Feature Requests & Suggestions

[petarlaf]

Hi,

I've just got this up and running thanks to your help with issue #33 .

I have a few suggestions / requests and would love to hear your thoughts on them:

1. Since the migration from BDR Thermea to Azure, the backend and apps across most (if not all) of their brands are the same. What I am saying is, your app here is now no longer just 'remeha' - it's actually an app for all BDR Themrea brands. In short, you can actually use your app to out of the box to also control Baxi heat pumps/boilers etc. And HA does not actually have another integration for this - you are the only one :) https://community.home-assistant.io/t/baxi-txm-rxm-10c-opentherm-thermostat-ha-integration/358612 - latest 10 posts or so

2. Would it be possible to add hvac mode cooling?. And in fact, is the only way I can make it 'cool' - auto is misleading and actually can only be used for heating in my case :(

3. Would it be possible to add a preset_mode = manual? This is where you manually set the desired temperature and it does not follow a schedule. It will allow for a lot more control in HA (e.g. change temperature based on price of electricity etc etc), than relying on the schedules.

5. Would it be possible to add the boiler boost function? It's essentially activating the boiler on demand out of schedule in case you need hot water.

All 2,3,4 above are available in the remeha app by default for me. I've added some screenshots and can provide more data when needed.

[m4v3r1ckNl]

Great requests - following.

[msvisser]

Hi @petarlaf,

Thanks for all of the suggestions, let me go over them one by one.

1. I'm aware that BDR Thermea has multiple brands, and it does seem like they all share the same backend API. The only difference seems to be the login URL. I will have a look if I can update the integration to support other brands such as Baxi.
2. I have not seen this screen before in my Remeha Home app. I think it is specific to the heat pump appliance, which I don't have in my home. I would need to get some information on the API calls made when setting it to cooling mode before I could implement it.
3. Manual mode is already implemented for the integration, but it under the poorly named "heat" option of the climate entity. I originally built the integration for my gas based heater, which cannot cool, so "heat" seemed appropriate. Maybe I can change it to the "heat/cool" mode in Home Assistant when a heat pump is detected.
4. (5?) In the main API call I see some fields hinting at a boost mode for tap water, but I don't see how I would activate this from the Remeha Home app. So I don't have the required API call to implement this right now.

So for 2 and 4 I will need some extra information about the required API calls. For 3, I can have a look at making the user interface more clear. And as for 1, I will put this on my todo list.

Best regards, Michiel

[petarlaf]

Hi Michiel,

Thanks for quick reply :)

1. Actually even the login is the same. Try downloading "My Baxi App" and login with your Remeha credentials. It will work out of the box. In fact, my appliance is BAXI and I use your integration without changing anything.

2. Happy to support with this - but might need some instructions on how to sniff the API traffic.

3. Ahh interesting. I tested now and indeed - once I select "heat" it goes to 'manual mode'. Funnily enough, this seems to also select 'cooling' for me - but not sure if its because its my last used operational mode? In any case, I think this should move into 'preset mode' and be renamed (rather than under operating mode). Otherwise, how would you select e.g. cooling manual or auto manual.

4. As per 2 - let me know.

[msvisser]

Hi petarlaf,

1. Interesting to know that Baxi also works by simply logging in through the Remeha login. I will probably still have a look at integrating the different login domains for different brands, but it's good to know for testing.
2. Sniffing the traffic can get quite involved, as it requires a rooted Android device, or using an emulator. I used this guide from mitmproxy to get all the traffic from an emulator running the Remeha Home app. Let me know if this is something you would be able to do, and are interested in pursuing.
3. I don't think moving manual mode into the preset makes sense. It would be confusing in combination with the clock program selection that is in there now. Instead I think it would make more sense to add a "heat/cool" mode for auto manual and a "cool" option for cool manual. Implementing this would require some API information about switching between auto manual and cool manual.
4. See 2.

Best regards, Michiel

[petarlaf]

1. Fair enough :)

2. Ah wow that is quite involved indeed. If you already have everything set up - it might be easier to share a set of credentials with you to sniff the APIs yourself from my setup? Let me know?

3. Hmm happy to discuss - but the manual mode really is about being able to manually set the temperature (instead of following a pre configured schedule). It works in combination with hot/cool rather than instead of. So you might want to set your system to "25 degrees (manual) in cooling mode". And from an HA point of view, it then allows you to do stuff like "if thermostat X (not the one from remeha/baxi, but a separate custom one like Aqara) >25 degrees, set manual 22 degrees cooling mode". Does that make sense? For example ,this is how it worked in the previous versions for Baxi - https://github.com/freitdav/BDRthermostatHA

4. As per 2

Thanks, Petar

[petarlaf]

Hi Michiel,

Just wanted to check in if you've had a chance to consider some of the things above?

In addition, after using this for a while, I'm now even more certain that 'manual' mode needs to move from a "mode" to a "preset". This is how it looks atm:

So if I want to actually set 'cooling' mode on 'manual' temp setting - it would be impossible.

[francesco-cambiaso]

Hi @petarlaf and @msvisser , I confirm that I used your app out of the box to control my De Dietrich heat pump. De Dietrich is another BDR Thermea brand that recently migrated to the new cloud backend. They have very similar thermostats and mobile apps: https://www.dedietrich-heating.com/index.php/products/product_ranges/control_panels/smart_tc_connected_room_thermostat https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bdrthermea.application.dedietrich&hl=en_US

And they even share the same bugs, for example I'm experiencing looong delays in the hot water temperature updates ( https://github.com/msvisser/remeha_home/issues/39 ), both with this HA integration and with the official mobile app.

[jamiepentland]

I just wanted to chime in on the DHW boost function request. I also would be grateful for this function to be added so I could trigger the boost mode through HA automations.

I have attached a small screencapture of how I access the boost function from my iPhone app. The first tap is on the Hot Water card on the dashboard. The Hot Water screen has three modes — Comfort (always on), Schedule, and Eco. On Schedule or Eco, you can hold the button to boost (e.g. put it into DHW Comfort Mode) for 1 hour.

Hope this is helpful, but if there is something else I can do to help unbox the function, please let me know and I'll try my best.

https://github.com/msvisser/remeha_home/assets/36909613/ccec5371-906b-4551-88fa-a3251cbfdb4f