SmartAC program end!

[steveb85]

Hey guys, like you all, I’ve been loving this. Just got an email that smart ac program is ending, we can keep the hardwAre, but I assume the site will close down, has anyone got ideas as to how we can keep this project running?

[ckorhonen]

So the hardware and the app (and this homebridge plugin) talk to an API running on SmartAC's servers which now appear to have been shut down.

To restore functionality we're going to have to run an alternate API and have everything talk to that.

We could attempt to contact SmartAC (the company) and see if they would be willing to open source the code for the server, or at the very least provide some documentation around the API. That way, we would be able to run it somewhere else or replicate the functionality.

Since we are probably running homebridge on a NAS or raspberry pi, this would be perfect to distribute as a Docker container, which can be ran inside a home network.

The next challenge would be to get the hardware to talk to the new server. In an ideal world, SmartAC could provide a firmware update for the hardware to allow us to change the address of the server it is communicating with - then we could point it to our own server or have it search within a home network. I'd guess this isn't likely to happen (but still worth asking), so we'd need to trick the devices into talking to our new server - this could be as straightforward as running a DNS server on the network, setting it as the default via the router, and spoofing the DNS entry for the server to point at our Docker container or whatever.

Obviously this all gets a bit complicated, but that would be roughly how you'd keep them running.

[matt22207]

Howdy! Love this plugin!!

Any update on this?

Not sure if you guys got something different, but the email I got was from ConEd, not ThinkEco :

From: Con Edison Smart AC Program <[email protected]>
Subject: The Smart AC Program is Ending
Date: Dec 2, 2020, 2:55 PM

Thank you for being a part of the Smart AC Bring Your Own Device Program! You helped us keep New York cool while protecting the grid.

This program is ending December 31, 2020 and there will be no more Cool Points Hours.

For other ways to save, visit our Marketplace to get rebates on energy-efficient window air conditioners, smart thermostats, and more.

The way I read this is that ConEd is no longer providing free devices or points/rewards, and probably ThinkEco (the company who manufactures the devices, along with running the servers/apps) is not affected.

Does anyone have any other info? Did anyone reach out to ThinkEco ?

If this truly goes away, I was also wondering if we could use a network sniffer to reverse engineer the network comms sent to/from the ThinkEco API and rebuild a new server that has basic functions (get/set temps, turn on/off) on the local network. Probably is harder than it sounds :) .

[joelrichards]

The ThinkEco servers are running. The plugin just doesn't work for me. I can see my modlets on the mymodlet.com website.

[michaeldn]

The ThinkEco servers are running. The plugin just doesn't work for me. I can see my modlets on the mymodlet.com website.

The mymodlet.com site is down and the company appears to be out of business.

[joelrichards]

Dead for me too now. With no LAN functionality these devices are all bricked. Too bad. They were never great but they were something.