Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

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hydrogenetic
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by hydrogenetic »

@r_255 glad to hear that you were able to get the v23 firmware and can control the set points. To the best of my knowledge local radiator updates don't seem to work on any system, my controller doesn't pick them up at all either. I think I could probably program a solution for Domoticz maybe in the future if I get time.

I like the artwork you created will definitely have to tap you up about some new icons etc in the future. I don't yet have a solution for logging the heat demand for each zone so I really need to sort that out, just it will probably take some time to do it. I could then put the little flame icon up if the zone is requesting heat. There may always be a little heat demand while the set point is higher than the ambient temperature, so may need to colour it or something to get the best results.

At the moment the messages used for controlling the system were the ones I decoded from the RFG100. From what I've seen any device can issue one of those messages to the controller and it will just do whatever is requested. You need the controller id but I think that's it. I did think there was a possibility to do a sort of man in the middle scenario where you bind the TRVs direct to Domoticz as a sort of dummy controller and then bind Domoticz to evohome. Generally it would just pass across the messages from the controller but if you put an override in it would keep passing your set point across instead. In summary and to the best of my understanding evohome broadcasts a set of temps and set points to all connected zones every few minutes and the TRVs basically act as a PID thermostat for each zone. So I'm presuming that if you have an external temperature sensor it will update the TRV from the controller so it can set the valve correctly and likewise whenever you adjust your set point it broadcasts it to the TRV. The TRV then sends back the heat demand. I think that's probably why the local override at the TRV doesn't update the controller i.e. not because it wasn't possible but because it already works until the next scheduled set point change by default (they just let it do whatever it does anyway). So until the set point changes it just keeps using the local set point instead and it seems only the TRV actually knows that this happened. The TRV does broadcast the altered set point but the controller doesn't seem to care.

The best solution is to get the right fw of course so nice to hear that you were able to get it all sorted out and got the full thing working :)
hydrogenetic
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by hydrogenetic »

So I swore I wasn't going to do anything more on evohome well actually that was a couple of months ago :roll:

Anyway I modified the firmware to create an evohome compatible temperature sensor. This was just guess work about the messages (used existing temperature message) and the binding procedure but so far seems to work ok. The controller forwards the temperature from the new sensor instead of the TRV and presumably anything bound to the zone can use the reported temperature if required including the TRV which presumably ignores its internal sensor. There could be some missing messages (unknown 1f09 for example) / functionality but its been working ok overnight so should be good enough for anyone looking to play :)

More details are at https://github.com/fullTalgoRythm/Evoho ... Sensor.git this uses a DHT22 for the temperature sensor and an optional tactile button to trigger the binding message.
hydrogenetic
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by hydrogenetic »

Actually it just occurred to me what the 1f09 message means. Initially I saw it comes just before the controller broadcasts its regular update which is usually zone temperature and set points or occasionally the zone settings instead. The payload seemed like it could be the interval between broadcasts ff070d where 070d=1805 or 180.5 secs. I couldn't really confirm this though and when I saw some other 1f09 messages popping up with a different seemingly random payload I thought my original guess was wrong. It just now occurred though that this might be the time to the next broadcast or 1f09 message at least. I checked this out and can confirm it is correct, basically the controller sends a broadcast write 1f09 with f8 in the first byte and the last 2 bytes giving the time in 10ths of a second to the next broadcast message. I also noticed if the TRVs don't hear the controller for a while they start sending a 1f09 request presumably looking for a 1f09 reply giving the time to the next broadcast. That's also why the controller sends it when the temperature sensor gets bound so the device knows how long till the next broadcast of zone temperatures and set points. So the only thing I'm not 100% on is if the regular broadcast with ff in the first byte of the payload is the interval or a countdown. I guess it would be safer to treat this as a countdown though as should be correct in both scenarios then.
r_255
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by r_255 »

i can imagine, its not something that is fun to do... and there are not much people that do understand where you talking about.

lmao .... So you are building your own Honeywell hardware..... :D !
Really great stuff! so i guess in the end even a oregon temp sensor can be injected in the system as temp sensor ( thru domoticz ) ?

I am having one unwilling zone (1xhr80 ), still need to investigate as the two other zones seem to work without any problems.
I might try to swap one hr80 with another zone to see if the hardware is the problem.

Did rebind enough to know that is not the issue, the hr80 in this case accepts setpoints about 2 times and then it becomes unresponsive.
While the evotouch still receives the setpoints right ? It almost makes me wonder if it is the hr80 thats not working correct.

I must really keep on crediting you for going against your own religion ;o)
If there is anything i can make you happy with just let me know and just take your time... as this topic is about 5 years old nobody is in a rush.
I guess most people already gave up and now use something different, guess thats why not so many people respond.

But to me you are a hero!

update:
Okay, it seems that my radiator is in some kind of spot where it interferes with some radio signal and looses connection.
i look forward to try the temp sensor, waiting for the mail man :)
r_255
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by r_255 »

Just a question:
If make a setpoint thru json
http://<my_ip>:8080/json.htm?type=setused&idx=6&setpoint=21&mode=PermanentOverride&used=true

i get this return.

{ "status" : "ERR" }

I have domoticz running on a pi2, with the rfbee.
Is this me, or just as expected ? To be honnest i am not sure what i should expect as return.

Next goal would be to setup a slider in hst and make it slide within the 15-30 range to have setpoint control from within my hst interface.
r_255
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by r_255 »

This is fun!

https://plus.google.com/103500861087395 ... nTvjBJb22i
The sensor firmware works here, and its running wireless :D

Binding went fine without a button with my 1st gen evo touch.

