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IR Communication

The default Tasmota firmware variants include support for IR send/receive for a limited set of protocols (see IR Remote commands).

Tasmota uses the IRremoteESP8266 library that supports numerous protocols. Each protocol consumes some memory, especially air conditioner protocols (up to 81k of flash size). Also, every protocol included increases the time to decode the IR signal.

There are two additional Tasmota firmware variants that provide almost all IRremoteESP8266 protocols. This requires disabling some other features to keep code size manageable.

  • tasmota-ir is pre-packaged for IR bridge devices such as Automate Things IRBR, Eachen or YTF. Choose tasmota-ir if you are using an IR blaster.
  • tasmota-ircustom is used if you want to customize your features (additional sensors, language, etc.). See compile your own firmware.

You can flash the binary or upgrade your existing one.

To test that you have the correct firmware on your device issue the following command in the web UI Console:

IRHVAC {"Vendor":"xx"}

The output should be a list of the supported protocols/vendors. For example:

RESULT = {"IRSend":"Wrong Protocol (RC5|RC6|NEC|SONY|PANASONIC|JVC|SAMSUNG|WHYNTER|AIWA_RC_T501|MITSUBISHI|DISH|SHARP|DENON|SHERWOOD|RCMM|SANYO_LC7461|RC5X|NEC_LIKE|NIKAI|MAGIQUEST|LASERTAG|CARRIER_AC|MITSUBISHI2|HITACHI_AC2|GICABLE|LUTRON|PIONEER|SAMSUNG36|LEGOPF|INAX|SONY_38K|EPSON|SYMPHONY|HITACHI_AC3|DOSHISHA|MULTIBRACKETS|CARRIER_AC40|MIDEA24|ZEPEAL|METZ|ELITESCREENS|MILESTAG2|XMP|BOSE|ARRIS|COOLIX48|KELON168|DAIKIN200|CARRIER_AC128|TOTO|CLIMABUTLER|TCL96AC|SANYO_AC152|DAIKIN312|GORENJE|WOWWEE|CARRIER_AC84

See Codes for IR Remotes.

Sending IR Commands~

Send an IR remote control code as a decimal or hexadecimal string in a JSON payload. In order to send IR data, you must configure one of the free device GPIO as IRSend (8). Neither GPIO01 nor GPIO03 can be used.

Command Parameters
IRSend<x> <x> [optional] = number of times the IR message is sent. If not specified or 0..1, the message is sent only once (i.e., not repeated) (default)
>1 = emulate a long-press on the remote control, sending the message <x> times, or sending a repeat message for specific protocols (like NEC)

{"Protocol":"<value>","Bits":<value>,"Data":<value>,"DataLSB":<value>,"Repeat":<value>}

"Protocol" or "Vendor" (select one of the following):
RC5, RC6, NEC, SONY, PANASONIC, JVC, SAMSUNG, WHYNTER, AIWA_RC_T501, MITSUBISHI, DISH, SHARP, DENON, SHERWOOD, RCMM, SANYO_LC7461, RC5X, NEC_LIKE, NIKAI, MAGIQUEST, LASERTAG, CARRIER_AC, MITSUBISHI2, HITACHI_AC2, GICABLE, LUTRON, PIONEER, SAMSUNG36, LEGOPF, INAX, SONY_38K, EPSON, SYMPHONY, HITACHI_AC3, DOSHISHA, MULTIBRACKETS, CARRIER_AC40, MIDEA24, ZEPEAL, METZ, ELITESCREENS, MILESTAG2, XMP, BOSE, ARRIS, COOLIX48, KELON168, DAIKIN200, CARRIER_AC128, TOTO, CLIMABUTLER, TCL96AC, SANYO_AC152, DAIKIN312, GORENJE, WOWWEE, CARRIER_AC84

"Bits":1..64 = required number of data bits
    for PANASONIC protocol this parameter is the the address, not the number of bits

"Data":0x1..0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF = data frame as 64 bit hexadecimal.
    e.g., IRSend {"Protocol":"NEC","Bits":32,"Data":0x8166817E}
Or
"DataLSB":0x1..0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF = data frame as 64 bit hexadecimal with LSB (each byte with bits reversed).
    e.g., IRSend {"Protocol":"NEC","Bits":32,"Data":0x8166817E}
DataLSB comes handy with LSB-first (Least Significant Bit First) protocols like NEC, and makes decoding/encoding easier.

"Repeat":0..<x> if 0 send the frame once, if >0 simulates a long press; Note: "Repeat":1 sends the message twice.

"Channel":x [optional] to specifiy which channel to use. You can use up to 16 channels and they are defined when you define the GPIO.

