I just put a window air conditioner in my sons room and this was a cheaper one with a manual on off switch and no on/off delay timer built in. So I thought great I can finally use a Wyze plug. Ordered one online and now I’m running into some usage issues. We’re trying to lower our electric cost so we don’t run windows units all day and night.
At first I set it to go off at 12am in case he cools room down before bed then falls asleep and leaves it on all night.
This showed me 2 problems.
I can’t set a time for it to come back on because if he had fallen asleep and not flipped the AC switch to off then when the plug comes back on so will the AC. I don’t think there’s much that can be done here other than not setting an on schedule and he will just need to use the manual power button on the switch.
This is my biggest problem. He’s a teen and sometimes doesn’t go to bed to 1am, 2am etc. so it’s impossible for me to set an off schedule on the plug. I figured ok the best option is to set a runtime schedule instead. Since the plug unfortunately can only detect its own status and not that status of the device plugged into it (be great if it could detect actual power being drawn yes/no) we could just always leave the AC switch set to on, then manually turn the plug on and id have it set to turn off if on for say 2 hours.
But the Wyze software to my surprise doesn’t have a time to turn off if on for some long. You can set a timer but not from the time it comes on, just a random timer that activates that moment you start it. I checked IFTTT and oddly enough there are no turn off triggers “if on for x amount of time” there either.
Anyone have any tips and tricks I could use here? Hate to pay over $100 more for a window unit that has the digital features such as a delay on/off timer on it.
I’m not sure I’m totally clear on the details of your application, but there is an “if on for x amount of time” rule that you can use to turn the Plug off after it has been on a given amount of time.
So what I’m thinking is you leave the A/C unit on full time on its panel. Then you use the Plug to actually turn it on and off. The kid presses the button on the side of the Plug to turn it on, and the A/C unit fires up. You write a Rule that says if the Plug is on xx amount of time, then turn off the Plug.
One thing about this bothers me, and that is to thwart the whole operation all they have to do is turn it back on, or eliminate the Plug. Also, can’t the A/C unit’s temperature control be used to limit time running, like cool only if it is above xx degrees?
You are absolutely correct I did not see the rule to turn off after x amount of time. I just found it and I should have looked a bit deeper than I did.
Your right though, he can always turn it back on or bypass the plug altogether. So this solution comes with some human interaction and trust as well. Luckily though I’m not having an issue with him trying to bypass things or skirt my concerns, just a forgetful kid who will fall asleep with it on and have it running all night.
This unit may or may not have a thermostat that kicks it on/off (super basic and cheap) but even if it did, my home is over 115 years old and lacking outside wall insulation, it would be kicking on non stop. With electric cost today I’m just trying to keep everyone comfortable enough to fall asleep without breaking the bank all throughout the night.
There aren’t any options for notifications on Plug status, but you can start a Wishlist item for that if you like.
However, you can trigger some other device based on status. For instance, turn on a signal light when the Plug is turned on, and turn off the light when the Plug is turned off. You would have to dedicate that light to signal duty to have that work well.
Oh yea, the thermostats in windows acs are terrible… I have a simmaler setup on my own AC, just so I can use voice control with it. Hoping to find a better temp sensor to use as its Tstat
What’s the power draw for this ac unit? I’d put this in the same category as say a space heater where the power draw may be more than the plug can handle. The AC unit may not draw that much, I am not sure, but just wanted to point this out because I don’t want you to be anywhere near it being a fire hazard.
