jaunty tusk
I want to upgrade my aging split-type AC. It used to be controlled by a cheap IR remote requiring line-of-sight and it's been under HA control for a few years now. I want something that can be purchased in Eastern Europe (Romania, specifically) with the following caveats:
- it should absolutely not be automated over wifi unless it is something that works fine without internet and without its dedicated app (just an API to be used in HA, rest, mqtt, custom tcp)
- RS232, RS485, modbus, IR, ISM RF - unencrypted or broken
- I don't care if it's a bang-bang type as opposed to an inverter
- I must be able to control it to go to max cooling (if it's an inverter) from a dedicated setting, not a 16C temperature setting.
- I should be able to feed it the sensed temperature from a HA sensor, or at least give it a value that relates to the required cooling capacity (for inverter style ACs). I'm fine calibrating PIDs or writing formulas to do it. Every inverter type AC i've seen seems to magically know the ambient value without being updated by the RC. I fear they are getting the ambient value from the air inlet sensor
- I should be able to send the "compressor on/off" message for bang-bang ACs from HA, somehow. This means the unit will switch to ventilation once the lower threshold is reached, the compressor will stop, and importantly the inside unit will not beep. Same for the "compressor on" message, once the upper threshold is reached, the compressor will start, refrigerant flow is set to cooling and again the inside unit will not beep. This is how the stock remote does it, by sending 3 minute updates with a specific message.
This feels like I want an AC with a thermostat like apartment gas boilers have (an RC controllable relay that shorts a contact, when told to, over RF, by the thermostat). Probably harder with inverter ACs, which will need to be told the user desired cooling capacity. I work with sensitive RF equipment at home (HF), so inverters are even undesirable.