Smart Valve control - how do I see the offset?

[janchrillesen]

Due to the ongoing authentication issues with the official Tado app I just installed Tado CE and disabled the official Tado app. All in all the migration went smooth, but there's one thing I am missing from the official integration - the temperature offset attribute (offset_celsius). Is there a way to see the difference between the temperature read by the TRV and the room sensor? (I have enabled Smart Valve Control with offset sync). During the heating season we use a combination of central heating and a wood stove, and when the wood stove is fired up the offset can shift a lot, and it's been interesting following. Also it would a great way to see of the offset goes beyond +/- 5 degrees C

[hiall-fyi]

Welcome aboard @janchrillesen , that attribute is in Tado CE too, same name as the official integration (offset_celsius), it's just off by default. Turn on Device Temperature Offsets under Configure → General Settings → Tado Features, and it'll show up on your heating climate entities. It costs one extra API call per device on restart, which is why it's opt-in.

Since you've already got Offset Sync running, offset_celsius shows the offset the integration is currently writing to each TRV, i.e. the correction it's applying to line Tado's reading up with your room sensor. So when the wood stove fires up and the room runs ahead of the TRV, you'll see the offset shift to match, which is exactly the thing you want to watch. Bear in mind it moves in steps rather than continuously (there's a small sensitivity threshold so it isn't writing to the valve on every tiny wobble).

One thing worth knowing: Tado's device-offset limit is ±10°C, not ±5. Alongside offset_celsius you'll get offset_clamped and offset_clamp_direction, which flip to true and hit_max / hit_min the moment the real gap exceeds what the TRV can store. That's exactly the "does it go beyond X" signal you're after.

[janchrillesen]

Thanks @hiall-fyi for the detailed explanation. I have turned on Device Temperature Offset, and reloaded the integration. But the offset doesn't show up. Do I have to wait for the integration to talk to Tado, even after reloading the integration? Does the Internet Bridge option have to be turned on as well (Under Hardware Connections?)

[hiall-fyi]

Two quick answers first: the Internet Bridge option isn't needed for this, and you don't have to wait for anything either. After a reload the integration does a full sync on its first poll, so if it were going to fetch the offset it would have done it by now.

The reason it isn't showing: in 4.1.0 I added a gate so offsets only get fetched when at least one zone has Smart Valve Control or Offset Sync switched on. The idea was to stop the integration reading every zone's offset on restart when nothing was using it. The trouble is I tied it to the wrong thing, so if you turn the display toggle on but no zone has Smart Valve / Offset Sync active, the offset never gets fetched and offset_celsius never appears. The display toggle should be enough on its own. That's a bug, and I'll fix it so the toggle works by itself.

The zone in your screenshot (Kælder pulterrum) has valve_control_active: false, so Smart Valve / Offset Sync is off on that one. One thing worth checking: do you actually have Offset Sync running on any of your zones? If you do, the offset should show up on all your heating zones, including this one, and then something else is going on and I'd want a look. If none of them have it on, that's exactly the gate biting you.

If you want to see the numbers before the fix lands, turning on Offset Sync (or Smart Valve Control) on any one zone will make offset_celsius start showing on all of them. Bit of a heavy workaround for something you just want to watch, so no pressure, the proper fix is coming.

#Joe

[janchrillesen]

I feel really embarrassed now! I was so eager to set things up, that I just added the temp and humidity sensors and didn't on the actual smartvalve functionality. It absolutely works now

[hiall-fyi]

Ha, no need to be embarrassed at all, easy one to miss, and your question was still useful because it turned up a real bug on my side (more below). Glad it's working now. And thank you for the coffees and the kind words, genuinely appreciated.

For what it's worth, once Offset Sync is running on one zone the offset shows on all your heating zones, not just that one, so Kælder pulterrum should be reporting it too now.

The bug your question surfaced: with the display toggle on but no zone actually running Smart Valve / Offset Sync, the offset never got fetched, so someone who only wanted to watch the number (without running the control side) would have seen nothing. That'll be fixed in the next release so the toggle works on its own. Doesn't change anything for you now that you've got Offset Sync going, but thanks for the nudge that led me to it.

#Joe