Guess this is evo home made hardware :D

Funny thing is that is now also show 21.7 instead of 22.5, just for testing purposes i dropped the sensor in the fridge, and it went down to 4c but it does it in steps and not all the way at once. Kind of addaptive i guess.
japie101
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by japie101 »

r_255 wrote:Today i got ( thanks to a fellow forum member :) ) the v23 firmware and i can confirm it works with my evotouch, only one thing my hr80's dont get updated .... ! (v2.03)
I am going to have a look, because my setup is fairly old and it might have to do a reconnect.

It sets setpoints to the evotouch with in one or two seconds for each zones, so thats working amazingly fast!
Okay, update... Rebinding did the trick, hr80's are set !!!

this is so cooool!
Hi r_255,

I am currently in the same position as you was, completely set with Evohome and Domoticz, but still on V21, is there any way you could share me the V23 software?

Thanks in advance!
r_255
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by r_255 »

Hi Japie101

Send me a mail at my [nickname] at hotmail.com


Cheers,

Robin
hydrogenetic
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by hydrogenetic »

@r_255 glad someone other than me gave it a go :) I find it really helps with the heat up time in one of the rooms when it's cold out. I already used the internal sensor in the evohome for another room to similar effect which is one of the reasons I wanted to do this.

As far as the Domoticz json goes if you're getting status ERR it's not working. I'm guessing the API was designed to support the front end so you may need everything the same way the front end does it to work correctly. I did try and document some of it at http://www.domoticz.com/wiki/Evohome which is what I'm guessing you referred to but I'm thinking perhaps something is missing now. I think if you can bring up the developer consoler in the browser you can normally see what it's sending for the parameters and do it that way. For example Firefox has a dedicated Network section where you can turn a profiler on/off which then lists all the requests. I just pulled mine up...

http://<my_ip>:8080/json.htm?type=setused&idx=<IDX>&name=<NAME>&setpoint=<SETPOINT>&mode=PermanentOverride&until=&used=true

My guess would therefore be you either need the name entry filled in or a blank until entry but could be a bit of trial and error to see what it does/doesn't like.

I just had a look at your hst interface looks very cool I was interested in doing something like that myself just seems neat to have it all in one place. I was also wondering about a rotatable touch screen temperature control not for any particular reason... just for the hell of it :)
r_255
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by r_255 »

Hey Hydrogenetic!

Still very happy with your solution :)

Well here i did try to do the same and make the evotouch a room sensor but some how its way off and read temps with a +4 degrees.
So your code for the temp sensor it is a perfect solution for me! The only thing i need to do is make it a nice box. But that raises questions about keeping it on a aa battery or make it wired. Guess i need to find out if the battery lasts for a while.

Well the json is working, as the setpoint gets set... only the return is a error, but i could try your code.
Now i have a script running the sets the setpoint based on your wiki. After that i do a json command that requests the device info from domoticz and based on the return data my homeseer device get updated. Still need to work out something functional for my interfaces but thats just a mather of time.

drop me a line if you need some gfx.
japie101
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by japie101 »

Hi hydrogenetic,

Thanks for all your effort so far, I am currently using it with a 1st gen Evohome system, which I upgraded to v23 this weekend.
Everything is working fine, however, I am questining myself if I also should receive statistics from the heating relais BDR91A, as I see this as a device, but it's not giving any real statistics.

See the screenshot below, I would love to also monitor this module to see when it's actually heating and when not.

Image
hydrogenetic
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by hydrogenetic »

@r_255 I was interested in running this off a battery too. I did put the code in which is supposed to reduce the power consumption but I haven't tested it or done any measurements yet. You'd also have to disconnect the UartSBee which will drain the battery and attempt to wire everything straight to the RFBee. The only thing I've determined is that the minimum voltage of the RFBee / ATmega168@8MHz is 2.7 volts so that's probably best run off 2 non rechargeable AA/AAA batteries or will require a dc dc level converter which I assume is what you are using if you only have 1 battery. I'm not sure how much current will be consumed running the step up converter or if a converter will allow you to run it for longer over all (i.e. below 2.7v for any amount of time). I'd be interested to find out how long it will run off a battery / batteries. I did also read if you disable the BOD detection which is designed to protect the EEPROM you should be able to get down to at least 2.4v.

@japie101 I tried to answer you question on the Domoticz forum.
r_255
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by r_255 »

A few years ago i had this workshop and learned to hold a solder iron, it was actually a jeenode workshop :D
So i did order some jeelabs stuff like the battery tray... that comes in handy now.

The board uses an ultra low-drain LTC3525 boost regulator chip which draws only 7.. 30 µA in idle mode
and boosts up the voltage to 3v.

http://jeelabs.net/projects/hardware/wi ... ower_Board

I am running just on your stock firmware, and so far so good.......
I dont have enough equipment ( or idea how ) to monitor the usage, but i am over a month as we speak.

2,4v sounds nice, but then it raises questions about how to get 2,4v in a efficient way ?

Still very happy with the rfbee firmware collection!
RogerdeBeer
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by RogerdeBeer »

I'm new at domoticz, i have an evohome system and a HGI80, also an RFG100.
How can i do the setup,

Anyone can help me out?
r_255
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Re: Evohome / Evotouch Wireless protocol?

Post by r_255 »

@Rogerdebeer

The setup is pretty simple, so makes me wonder if you did read the wiki ?
http://www.domoticz.com/wiki/Evohome

if you are stuck, people on this forum are happy to help you out, but without mentioning a platform or so ever and a open question like yours i have to point you to the wiki.
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