Zway-BlindControl

Manages blinds and shades for optimal shading when hot, and insulation when cold. A virtual device will be created for each selected operation mode, that can disable blind control actions.

It is possible to create multiple rules that manage several devices (eg. in different rooms). Rules can be created based on

• Inside temperature
• Outside temperature
• Solar intensity (UV Index)
• Solar altitude
• Solar azimuth

The module supports two operation modes: Shading and insulation. For shading blinds will be closed once all preconditions (in- and outside temperature and solar intensity) match, and the sun shines into a particular window (calculated based on altitude and azimuth). The blinds will stay closed until the sun moves out of the selected area (regardless of the temperature) - either because it set below the selected altitude, or because it does not match the selected azimuth angles anymore.

In insulation mode the blinds will be closed if the temperature and the altitude fall below a certain level. Blinds will be reopened once the solar altitude rises above the selected level.

Configuration

This module depends on the Astronomy module from https://github.com/maros/Zway-Astronomy for calculating the solar azimuth ana altitude.

shade_active

Configures if shading management should be activated.

shade_rules

A list of all rules/devices that should be managed. All selected conditions must match for the blinds to be closed.

shade_rules.temperature_outside

If the outside temperature rises above the selected level, this rule will be activated (optional)

shade_rules.temperature_inside

If the inside temperature rises above the selected level, this rule will be activated (optional)

shade_rules.sun_uv

If the UV index rises above the selected level, this rule will be activated (optional).

shade_rules.azimuth_left, shade_rules.azimuth_right

Select two azimuth levels (0-360°). Rule will be activated if sun is between these two angles.

shade_rules.altitude

Activate rule if sun rises above the selected altitude. (0-90°)

shade_rules.devices

A list of all blinds and shades managed by this rule

shade_rules.position

Desired closing position (0-99)

insulation_active

Sets if low-temperature shade insulation mode should be activated.

insulation_rules

A list of all rules/devices that should be managed. All selected conditions must match for the blinds to be closed.

insulation_rules.temperature_outside

If the outside temperature falls below the selected level, this rule will be activated (optional)

insulation_rules.altitude

Activate rule if sun falls below the selected altitude.

insulation_rules.devices

A list of all blinds and shades managed by this rule.

insulation_rules.position

Desired closing position (0-99)

uv_sensor

Device that measures the UV index. Can be either a physical device (eg. Aeon Labs Multisensor Gen 5) or a virtual device created by the WeatherUnderground module ( https://github.com/maros/Zway-WeatherUnderground )

temperature_outside_sensor

Device that measures the outside temperature. Can be either a physical device or a virtual device created by any weather module (eg. https://github.com/maros/Zway-WeatherUnderground )

temperature_inside_sensor

Device that measures the inside temperature. If you want to use the average temperature of multiple sensors, you can use the SummarySensor module ( https://github.com/maros/Zway-SummarySensor )

Virtual Devices

This module creates two virtual binary that enables/disabled the shade and insulation behaviour. The devices will only be created if the respective rules are enabled in the configuration.

Events

No events are emitted.

Blind controller always listens to security.smoke.alarm and security.smoke.cancel events (these events are usually emitted by ( https://github.com/maros/Zway-SecurityZone ). In case of a smoke alarm all blinds managed by the controller are automatically opened.

Installation

Make sure that the Astronomy module and BaseModule is installed prior to installing this module ( https://github.com/maros/Zway-Astronomy and https://github.com/maros/Zway-BaseModule)

The prefered way of installing this module is via the "Zwave.me App Store" available in 2.2.0 and higher. For stable module releases no access token is required. If you want to test the latest pre-releases use 'k1_beta' as app store access token.

For developers and users of older Zway versions installation via git is recommended.

cd /opt/z-way-server/automation/userModules
git clone https://github.com/maros/Zway-BlindControl.git BlindControl --branch latest

To update or install a specific version

cd /opt/z-way-server/automation/userModules/BlindControl
git fetch --tags
# For latest released version
git checkout tags/latest
# For a specific version
git checkout tags/1.02
# For development version
git checkout -b master --track origin/master

License

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.