Thermostat options

[rhosch]

So Lutron based on functionality? 

I guess where thermostat wires are ran now could just be hidden in wall if needed and the wireless HVAC receivers used. Guessing that wouldn't be cheap for 5 of them. What is the wiring for the seetemp controls?

The Lutron branded Honeywell tstats look ok but not great. Venstar colortouch looks better obviously. No experience with that?

[Dean Roddey]

The Lutron option's biggest advantage probably is if you are generally using RA2, since you have one stop shopping for a number of things and the thermos are just part of that, and it's all retrofit friendly and pro quality.

If you are just thinking of using RA2 for a single thermostat the benefits may sort of wash out, I dunno.

[rhosch]

It isn't obvious searching and reading older threads what the current status of the Nest is and whether that is still an option.

There is a thread from last year about Google killing the current API and forcing migration from nest to Google cloud accounts, and it reads like that would kill Nest for cqc and that Dean wasn't optimistic about using the new ecosystem.

An older thread, from 2017 or so, talks about the new v2 driver using the cloud API. The current device driver doc section talks about using the cloud API.

So, does cqc still function with Nest through the current Google cloud account? 

And more generally, I'm struggling to figure out what the benefit of cqc speaking to thermostats are. I understand that in general cutting down on the number of unique "smart apps" managed from say a phone is desirable, but a thermostat is something we don't seem to mess with a lot and especially with a good learning or programmable thermostat I wouldn't think we should.

Maybe there is something I'm missing though?

[kblagron]

And more generally, I'm struggling to figure out what the benefit of cqc speaking to thermostats are. 

You apparently don't have a wife that likes it a different temperature than you do. 

Outside of that, I use it with a triggered event to adjust the thermostat settings when the Elk Alarm is set for Away, and again when the alarm is Disarmed.  I also have the Echo Integration set up so that I can ask Alexa what the temperature is, and she can give me both the current thermostat temperatures for the RCS thermostats I have along with the outside temperatures that I have wired to it.

[rhosch]

The more I read the more I like about the Nest thermostats, but would like the option to get information from tstat into cqc. It does sound like triggered events would be helpful in some cases too... maybe more reliable than say the Nests built in geofencing.

So, is that still possible with Nest in its current state?

[sic0048]

I also use the RCS TR48/TR16 thermostats. While they are not going to look like a modern thermostat that is all touchscreen, they don't look bad and they are ROCK SOLID.

The RCS controller is hardwired into the HVAC unit. This controller is where the serial connection to CQC originates. The actual remote thermostat is wired with simple thermostat wiring (ie it doesn't require a cat5 wire etc).

[rhosch]

So, is Nest currently broken for cqc, or not?

[Dean Roddey]

I don't know. Maybe for existing customers who had their accounts already set up it may be OK, but possibly not for new ones?