Controlling via MQTT

[davea]

I've just received and installed a couple of Faikin units. All seems to work well when using the web UI. I'm trying to get them to accept an external room temperature reading via MQTT but it seems the messages I'm sending are being ignored.

I'm publishing the following, where 20.4 is the current temperature reading and I want the room to be between 23–24°C:

faikin/command/davefaikin/control {"env": 20.4, "target": [23.0, 24.0]}

This is based on this comment on #26

(NB prefixcommand is set to faikin/command, though it also doesn't seem to work with the default command value and a topic of command/davefaikin/control).

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong? Both units are on the latest firmware and both show the same behaviour so I'm sure it's a PEBKAC situation.

Relevant settings:

And the home screen (I'd expect the 20.4 value to show up here labelled Env but it's not there):

[revk]

Err, not faikin/command/davefaikin/control just command/davefaikin/control

Ah, hang on. You changed the prefix.

The system does not match a prefix with a / in it, I thought I had documented that. It splits up at / and then looks to see if the bit before the first \ matches the prefix you have set, so that won't work!

[davea]

Thanks, I hadn't realised / wasn't allowed in the prefix. Set back to default value and it's working as expected now. I thought I'd tried that but apparently not! Thanks for the excellent project/product.

[revk]

I'm updating the help text on the setting anyway. Sorry for confusion.

[serimi89]

I am hijacking this thread because its somehow related:

I am setting the 'env' temperature via MQTT from HA, but only pushing the value when it changes. I notice that the "Env" value disappears from the Faikin WebControl page after a while (maybe 10 min?) - is there a timeout set for the Env value?

Not necessarily a bug, but actually a good fallback - just wanted to know to change my automation accordingly.

Thanks!

[revk]

It expects regular updates regardless. There is a timeout, which might even be a setting you can change (not sure, I'm at coffee).

Otherwise it assumes you have gone away.

[serimi89]

Ok, I set it to send data every minute. thanks!
But there is more...
Let me know if you want me to open a new discussion for this, but I was actually wondering how the env temperature is being used in Faikin.

1. I see the Faikin Auto controls disappear when the env temperature is being used, is there any reasoning behind this?
2. How is the set temp being calculated/used? It seems to me that its target = Home + Env / 2? I never reach the target temperature and changing heatover does not help me achieve it either.

[revk]

Yes, external env control supersedes local "Faikin auto". That is deliberate.

It uses various settings, and works well for me!

[serimi89]

🤣 sorry I will try and dig deeper though..

As you can see on the below graph, the increase of the room temperature is neglectable and the compressor runtime is only a couple of minutes which is not the best for the components either. My question is, can anything be adjusted / set (heatover, etc.)?