Alternatively, you can send IR remote control codes using RAW command encoding.
See also SetOption29 - Set IR received data format
SetOption38 - Set IR received protocol sensitivity
SetOption58 - IR Raw data in JSON payload

Sending IRHVAC Commands~

Command Parameters
IRHVAC Send HVAC IR remote control code as JSON payload

IRHVAC {"Vendor":"Mitsubishi_Heavy_152", "Power":"On","Mode":"Hot","FanSpeed":3,"Temp":22.5}

"Protocol" or "Vendor" (select one of the following):
LG, COOLIX, DAIKIN, KELVINATOR, MITSUBISHI_AC, GREE, ARGO, TROTEC, TOSHIBA_AC, FUJITSU_AC, MIDEA, HAIER_AC, HITACHI_AC, HITACHI_AC1, HAIER_AC_YRW02, WHIRLPOOL_AC, SAMSUNG_AC, ELECTRA_AC, PANASONIC_AC, LG2, DAIKIN2, VESTEL_AC, TECO, TCL112AC, MITSUBISHI_HEAVY_88, MITSUBISHI_HEAVY_152, DAIKIN216, SHARP_AC, GOODWEATHER, DAIKIN160, NEOCLIMA, DAIKIN176, DAIKIN128, AMCOR, DAIKIN152, MITSUBISHI136, MITSUBISHI112, HITACHI_AC424, DAIKIN64, AIRWELL, DELONGHI_AC, CARRIER_AC64, HITACHI_AC344, CORONA_AC, SANYO_AC, VOLTAS, TRANSCOLD, TECHNIBEL_AC, MIRAGE, PANASONIC_AC32, ECOCLIM, TRUMA, HAIER_AC176, TEKNOPOINT, KELON, TROTEC_3550, SANYO_AC88, RHOSS, AIRTON, HITACHI_AC264, HITACHI_AC296, HAIER_AC160, BOSCH144, YORK

"Model": Some HVAC have variants in protocols, this field allows to specify the variant, see detailed list.
  • Fujitsu_AC: ARRAH2E|ARDB1
  • Panasonic_AC: LKE|NKE|DKE|JKE|CKP|RKR
  • Whirlpool_AC: DG11J13A|DG11J104|DG11J1-04|DG11J191
"Power":
  • On, Yes, True, 1
  • Off, No, False, 0
"Mode":
  • Off, Stop
  • Auto, Automatic
  • Cool, Cooling
  • Heat, Heating
  • Dry, Drying, Dehumidify
  • Fan, Fanonly, Fan_Only
"FanSpeed":
  • Auto, Automatic
  • Min, Minimum, Lowest, 1
  • Low, 2
  • Med, Medium, Mid, 3
  • High, Hi, 4
  • Max, Maximum, Highest, 5
"SwingV": vertical swing of Fan
  • Auto, Automatic, On, Swing
  • Off, Stop
  • Min, Minimum, Lowest, Bottom, Down
  • Low
  • Mid, Middle, Med, Medium, Centre, Center
  • High, Hi
  • Highest, Max, Maximum, Top, Up
"SwingH": horizontal swing of Fan
  • Auto, Automatic, On, Swing
  • Off, Stop
  • LeftMax, Left Max, MaxLeft, Max Left, FarLeft, Far Left
  • Left
  • Mid, Middle, Med, Medium, Centre, Center
  • Right
  • RightMax, Right Max, MaxRight, Max Right, FarRight, Far Right
  • Wide
"Celsius": temperature is in Celsius ("On") or Fahrenheit ("Off")
"Temp": Temperature, can be float if supported by protocol
"Quiet": Quiet mode ("On" / "Off")
"Turbo": Turbo mode ("On" / "Off")
"Econo": Econo mode ("On" / "Off")
"Light": Light ("On" / "Off")
"Filter": Filter active ("On" / "Off")
"Clean": Clean mode ("On" / "Off")
"Beep": Beep active ("On" / "Off")
"Sleep": Timer in seconds
"StateMode":
  • SendOnly (default)
  • StoreOnly
  • SendStore

Controlling ACs with toggle fields~

Some ACs such as Airwell, Whirlpool and others use a differential IR protocol for some properties. If "power" is a toggle property, then value of '1' in the protocol will mean "turn off" if the AC is currently "on" and it will mean "turn on" if the AC is currently "off". This could also be the case for other properties such as "light", "swing", etc. Since Tasmota and IRRemote8266 send and receive absolute states (i.e. the HVAC JSON object has a field called 'Power' not 'PowerToggle'), some functionality was added to keep track of the predicted state of the AC. This way, if the predicted state is in-sync with the actual state, the device can transmit a correct IR packet to transition the AC from the previous state to the desired state. This logic is controlled by the StateMode HVAC property. If your AC IR protocol sends absolute values you can ignore this property. If your AC has a differential protocol Tasmota will be able to control the AC assuming the Tasmota IR device has at most one differential AC in IR range. If you would like to also control your AC with the physical remote your Tamsota IR device will need to have an IR receiver so that it can sync with the actual state.

