Here's a little teaser of what I'm working on next!

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Now if only there was something you could put in that beautiful environment…

teaser

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You could see about tapping into one of Open Street Maps’ Overpass API providers to get the building data for the surrounding area along with the elevation. Use that as a heatmap to reconstruct a 3D representation of the world such that people can see how the sun hits their house on a given day. Main caveat to this is that rather than having just the zip code, users would need to provide their actual address. Not sure how much that’d mess things up when taken into account various GDPR aspects. (Then again, I think Beestat just springboards off of Ecobee’s stats and data collection.)

Some information along with API providers: Overpass API - OpenStreetMap Wiki

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So the intention has always been to show how the sun hits your home. I already have the thermostat address and coordinates so that’s done. I hadn’t considered adding any elevation data. I may explore that after I get a version 1 out the door. Definitely useful for users who don’t live in flat countryside.

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I moved to a rural area of East Tennessee about 3.5 years ago. The first thing we realized, was there are no straight or level roads. This area is all hills. Plus we are in an area next to some rather large trees that gives our house shade in the mid-afternoon through evening. Plus, in the winter, the trees are bare so we get sun (albeit semi-obstructed) pretty much all day (when it’s not raining/snowing) - a nice combination. There are a LOT of variables that can change between us and our neighbors (including one 3 doors away at the bottom of the hill that only gets direct sunlight 4 hours in the morning during the summer). Without topo and landscape variables taken into account, (in our area) this feature would not be very accurate.

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That’s great feedback, Tom! I think I have ways to address some of those concerns. Additionally, this feature will be about more than just how the sun hits your home. There’s a lot of insights to be had when looking at a 3d view of your home’s sensor readings even without the sun.

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