Step control is a form of safety control that ensures your setpoint increases or decreases gradually with a defined maximum rate, preventing any sudden or drastic changes.

• We strongly recommend using it for Heat and Vent setpoints. For instance, with the heat setpoint, you may want the temperature to rise gradually but allow it to drop more quickly. In this case, you can set the maximum increase value to 1°C and the maximum decrease value to 4°C per hour.
• For controls like irrigation, step control is unnecessary if you want changes to take effect immediately. For instance, when adjusting the irrigation rest time, setting it to 0 will trigger irrigation without any delay.

To activate step control, go to the setpoint’s formula editor. You will see a checkbox option below the Formula section called Step control. Simply tick on this checkbox to see the detailed control. Please note that if you are using cases and periods in your formula, this step control will apply to all of them.

Figure 1. Explanation of step control

By default, you can adjust a single value that is applied for both the maximum increase and decrease value.

Figure 2. Single control for adjustment value

If you want more flexibility, click the button at the end to activate the advanced settings, in which you can modify the increase value and the decrease value separately.

Figure 3. Separate the increase and decrease adjustment values

You can choose per hour or per time step for the defined time range. The time step here might be different based on your original setup.

• In most Horticulture accounts, one time step equals five minutes.
• In most Manufacturing accounts, one time step equals one minute.
• The maximum increase/decrease value must be more than 0. (This is a required error prevention, since if you set them as 0, it means your setpoint cannot be change at all.)