Enhancement: Support heat pump heating

[rubillos]

Placeholder for planned future feature.

[pbryan7]

I just got RV-Bridge working in my 2022 Entegra Vision XL 36A (I'll work on uploading a config file). My unit has 2 A/C's, 2 Gas Furnaces, and the Heat Pump option on the Front A/C. Through firefly/VegaTouch it has 2 thermostat zones (front & rear). The rear has A/C and Gas Furnace. The Front has A/C, Heat Pump, & Gas Furnace. Pretty close to max complexity on the HVAC. I'm happy to help in any way I can to get the HeatPump working through RV-Bridge.

[rubillos]

That's great! If you send me your config file I'll add it to the project. As for the heat pump, it's hard for me to code that as we don't have on in our RV. Could you take pictures of the "G7 Panel Outputs" screen on your FireFly system in 4 states? - Off - A/C cooling - Heatpump heating - Furnace running That would let me see what your system needs for the various modes. Thanks, Randy

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On Jan 29, 2024, at 2:48 PM, pbryan7 ***@***.***> wrote: I just got RV-Bridge working in my 2022 Entegra Vision XL 36A (I'll work on uploading a config file). My unit has 2 A/C's, 2 Gas Furnaces, and the Heat Pump option on the Front A/C. Through firefly it has 2 thermostat zones (front & rear). The rear has A/C and Gas Furnace. The Front has A/C, Heat Pump, & Gas Furnace. Pretty close to max complexity on the HVAC. I'm happy to help in any way I can to get the HeatPump working through RV-Bridge. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#5 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AEPDOX3SIPXVHQFGQLG2DMLYRARLDAVCNFSM6AAAAAA3VYSQWGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTSMJVG4YDSNRSHE>. You are receiving this because you were assigned.

[pbryan7]

So I actually have a G12 not a G7, but all the output numbering seems to work the same.

Here's a pic of the overall outputs, next time I'm out at the RV I'll try to get pics of the different modes working, but it seems the heat pump is just another numbered output like the A/C Compressor or Furnace Enable (See output #10)...

[rubillos]

Good to know, that’s kind of what I was expecting.HomeKit doesn’t have any concept of a heating system with 2 different heaters. It could either be done with a separate switch that selects the furnace or heat pump, or a whole other “thermostat” for the furnace where the two thermostats turn each other off. Thoughts?RandyOn Jan 29, 2024, at 5:43 PM, pbryan7 ***@***.***> wrote: So I actually have a G12 not a G7, but all the output numbering seems to work the same. Here's a pic of the overall outputs, next time I'm out at the RV I'll try to get pics of the different modes working, but it seems the heat pump is just another numbered output like the A/C Compressor or Furnace Enable (See output #10)... 20240126_194321.jpg (view on web) —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you were assigned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[pbryan7]

Ultimately I'm hoping to create some automatons around the thermostat, possibly connecting the RV-bridge to a Home Assistant instance...

Ideally, I'd be able to choose either Heat Pump, or Furnace, or both (I think it will work that way through the screen). I don't have a strong preference on how that would be accessed... Maybe it would make the most sense to have switches that would enable/disable the heating devices actuated by the main thermostat?

[rubillos]

Hadn’t considered both at the same time… is that possible? I don’t see anything in the RV-C spec that would allow that. Would be great if you could confirm in the coach that that actually works.RandyOn Jan 29, 2024, at 7:04 PM, pbryan7 ***@***.***> wrote: Ultimately I'm hoping to create some automatons around the thermostat, possibly connecting the RV-bridge to a Home Assistant instance... Ideally, I'd be able to choose either Heat Pump, or Furnace, or both (I think it will work that way through the screen). I don't have a strong preference on how that would be accessed... Maybe it would make the most sense to have switches that would enable/disable the heating devices actuated by the main thermostat? —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you were assigned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[rubillos]

And just a note: you can create more automations with HomeKit than what the Home app allows. Something like the Eve app allows more complex automations to be created without needing Home Assistant.RandyOn Jan 29, 2024, at 7:04 PM, pbryan7 ***@***.***> wrote: Ultimately I'm hoping to create some automatons around the thermostat, possibly connecting the RV-bridge to a Home Assistant instance... Ideally, I'd be able to choose either Heat Pump, or Furnace, or both (I think it will work that way through the screen). I don't have a strong preference on how that would be accessed... Maybe it would make the most sense to have switches that would enable/disable the heating devices actuated by the main thermostat? —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you were assigned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[pbryan7]

OK, so I tested it today... you can definitely have both the heat pump and furnace on at the same time. Works both through the screen in the unit, see screenshots below, and through the phone app.

Heat Pump Only:

Heat Pump + Furnace:

[rubillos]

Thanks, that's great info! I think I know how this is handled now. I'll get something coded up and we can see. (Note: I'm traveling for the next 2 months, so it will be a bit before I can get to this).

[rlust]

I just ordered the Copperhill board and be trying to integrate with my 2022 Entegra Aspire. I am currently using a pi with a can board and Home Assistant. Would love to be able to control my thermostats. Look forward to any progress with this project.

[pbryan7]

Thanks, that's great info! I think I know how this is handled now. I'll get something coded up and we can see. (Note: I'm traveling for the next 2 months, so it will be a bit before I can get to this).

Just checking in to see if there are any updates on this one...

[pbryan7]

I was able to play with this a little this week... After looking at the RV-C spec, and seeing that for a given thermostat instance the 'heat' mode is actually the heat pump (if available), and not the furnace, it gave me an idea that I could potentially make multiple thermostat entries in the config file.

The good news is that it seems to actually be working... I'll have to play a bit more, but in a few tests today, I was able to choose to turn on & off the A/C, Heat Pump, & Furnace separately...

In my case I have Front & Rear roof A/C (only the front has a Heat Pump), and I have front and rear propane furnaces.

I set up 4 thermostats like this:

const ThermostatDeviceRec thermostatList[] = {
0, 9, 11, 12, 0, 10, "Front Roof",
1, 13, 15, 16, -1, -1, "Rear Roof",
0, 9, 11, 12, 2, 39, "Front Furnace",
1, 13, 15, 16, 3, 2, "Rear Furnace"

Ideally there would be a way to define the furnace only thermostats, I wasn't sure what I should do with the A/C side of the furnace entries, so I just replicated the roof a/c instances & output numbers, but it seems to work fine. You can see my output #'s in the photos above... Notice I used the instance # of 0 for both the A/C & Heat items in the first thermostat, that is the key to accessing the heat pump.

Might be a little hacky, but so far seems to be working, at least in my unit (2022 Entegra Vision XL)...

[shaferz]

Good stuff. We are acquiring a new Brinkley that is coming with the firefly control system. All 3 roof units have heat pumps, plus the propane furnace on top of that. I've already got the ESP32 board, wiring connectors, etc. Rig should be delivered in early October, so hoping by the end of October, I've got some time to really play around with this. 😎