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Need advice on seasonable variables


zaphod

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I live in Toronto where we have real winters and last year installed a small pond that has goldfish, etc.  In the summer the pond has a pump/filter that runs to recirculate and clean the water.  In winter the pump is brought inside and a bubbler is put in place to keep the pond from totally freezing.  The outlet that is used for the pump/bubbler is controlled by a C4 switch.

In summer I turn the pump on at sunrise and turn it off at sunset.  In winter I turn on the bubbler when the temperature is below 2C and I turn it off when the temperature is above 2C.

The problem is how to control summer vs winter in the programming.  I had been using the month to control for that - as in "If month = May, June, July, August, September, October or November".  But the problem is that the switchover date is usually not going to be on a month end - for example we are doing the switchover today.

The other way I was thinking of doing it is manually setting a boolean variable called PondSummer.  I would manually go into the Variables Agent in Composer HE and change that twice a year.  The only problem is that it is a manual process and I have to be around to do that.  If I am not around to do that programming that it won't work.

Any other ideas on how to do this?

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What about using outdoor temperature variables to trigger? So you could set a range of temps for “winter” and a range of temps for “summer”.

Because in some places temperatures fall at night And then have a condition inside that saying if summer or if Winter to keep the pond at x temperature

It’s just a suggestion, not too sure if it will Work out

Someone or there may have a seasonal driver which will help your case


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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The temperature is a trigger for the bubbler during the winter but the equipment is physically changed on the seasonal turnovers - the pump is put in for summer and the bubbler removed, and vice-versa for the winter.

But you make a good point.  I should actually run the pump whenever the temperature is at freezing levels during the "summer" season as it wouldn't be good to have water freeze in the pump/filter combo.  At this time of year it might get down to -1 or -2 overnight but it shouldn't be enough to cause too much serious damage - probably not unlike your winters in the UK.

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Please excuse my ignorance, as we don't have the pond freezing issues here in Auckland...So I'm not sure of the physical attributes of the bubbler...
What is the possibility of having both the pump and bubbler permanently installed in the pond?

Have each independently controlled based on temperature/time of year.
You could make sure each runs for at least a short time each week, to prevent any build up inside.
Eliminates the manual task twice per year.

 

 

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Programming to either work on sunset/sunrise or temperature isn't a major issues as such. The only tricky part is the trigger to change the variable.

 

Honestly what I would do is see if there is any way to get a second switch in and split up the outlets, and just have both options running at all time and have the pump run off of one outlet, bubbler on the other. That way it eliminates the need for variables all together....

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