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Automating a window AC (lemmy.zip)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So I have my AC connected to a smart plug and I'm trying to figure out what would be the best way to go about automating it.

Currently, I have it set to run every hour on the hour for 20 minutes if the time is between noon and 8 p.m. Which covers the hottest part of the day.

However, what I could do is have it run every other hour instead and have a couple of night runs along with the daytime runs.

Doing it that way would eliminate most of the 16-hour period currently that exists between the ending of one day and the beginning of the next.

Edit: Also, is there an easy way to automate every other hour using the time pattern or would I manually have to set up triggers for 2am, 4am, 6am, 8am, 10am, etc. using the fixed values?

Edit 2: looks like i can use "/2" to accomplish that

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago (12 children)

Hard power cycling your AC unit is bad for it and may eventually kill it. The fan needs to run for a bit after the compressor turns off. This affects large ACs more than small ones, but it may cause damage after a while. If your AC unit has an RF remote, I'd recommend using something like a Broadlink unit to control it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (10 children)

Unfortunately, it's got no kind of remote at all. It's a physical dial to turn it on to high low or fan high low and a physical dial to turn up or down the temperature setting.

That's why I got a smart plug for it to begin with because there were times when I would fall asleep at like 10 p.m. and wake up at 3 a.m. with the damn thing still running.

It is only a 550 watt unit, but I was not aware that hard power cycling it like that would eventually hurt it. So at least thanks for that information.

[–] couch1potato 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Idk how complicated the internal wiring is but maybe a solution here is a pair of shelly relays. One for the ac and one for the compressor fan. Then you could turn them on/off separately over wifi based on whatever logic you come up with.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

@couch1potato @shortwavesurfer yeah this is where you start to have the hard decisions. If it's an old unit, you might be better off overall with a new Midea, from the reduced noise and energy consumption alone. And those can be directly controlled by HA.

Or you can treat your current unit like a beater and run it into the ground first with the switched outlet.

Or you can get a longer life out of the current unit by buying remote controlled relays and wiring them in where the existing switches are.

All three options have their pluses and minuses.

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