Thermostat works well in Google Home, but not with Alexa

Add-ons Bindings
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1

Dear all,

I defined a thermostat:

//HomeKit syntax
Group Thermostat_Office "Heizung Büro" (Heating_Office) [ "Thermostat" ]
Number Current_Temperature_Office "Ist-Temperatur Büro [%.1f °C]" <Temperature> (Thermostat_Office, Temperatures) [ "CurrentTemperature" ] {channel="zwave:device:5fe6dd01:node3:sensor_temperature"} 
Number Set_Point_Normal_Heating_Office "Solltemperatur Büro Normal [%.1f °C]" <Temperature> (Thermostat_Office) [ "TargetTemperature" ] {channel="zwave:device:5fe6dd01:node3:thermostat_setpoint_heating"} 
String Homekit_HeatingCoolingMode_Office "Homekit Heizungsmodus Büro [%s]" (Thermostat_Office) [ "homekit:HeatingCoolingMode" ]

This configuration works well, and if scan in Google Home, I can see the current temperature, select the set point temperature and ask for the current temperature. This works both in the app and with voice commands. I can also switch the thermostat on (“heat” or “auto”) and off (“off”).

The same device is found in the Alexa app, but not fully functional. It is reconized as a Thermostat. Via voice, I can also choose a set temperature or ask for the current temperature. Still, I cannot choose a mode. When I say (in German) “Alexa, switch the heating off”, it responds “The thermostat heating does not support this”. Also in the app, I see only the device properties, not the UI for a thermostate (choose a set value, check the current temperature, swiching to heat or off).

So while Google does recognize a fully functional thermostate, Alexa has issues. Can someone help?

Alexa App

IMG-20190316-WA0002
IMG-20190316-WA0002.jpg800×1600 45.3 KB

Google Home

Screenshot_20190316-150146
Screenshot_20190316-150146.png526×936 84.5 KB

Just for reference, the thermostat in the Alexa app should look like this:

IMG-20190316-WA0003
IMG-20190316-WA0003.jpg800×1600 44.1 KB

2

May be you need a “channel” for the heating cooling mode?

3

True. This is what the String Homekit_HeatingCoolingMode_Office is for… Still, it does not work.

Can someone confirm that it works for you?

4

Thats a problem with the HomeKit Plugin. Try Tims Version:https://github.com/hap-java/openhab2-addons/releases/
First you must uninstall the HomeKit Plugin via Paper UI, than put Tims Version in the Openhab2 Addons folder, Restart Openhab and set the configurations for HomeKit.

5

Great, thank you. So there is nothing I can do on my side?
I am not in a hurry - so this will be merged to the next builds in the upcoming weeks?

What confuses me: I do not have the homeKit binding installed. Up to now, everything except the issue above worked without it. Should I install it?

6

Hey,

do you have any news on this? I have the same problem. I can set the temperature, can set it to heating but not turn it off.

7

Not sure this is the same problem: I can not set any mode at all, just the temperature.

How did you manage to set the thermostat to heating?

8

@efflicto Have you been successful? Hope did you manage to set it to heating?

Thanks a lot!

9

Could you please quickly comment? Thanks :slight_smile:

10

@peterghome

Dear Peter, I just found time today to work on the issue again: I do not have the HomeKit plugin installed. So can this still be the root cause for my problem…?

Thanks for help!

11

If you haven’t used the HomeKit plugin yet, it can’t help to fix a bug. I was on the wrong track because your configuration said “HomekitHeatingCoolingMode”. We had a similar problem in the Homekit configuration. The thermostat could not be set from Auto to Off. This bug is fixed in the latest version of Tim and now works on the Apple interface.

12

I opened a bug report here.

If someone tells me that the thermostat modes work for her/him, please feed back with a code example, so I could test whether this is a mistake on my side. Thanks!

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