Thermostat problems

Been having some problems with my thermostat. I have 2 problems. First, when both geo-service devices leave my fence, the temperature doesn’t turn down as set. Second, not sure why, but occasionally, the schedule isn’t applied, like tonight, at 11pm, it should have turned down. I open my alarm.com account and had to open the heat schedule setting and click set for it to turn down.

I know there was a problem previously with using two phones for a geoservices rule. One issue is due to the fact that the ADC app service does not automatically start upon turning on the phone, thus the geo service is only running if you have opened the ADC app (and haven’t stopped it using an app-killer) I do not believe the previous app update addressed this but can check. Try opening and logging in on both phones, then leaving the fence.

When a rule does not properly function, the first troubleshooting suggestion would always be to recreate and save the rule again, sending the schedule again.

Temporary signal interruptions or malfunctions in the zwave network may also be possible.

Is there any pattern to the times when the schedule does not function or is it random?

Some new info as of today. I woke up to a nice toasty house, because the schedule didn’t apply last night. I turned it down manually before leaving the house and was going to re-save the schedule, but I also noticed I didn’t get my system unarmed alert. So now my question is beyond the zwave thermostat, but is there an issue with alarm.com or my 2GiG panel that is possibly the root cause of my periodic thermostat and alert problems? Possibly a cell module/signal issue? Can you advise of any logs I can review?

When you say a nice toasty house, does that mean 1. your temperature exceeded your current set-point, 2. your set-point and temperature matched but the set-point did not match any spot on your schedule, or 3. your set point and temperature matched but it matched a prior point in the schedule where the temp was set to be higher?

2 is the situation, but I believe it’s happening with 3 also, but haven’t kept close track since it’s periodic. Happened again tonight. at 11pm, target temp should be 62, but it’s 1114pm and target temp is still set to the manual override temp of 67.

When in relation to that 11PM mark did you manually set the temp outside the schedule? Did it ever revert to the scheduled 62? If so when did this occur? If not, can we test that to see if this is a delay experienced (possibly due to the manual switch.)

The schedule should still function as expected of course, but I want to narrow down the cause.

yes, the schedule is set to increase temp to 66 at 430pm. Usually someone in the house is cold and bump it up to 67 manually, which it normally reverts back to 62 at 11pm. On this day, the extreme temp -1 deg override may have been in effect, which is from 10pm to 10am, but I can’t precisely recall

So I am clear on this, you are noticing this schedule failure every once in a while and without any intervention from you (deleting, recreating, resaving schedule in ADC, etc) it eventually rights itself and goes back to the schedule?

If this is the case that is strange, and leads me to believe one of two things is happening.

Either the signals strength between the panel and the thermostat are borderline problematic and once in a while an error occurs, or there is some manually triggered event occurring which causes it to delay. You mention that someone might manually increase the temperature fairly often and it still subsequently follows the schedule properly, it is likely signal related, but is this manual change using the ADC app or changing it at the thermostat?

How far away from the panel is the thermostat? Do you have any other Zwave devices in between to repeat the signal? And is the thermostat installed with the “C” terminal connected (requires at least a 5-conductor wire) to deliver 24vAC power, or is it just running off of battery?

Failure is intermittent, but when failure does occur, I usually fix it by logging into alarm.com and saving my schedule again.

When manually overriding the temp (at the panel or via app) it normally reverts back to schedules without issue, but not after one of the scheduled changes fails.

Thermostat is 6 inches from panel. Running on battery, didn’t know there was a powered option.

I see, the 24VAC is less of an option and more of a necessity. Battery operation severely limits the Zwave transmission, which under normal circumstances would likely not be causing too much of an issue, given it is that close to the panel. However, the battery voltage is dropping as it runs, and if the device is just running on battery all the time, there’s no telling what signals would be missed.

In a five wire configuration, you would attach the C (typically a blue wire is used) on the HVAC to the C on the thermostat.

Curious what brand and model of thermostat are you using?

I’m using the 2GIG CT100. Still on battery. I think the app updates since my post have fixed the Geo-fence issue, but honestly, I kind of gave up ‘testing’ and just set the temp to drop on a daily schedule instead of relying on the SmartAway feature to know that no one is still home. So if someone IS home on a weekday, have to manually turn it back up.