Moving On

It looks like DIY Zoning & Home Climate Control Forum is the best place for status updates, and Home Climate Control page on GitHub is the best place for reference information.

Hence, there will be no new posts on this blog, and only items of historical interest will be retained. All the guides and HOWTOs will be migrated to DZ Wiki on GitHub one by one.

See you there.

Reminder: remove calendar stored credentials when switching HVAC modes

If you've just switched from heating to cooling (or the other way around for those down under), the first run of the system will use the calendar credentials stored by Google calendar client library in ${HOME}/.dz/calendar/StoredCredential, and your system will try to use the wrong schedule (that is, if you followed our advice and are using two different calendars for heating and cooling).

Just move that file away, or remove it altogether - DZ will present the credentials screen next time the calendar needs to be consulted.

Early Access: Google Calendar API v3 Integration

Google shut down Calendar API v2 and v1 today, replaced by v3. v3 is not a drop-in replacement for earlier versions, changes are required.

BEFORE

You specify credentials either as a part of configuration (permanently), or via JMX (after server startup).

NOW

First time, DZ starts an external browser with OAuth callback URL, you choose credentials to use, grant the permission to use them, DZ stores the token (not credentials) until it expires. Afterwards, calendar updater reads the token and proceeds without requiring a browser.

CODE CHANGES

Get the current version from Github. Release will be following shortly.

CONFIGURATION CHANGES

You need to remove credentials from the configuration.

BEHAVIOR CHANGES

The only change you should notice is how to make DZ understand that you want to change the account associated with the calendar. Remove ${HOME}/.dz/calendar/StoredCredential file to make DZ request authentication again.

Upcoming release: DZ 3.6.6

This is a cumulative release combining over two years of bugfixes.

Summary:

• Google Calendar access code brought to compliance with current API behavior (more secure);
• Improved XBee devices stability, analog sensors are no longer susceptible to noise;
• "Return to schedule" functionality is now accessible from mobile devices.

Surprisingly, there's nothing else, other than known problems (which are apparently too rare or too minor to matter).

If there is something that is bothering *you* - now is time to speak up so it gets addressed and included into this release.

Competition: Next Nest: Short Take

Lo and behold, the new Nest is here.

20% thinner.

Can't resist from thinking - when does it become so thin that oversized fingers of the contemporary user base will start smudging the walls?

On the positive note: latest version of Nest Mobile on Android doesn't require the right to discover accounts on the device. And indeed, the base layout is significantly better.

UPDATE: Who would've thunk it, they now sell wall plates to prevent the walls from being smudged.