Using "Advanced Editor" to Change Nest ECO setpoints (Proxy for Vacation Mode)

[Sig]

I've just switched all my thermostats from Ecobee to Nest.  I believe the Ecobee is a more advanced and flexible thermostat, but the Ecobee plugin for Vera was unreliable so that, coupled with personal preferences on design, prompted me to make the switch.  I've been a bit disappointed in some lack of flexibility with the Nest, but the most annoying issue is not having the equivalent of a vacation hold (or an "extended" away). 

I have two homes, and when I leave one, I [used to] switch it to some cool/setpoints that were broader than the eco setpoints you would normally set when you just leave your home to go to work, or run an errand, etc.  This was done easily on the Ecobee with only a couple of commands using the Advanced Editor.  The Nest offers the Eco setpoints, but those are for short-term vacancies from your home.  The Nest also offers "emergency" setpoints that override the thermostat when it's turned off, to prevent pipes freezing, etc.  However, those are hard-limited on each end to much colder/hotter temperatures than I would want for a vacation hold.  So, bottom line, there isn't a simple setting to put the Nest into a long-term Away, or vacation, mode.  My only options are to let the Eco temps take over, or to shut off the thermostat completely.  The former would result in over-heating/cooling the house in my absence (wasting energy), and the latter would be letting the house to get too hot in the summer - my vacation home is in the desert so I keep the A/C set to 88 when it's not occupied.

That was a long explanation for my question...can I use the Advanced Editor in the Scene Editor to change the Nest Eco heat/cool setpoints?  This would allow me to set the temperatures I want for extended absence, and then put the thermostat into Eco mode, which is equivalent to a "hold" that shuts down the auto home/away functionality.  I could then reset to more normal Eco setpoints when I return to the house, and then let the auto home/away functionality resume.

I see a lot of commands for the Nest device in the pull-down list in the Advanced Editor, but I don't have a clue what most of them do.  Is there a comprehensive list of the commands and their arguments floating around somewhere?

[Bogdan M.]

I've just switched all my thermostats from Ecobee to Nest.  I believe the Ecobee is a more advanced and flexible thermostat, but the Ecobee plugin for Vera was unreliable so that, coupled with personal preferences on design, prompted me to make the switch.  I've been a bit disappointed in some lack of flexibility with the Nest, but the most annoying issue is not having the equivalent of a vacation hold (or an "extended" away). 

I have two homes, and when I leave one, I [used to] switch it to some cool/setpoints that were broader than the eco setpoints you would normally set when you just leave your home to go to work, or run an errand, etc.  This was done easily on the Ecobee with only a couple of commands using the Advanced Editor.  The Nest offers the Eco setpoints, but those are for short-term vacancies from your home.  The Nest also offers "emergency" setpoints that override the thermostat when it's turned off, to prevent pipes freezing, etc.  However, those are hard-limited on each end to much colder/hotter temperatures than I would want for a vacation hold.  So, bottom line, there isn't a simple setting to put the Nest into a long-term Away, or vacation, mode.  My only options are to let the Eco temps take over, or to shut off the thermostat completely.  The former would result in over-heating/cooling the house in my absence (wasting energy), and the latter would be letting the house to get too hot in the summer - my vacation home is in the desert so I keep the A/C set to 88 when it's not occupied.

That was a long explanation for my question...can I use the Advanced Editor in the Scene Editor to change the Nest Eco heat/cool setpoints?  This would allow me to set the temperatures I want for extended absence, and then put the thermostat into Eco mode, which is equivalent to a "hold" that shuts down the auto home/away functionality.  I could then reset to more normal Eco setpoints when I return to the house, and then let the auto home/away functionality resume.

I see a lot of commands for the Nest device in the pull-down list in the Advanced Editor, but I don't have a clue what most of them do.  Is there a comprehensive list of the commands and their arguments floating around somewhere?

Hello Sig,

At the link below you'll find a list with most of the commands and the values you can use for them:

http://wiki.mios.com/index.php/Luup_UPnP_Variables_and_Actions

Hope this helps.

[therealdb]

Sig, I disabled the auto away/home feature, since I want to control it better. I change the Nest Mode based on house mode, tied to my alarm. I have a specific scene bypassing the House Mode when very cold, so I guess you could write something very similar, using the device variables suggested by Bogdan.

[Sig]

Thanks, both, for your replies - much appreciated.

@bogdan,  I guess where I remain stuck is controlling the Eco setpoints on the Nest.  That's what I really need to make this work.  It seems I can fairly easily put the thermostat into Eco mode (I don't need the advanced editor to do that), but unable to change those eco setpoints to other values (and then set them back to normal values when I occupy the house).  I'm not seeing a command in this list that specifically refers to a second set of setpoints - my assumption is that the setcurrentsetpoint command will only affect the current operating setpoints, and that there's no way to specify the Eco setpoints.

@therealdb, while manually controlling home/away could be one part of the solution, it would still require modification of the Eco setpoints, as I would want them to be further apart when I'm _completely_ away from one of my homes (as opposed to just temporarily away). 

[therealdb]

That's what I do. Echo means I'm really away (ie vacation). Otherwise, I set the temperature with some code. But you'd be able to do it via a scene as well.