Feature request: Night mode

[siljelb]

First of all, thank you for this excellent project!

My MSZ-LN35VG2W is working great with the basic functionality, but it also has a "night mode" which makes the outdoor unit quieter. I'd love to be able to set this automatically from HA instead of having to do it manually. Is this feasible to implement? Whether as a fan mode or maybe as a separate switch?

[echavet]

Sure it's possible through an automation:
It would look something like this:

action: climate.set_fan_mode
data:
  fan_mode: QUIET
target:
  entity_id: climate.esp32_hp_clim_sejour

[echavet]

But I did not test

[siljelb]

The "night mode" apparently isn't a fan mode as such, but a separate parameter of some sort. I've just tested specifically, and none of the states or parameters currently visible in HA change when I turn on and off night mode:

Night mode off

hvac_modes:
  - "off"
  - cool
  - heat
  - fan_only
  - dry
  - auto
min_temp: 10
max_temp: 31
target_temp_step: 1
fan_modes:
  - auto
  - low
  - medium
  - high
  - middle
  - quiet
swing_modes:
  - "off"
  - both
  - vertical
  - horizontal
icon: mdi:heat-pump
friendly_name: Varmepumpe
supported_features: 425
current_temperature: 21.5
temperature: 21
fan_mode: auto
hvac_action: heating
swing_mode: "off"

Night mode on

hvac_modes:
  - "off"
  - cool
  - heat
  - fan_only
  - dry
  - auto
min_temp: 10
max_temp: 31
target_temp_step: 1
fan_modes:
  - auto
  - low
  - medium
  - high
  - middle
  - quiet
swing_modes:
  - "off"
  - both
  - vertical
  - horizontal
icon: mdi:heat-pump
friendly_name: Varmepumpe
supported_features: 425
current_temperature: 21.5
temperature: 21
fan_mode: auto
hvac_action: heating
swing_mode: "off"

[siljelb]

Closed in error.

[phidauex]

Is this just set from an IR remote control? Or is this a standalone thermostat that connects using the CN105 port on the indoor unit? If it is set from an external thermostat, then it may be possible to determine the serial command associated with it, but since this all has to be reverse engineered from scratch, someone would have to setup to do the logging while the commands are sent. Some examples of this type of debugging are in this PR: #166

[siljelb]

It's set from the IR remote; apart from the ESP32 I don't have anything to connect to the CN105. I tried something I read in a different issue, setting READ, DECODER and LOGS to DEBUG while sending the command, but I don't know whether this achieves anything like what you're describing? In any case, here are the debug logs where I turned "night mode" on and off again three times immediately after the "19:36:11" log entry.
debug_log_nightmode.txt

[melyux]

It seems like a preset that's not actually a distinct mode on the unit. Mine has "econocool" like this, where it just sets the temperature up 2 degrees and turns on swing. So it might be something you handle at the Home Assistant level, and/or as a preset for the climate entity.

[somlefant]

It seems like a preset that's not actually a distinct mode on the unit. Mine has "econocool" like this, where it just sets the temperature up 2 degrees and turns on swing. So it might be something you handle at the Home Assistant level, and/or as a preset for the climate entity.

It does something more though:
Indicator lights on the indoor unit is dimmed and beep sound is turned off. In "night mode" the indoor unit acknowledges new input from the remote by blinking the lights two times instead of beeping.

Instead of "econocool" the MSZ-LN35VG2W/MSZ-LN25VG2W have the "circulator" function which is supposed to turn off the outdoor unit when the target temperature is reached and in "HEAT" mode. Very useful during winter and when using other heat sources like a wood stove. Is this logic handled in the remote itself? I suppose that this behavior is easily implemented at he HA level.

[siljelb]

Additionally the outdoor unit will have a lower noise level in night mode, which is my main reason for wanting to control this feature from HA. As far as I can understand, it does this without changing the set temperature.

I agree the "circulator" mode is more conceptually similar to the "econocool" mode that other units have, and I guess it could easily be emulated in HA by an automation switching between "heating" and "fan only" based on the set temp vs measured temp.