CT-Mike Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 So I worked with @AK1 yesterday to add some new capabilities and components to my system. Andrzej is great to work with and I highly recommend him for those looking for some remote help. Anyhow, he added the Weather Underground and Cumulus drivers but I am at a loss on how to use these. It appears I need to obtain an API for WU. On the WU website it appears that I need to throw up a web server to be able to get an API. I know my QNAP NAS can do this, but I have absolutely no idea how. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 you don't need a server - you just need an API key which you can get when you register as a developer. Once you have that key you put it in the driver, then you put in long and lat and it will give you the stations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 When I go to WU's website to obtain an API, filling out the website field field is a mandatory entry. Can I just throw in Google.com? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I haven't seen them do any validation.....Let's say that I have seen random data in there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 Awesome, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 So I was able to generate an API key and I put that into the system. Now it seems a dealer has to actually select the local PWS for me? I have emailed Andrzej with the info. Strange that I can enter the key in Composer HE, but the tab to select a weather station is greyed out for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 are you set long and Lat, there is a driver action that runs to populate that dropdown. you select from the dropdown your location and then it populates the grayed out fields. No matter the version of composer you are using... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 I have Lat and long entered, I did "Get Stations," but on Properties tab, next to "Driver information," "Stations retrieved - select one from list" is greyed out. Tried swapping Lat and Long with no luck. When I swap Lat and Long I get " No stations found" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 sounds like its struggling with your long and lat - you may need to have a neg in one space depending on where you live... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 I do have a negative sign in front of the longitude. I live in CT: -71.9823, 41.4258. Those are the coordinates I have entered. I might have figured part of it out. When I launch Composer HE, the following message box pops up: Property Invalid Error creating property: 'Weather Station: Station Selector' The exception thrown was: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. I have no idea what this means other than something is wrong with the weather station selection portion of the driver. I take it this is something a dealer will have to correct? Thanks for all the help, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 12 minutes ago, CT-Mike said: I do have a negative sign in front of the longitude. I live in CT: -71.9823, 41.4258. Those are the coordinates I have entered. I might have figured part of it out. When I launch Composer HE, the following message box pops up: Property Invalid Error creating property: 'Weather Station: Station Selector' The exception thrown was: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. I have no idea what this means other than something is wrong with the weather station selection portion of the driver. I take it this is something a dealer will have to correct? Thanks for all the help, Mike sorry, idk what that means either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 Andrzej straightened me out. Helps to be running the same version of HE as my OS. Duh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 So now that C4 is pulling forecasts from the local weather station, how do I go about programming using data from WU? I currently have two zones of heat and AC, a pellet stove, and radiant floor heat in the master bath integrated into my project. I would like to do some weather dependent HVAC programming, but have no idea how to go about doing this? Thanks, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 There are some variables attached to the weather underground "thermostat" that you can use in programming. They appear when you press the expand button on the weather underground thermostat on the left (for events - when something changes) and right (for actions - you will use if statements) of Composer when programming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c4toys Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 I use precipitation changes to turn ON and OFF sprinkler system.. IF the last 2 days have any precip. sprinkler don't run.. NOTE I have a notification send when sprinklers are running to confirm sprinklers ran or not... Also use temp changes to switch ac mode, heat or cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howieumd Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 On 2/2/2016 at 0:47 PM, CT-Mike said: So now that C4 is pulling forecasts from the local weather station, how do I go about programming using data from WU? I currently have two zones of heat and AC, a pellet stove, and radiant floor heat in the master bath integrated into my project. I would like to do some weather dependent HVAC programming, but have no idea how to go about doing this? Thanks, Mike Just wondering, what kind of pellet stove do you have, and how is it integrated into your project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 @howieumd, I have a Hampton GCI 60 pellet insert. I have a C4 t-stat wired up for a millivolt style system. Basically I bought a 24vac fan relay from an HVAC supply house, wired the coil of the relay to the stat, and the normally open contacts to the thermostat inputs on the pellet stove. Easy peasy once @Cyknight straightened me out with the diagram below. Works great, the only drawback I can see is the igniter will wear out faster as it will cycle more, but I figure that's a small price to pay considering I am burning a lot less pellets, and the stove will automatically run on a programmed schedule. You do need to provide a 24vac supply to the stat, but that's easy enough to do. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thermostat with Transformer.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howieumd Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 3 minutes ago, CT-Mike said: @howieumd, I have a Hampton GCI 60 pellet insert. I have a C4 t-stat wired up for a millivolt style system. Basically I bought a 24vac fan relay from an HVAC supply house, wired the coil of the relay to the stat, and the normally open contacts to the thermostat inputs on the pellet stove. Easy peasy once @Cyknight straightened me out with the diagram below. Works great, the only drawback I can see is the igniter will wear out faster as it will cycle more, but I figure that's a small price to pay considering I am burning a lot less pellets, and the stove will automatically run on a programmed schedule. You do need to provide a 24vac supply to the stat, but that's easy enough to do. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thermostat with Transformer.pdf Thank you. I'd love to set this up with mine. The wife is always complaining that it's making the room too hot! LOL. I have a Harmon Accentra 52i Pellet Insert. I wonder if it can be setup the same exact way. @Cyknight, have you heard of anybody doing this with Harmon's? Thank you both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Looking at the install manual for your stove, it appears to have an internal thermostat. I would think you would be able to unwire that and hook up a C4 stat in its place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 1 hour ago, howieumd said: Thank you. I'd love to set this up with mine. The wife is always complaining that it's making the room too hot! LOL. I have a Harmon Accentra 52i Pellet Insert. I wonder if it can be setup the same exact way. @Cyknight, have you heard of anybody doing this with Harmon's? Thank you both. Not specifically, I briefly checked it's install manual, and doing this model might take quite some doing, as it seems you'd have to bypass the unit's own circuit board - but like I said, I just browsed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howieumd Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 1 hour ago, Cyknight said: Not specifically, I briefly checked it's install manual, and doing this model might take quite some doing, as it seems you'd have to bypass the unit's own circuit board - but like I said, I just browsed. Sounds like a lot of work, LOL. I'm surprised they don't make them more easily adaptable to thermostats. It's one of their newer models too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 It's not the amount of work - it's that you'll be messing with their panel, thus voiding warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Mike Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 So I am still struggling a bit with programming against the Weather Underground data. I would like to program my pellet stove/HVAC settings against outside air temperature. For example, if the forecast is for temps below a certain set point, turn on the pellet stove and set to 70 degrees F an hour or so before we get up in the morning. Something similar for the two AC zones and radiant floors in the master bath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turls Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Have you had your remote dealer look at your programming? Kind of hard to know what the issue is without seeing a screenshot. I know I have programmed successfully off of it, but it has been a while. But somebody here might see something if I don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Indeed... I have programmed against rainfall values without a problem (basically I irrigate or don't based in rainfall in the last 24 hours). I also did this some months ago but am happy to comment on any screenshots. I do have one problem though. Every time my controller reboots I have to re-select my Weather Underground station in Composer. If I don't do this, I get nonsense data. Does anyone have a work around for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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