Modes and boosts
Most of the modes are Indigo variables, so anything in Indigo can switch them — a schedule, a trigger, a control page button, or a presence sensor. The plugin reads them at every heating check. None of them has any effect during the summer shut-off, when the heating check does not run.
Away
For when the house is empty for days at a time.
Set the Away variable to true, or use the Set Away Mode action, and every room is held at 14 degrees, or 16 degrees when it is below 3 degrees outside, to keep the house safe from frost. A room that is overheating is still turned down, and an open window or door still takes its radiator down to 8 degrees. Boost and Both out make no difference while away mode is on. Set it back to false, or run Set Away Mode with Inactive (resume schedule), and the rooms go back to their plans.
The Set Away Mode action runs a heating check straight away, so the change happens within 30 seconds rather than at the next check.
Both out
For a few hours out, when the house will need to be warm again soon.
Set the Both out variable to yes and every room’s target drops by four degrees. Set it to no to go back to normal. It does not change a room with a window or door open, a room turned down for mild weather, or anything while away mode is on.
Guests
- Set the Bedroom 2 guest variable to
trueand Bedroom 2 follows its guest plan, a degree or two warmer, and may go up to 18 degrees rather than 16. - Set the Bedroom 3 guest variable to
trueand Bedroom 3 follows its guest plan. - Either one also puts the Bathroom on its guest plan, which is warmer from 5am to 10am and cooler the rest of the day.
Boost
Set the Boost variable to yes and the living areas get extra heat until you set it back to no:
| Room | Extra |
|---|---|
| Conservatory | 3 degrees |
| Dining Room | 2 degrees |
| Hall Kitchen | 2 degrees |
| Living Room Door | 2 degrees |
| Living Room Front | 2 degrees |
The bedrooms, Bathroom, En Suite, Hall Bedroom and Utility Room are not boosted.
A room is judged against its boosted temperature when the plugin checks whether it is overheating, so a boost is not cancelled just because the room is warming towards it. A room is not boosted while away mode is on.
A room with a window or outside door open is not boosted either. It keeps its open-window setting, so the Dining Room stays at 16 degrees with the garden door open, and goes back to its boosted temperature once everything is shut.
Timed boost
A timed boost adds two degrees to the Dining Room, Hall Kitchen, Living Room Door and Living Room Front for one hour or two, then ends by itself. Start it from Plugins → EvoHome Heating Controller → Start Timed Boost (1 hour) or (2 hours), or from the actions of the same names, which you can put on a control page button.
- Cancel Timed Boost ends it early.
- When it ends, the Event Log lists the temperature each room goes back to.
- A timed boost carries on after the plugin or Indigo restarts, as long as its time has not run out.
- It does not start during the summer shut-off. Use Force Heating On (24 hours) first if you need the heat.
A room that is overheating, or has a window or outside door open, is not boosted, and the boost does not stack on top of the Boost variable.
Snow boost
When OpenWeatherMap forecasts snow or freezing rain in the next 12 hours, one degree is added to every room, and the Event Log says so. You can change the extra, the number of hours ahead it looks, or switch it off, in the settings. The Snow Forecast Detected trigger runs when snow first appears in the forecast.
This needs an OpenWeatherMap key, because an Ecowitt station does not forecast.