change of heating mode possible (heating, away, party,...)

[socrates324]

Hi!

I just realised my boiler uses an OpenTherm room thermostat and I'm looking into hooking it up to my home automation.

The "feature" of the current room thermostat I use the most is changing the heating mode.

As shown in this manual there are several modes to choose from:

• party mode
• holiday mode
• heating off
• ...

does the gateway provide an interface to select / change the heating mode?

PS: kudos to everyone involved in this. Truly amazing what can be done with open standards!

[hvxl]

Those modes are just room setpoints that override the normal schedule, possibly for some limited amount of time. This can be simulated by sending appropriate TC=## commands to the OTGW at the desired times. But that only works if the thermostat supports setpoint changes via Opentherm (ID9). I have not yet received a log file for your thermostat, so I don't know if it does. Unfortunately, most thermostats don't.

Opentherm MsgID 99 has been defined to switch heating modes. My guess is that your modes map as follows: party = comfort (3), holiday = reduced (4), off = protection (5). timed = no override (0), or auto (1). These Opentherm modes don't automatically end like your party and holiday modes do. And once again, this MsgID must be supported by your thermostat for it to have a chance to work at all. The OTGW doesn't currently have any method to utilize this feature.

[socrates324]

Hi hvxl - thanks for your swift reply!

I have not provided any log files as I do not have an OpenTherm gateway yet. But your reply left me confident enough that I just bought one. Shipping 3-30 days ... we'll see.

If I get this up and running without further assistance I will provide the log file. Maybe I can also capture the data exchanged between the remote control unit and the boiler when setting e.g. "Party Mode".

Thanks again and have a nice day!

Cheers,
Soc

[hvxl]

I realized you probably don't yet have an OTGW. What I meant was that nobody else has uploaded a file for the same model thermostat so far. That could have given you some clues about the chances the thermostat supports any of the mentioned functions.

[socrates324]

Fair enough.
The link above is actually not from my device, it was merely the first mention of „party mode“ in an Opentherm device in English I could find.

My device is a MHG Meisterlinie EcoGas“ which from the looks of it seems to be similar or identical to an Intergas device. At least the front panel is the same:

https://www.intergasheating.co.uk/app/u ... ECO-RF.pdf

This is the corresponding remote control unit I have installed:

https://downloads.acv.com/RSC%2BZMC1_sp ... 060925.pdf

Does this shed some further light?

Thanks in advance,
Soc

[hvxl]

That doesn't look like it's an Opentherm thermostat.

[socrates324]

Ok, today I’m out of luck with English versions of German manuals

The troubleshooting section of my heaters manual lists „no values on the OpenTherm display unit RSC-OT“ so I‘m crossing my fingers that it is indeed an OpenTherm device.

I guess time (and the freshly ordered gateway) will tell. But I‘ll keep your advise in mind in case I can‘t get establish communication.

[hvxl]

The manual you showed was for the RSC (no suffix) in combination with a ZMC 1. But now you mention that you actually have an RSC-OT. That does appear to be an Opentherm thermostat (the OT suffix is a clue). I found a Dutch manual that seems to confirm that.

If you can't find the correct manual in English, it's more useful to provide a correct manual in German than to point to a manual for a different device in English. A wrong manual causes confusion. And most Dutch people can understand some German anyway.

[socrates324]

I see your point.

On the other hand - as this is an english speaking forum I didn't want to assume that everyone also understood German. But I concur that a lot of dutch are pretty amazing as far as German is concerned.

I opened up the remote control unit and the label also states "RSC-OT". So I wait for the gateway to arrive and give it a try. Many thanks so far and I hope I may ask you / here again in case I need further advice.

Have a nice week,
Soc