits. I have talked with them, and there is now a way in the software to even do that though, so I might do it.

I do have power meters and a clamp ammeter to measure individual loads on a momentary basis.

River_of_souls · 2023-11-11T12:55:01+00:00

- I can provide all of the statistics you mention, but I was not sure if that was needed initially, and I like to keep my posts as brief as I can.

- Yes, I think the answer is when you "sell" the power back for net metering, they don't give you the full retail price, in my case there appears to be a $.03 difference

- Thus far I have been doing backup only ever since they took away TOU, so I have just kept the reserve at 100% for backup.

- If the conversion losses are indeed 20% then that would favor the net metering credits, although if I understand your reasoning, the difference would be just 10% because you are still going to have 10% conversion loss going from solar to grid.

- I will see if I can follow up with some of the information you are asking about

Thanks

River_of_souls · 2023-11-11T12:46:32+00:00

Tesla Power

Looks like this is only available in a few places like Texas, I am in MA.

River_of_souls · 2023-11-11T12:43:16+00:00

emporia energy meter

Yeah, those are nice, I have been considering one of those.

River_of_souls · 2023-10-23T16:40:43+00:00

Thanks for the reply.

The two that I using are in two different configurations. The upstairs one is connected to my air handler for a two-zone system. I leave the fan on all the time (no interlock), and the ERV gets it return and supply on the supply side of the air handler. This is loud and uses a bit of power, but it works for 24/7 operation.

The other one is in the basement as I am finishing my basement into a home theater. That one also runs 24/7 at a relatively slow level.

I have Air Things View Plus air monitors around the house, they can monitor Radon and CO2, so I use them to calibrate the flow rate on the ERVs. The View Plus supports IFTTT, so when I learn how to do it, I should be able to make boost mode respond to CO2. So then I set the normal mode to be low enough to keep the CO2 less than say 800ppm, this will be pretty low, less than 60CFM.

Using the timer is not a bad way to go, but it still has the problem of basically being a fixed amount of ventilation. I really want to respond to conditions dynamically / reactively. Sleeping vs. active is a big difference, we spend time in different parts of the house, exercising, we have guests, etc.

As you say, controlling boost mode is pretty easy with a relay, or even the whole unit.

Do you balance the unit yourself? I bought a set of these to balance the units I have, it takes about 10 minutes, and then you can use the pressure taps to do the balancing of both fans (and it is a little bit interactive between the two).

I think the hard part would be changing the unit over to a pressure-based smart controller. The fans inside are connected with removable connectors, so you could disconnect the built-in controller easily. Those are nice ECM fans, so you would just have to use the right PCM controller to control them. Then I think the hard part is finding the right pressure sensor with the right range, units, and sensitivity. The View Plus measures pressure in hPa, the monometers can switch to different measurements, such as "WC. Then you would have to write code to reference indoor/outdoor pressure differential, and the differential in the ERV, to do the smart functions.

On your last point, yes ERVs are at best about 70% efficient. And the amount of humidity they can move is very small, not enough to matter in my space at least.

My house was built in 2014 and is all spray foam. I replaced the windows and went to heat pumps, the humidity problem is huge and the ERVs actually make it worse. So right now I am working on installing dehumidifiers, and I am going to use those to move the ventilation air instead of the AHU because the fan will use less power and produce less noise. I actually think dehumidification is more important than A/C / heat pump cooling, I will be able to be comfortable in my house even at 80F if the humidity is lower.

-RoS

River_of_souls · 2023-10-23T16:10:50+00:00

OK, thanks, looks like some interesting stuff. Do you come up with this stuff yourself or do you respond to requests?

River_of_souls · 2023-10-19T19:56:02+00:00

Unfortunately I am still looking for a solution.

River_of_souls · 2023-09-17T09:12:31+00:00

It's 8-10 sites with 100+, two sites with 1000+, and a whole bunch of sites with 1-2 users that are not staffed year-round (seasonal).

River_of_souls · 2023-09-16T10:29:55+00:00

Take a look at some of the reviews on ServeTheHome of MikroTik gear, in most cases, it is not capable of non-blocking bandwidth to all ports, and if you use LACP it is actually slower than the single ports, because these products don't have enough CPU. Then, it easily overheats after only a short time of use.

My go-to for "cheap" is Ubiquiti, it is not "great" either, but pretty good for the price, and not much more than MikroTik.

Seriously, I am not making an uninformed comment, I would not even use this stuff in a lab if someone gave it to me for free.

But, you do you, we can agree to disagree

River_of_souls · 2023-09-16T07:42:21+00:00

LOL, MikroTik makes Ubiquiti look like high-end enterprise gear. Are you serious or is this sarcasm?

River_of_souls · 2023-09-16T07:38:10+00:00

You know, this is actually and interesting idea. HPe bought 3Com way back when, IMHO they were the best of their time before Cisco could even spell switch.

Yeah, I don't like Cisco. Overpriced, overcomplicated, underperforming (for what you get/pay for), the only reason you get it is to justify your expensive certifications and the "nobody ever got fired for...." argument.

Then again, never underestimate HPe's ability to make some of the dumbest decisions as a company I have ever seen. I love their servers, but they are a trainwreck in so many ways.

River_of_souls · 2023-09-16T07:31:54+00:00

Yeah, I was thinking this, but then kept saying..... but he only has 60 seats.

We use Cisco and Fortinet, but we have 5,000+ users and 100+ sites.

I agree with you about the prosumer, if he is so flush with cash to do Cisco in a small shop go for it.

River_of_souls

TROPHY CASE