If at some point the state in Tasmota and the actual state get out of sync, you can specify StateMode=StoreOnly to update Tasmota with the actual state. This will update state but not send an IR command.

Normally when receiving an IR command via the IR receiver the command will be processed and the state will be updated. As a result it is not needed to store state when sending as it will cause duplication and the toggle will happen twice. The most common operation mode, and default, therefore is StateMode=SendOnly.

If your Tasmota device does not have an IR receiver you can still control a differential AC with it by specifying StateMode=SendStore but you will not be able to use a physical remote without loosing sync between the actual and predicted states.

Receiving IR Commands~

If you have an IR receiver, a message will be logged each time an IR message is seen. IR driver will try to decode the message against all supported protocols. If unrecognized, the "Protocol":"UNKNOWN" will be shown. In this case, the "Data" field contains a hash of the received message. The hash can't be used to send the a message, but the same hash will be produced by the same message.

An inexpensive IR sensor such as a TSOP1838 can be connected to a device running Tasmota. Configure a free device GPIO as 'IRrecv (51)'. When Tasmota receives an IR message, the data portion of the payload has the same format as the IRsend parameter.

{"IrReceived":{"Protocol":"<value>","Bits":<value>,"Data":<value>}}

This JSON payload data can be used in a rule such as:

ON IrReceived#Data=<value> DO <command> ENDON

If the data is received on an unknown protocol use SetOption58 1. See here.

Examples:
Pioneer Vol+
MQT: tele/tasmota/IR1/RESULT = {"IrReceived":{"Protocol":"PIONEER","Bits":64,"Data":"0xA55A50AFA55A50AF","DataLSB":"0xA55A0AF5A55A0AF5","Repeat":0}}

Pioneer Vol-
tele/tasmota/IR1/RESULT = {"IrReceived":{"Protocol":"PIONEER","Bits":64,"Data":"0xA55AD02FA55AD02F","DataLSB":"0xA55A0BF4A55A0BF4","Repeat":0}}

Toshiba (NEC): Channel 1
MQT: tele/tasmota/IR1/RESULT = {"IrReceived":{"Protocol":"NEC","Bits":32,"Data":"0x02FD807F","DataLSB":"0x40BF01FE","Repeat":0}}

Toshiba (NEC): Channel 2
MQT: tele/tasmota/IR1/RESULT = {"IrReceived":{"Protocol":"NEC","Bits":32,"Data":"0x02FD40BF","DataLSB":"0x40BF02FD","Repeat":0}}

Toshiba (NEC): Channel 3
MQT: tele/tasmota/IR1/RESULT = {"IrReceived":{"Protocol":"NEC","Bits":32,"Data":"0x02FDC03F","DataLSB":"0x40BF03FC","Repeat":0}}

As you can see above, "DataLSB" are easier to decode than "Data". The third byte contains the command, and the fourth byte is the third with all bits reversed.

Example of HVAC message:
MQT: tele/tasmota/IR1/RESULT = {"IrReceived":{"Protocol":"MITSUBISHI_HEAVY_152","Bits":152,"Data":"0xAD513CE51A08F705FA02FDC03F08F700FF807F","Repeat":0,"IRHVAC":{"Vendor":"MITSUBISHI_HEAVY_152","Model":-1,"Power":"on","Mode":"auto","Celsius":"on","Temp":22,"FanSpeed":"medium","SwingV":"off","SwingH":"off","Quiet":"off","Turbo":"off","Econo":"off","Light":"off","Filter":"off","Clean":"off","Beep":"off","Sleep":-1}}}

MQT: tele/tasmota/IR1/RESULT = {"IrReceived":{"Protocol":"COOLIX","Bits":24,"Data":"0xB25F78","DataLSB":"0x4DFA1E","Repeat":0,"IRHVAC":{"Vendor":"COOLIX","Model":-1,"Power":"on","Mode":"auto","Celsius":"on","Temp":22,"FanSpeed":"medium","SwingV":"off","SwingH":"off","Quiet":"off","Turbo":"off","Econo":"off","Light":"on","Filter":"off","Clean":"on","Beep":"off","Sleep":-1}}}

RSL: RESULT = {"Time":"2019-09-09T21:52:35","IrReceived":{"Protocol":"PANASONIC_AC","Bits":216,"Data":"0x0220E004000000060220E00400032C805F06000EE0000081000089","Repeat":0,"IRHVAC":{"Vendor":"PANASONIC_AC","Model":2,"Power":"on","Mode":"auto","Celsius":"on","Temp":22,"FanSpeed":"medium","SwingV":"auto","SwingH":"middle","Quiet":"off","Turbo":"off","Econo":"off","Light":"off","Filter":"off","Clean":"off","Beep":"off","Sleep":-1}}}