climate question

[_if_]

Hi guys,

I plan to install 1-wire temperature sensors in every room of my house. Now I have a floorheating system and want to add electrical actuators for every seat valve and switch them on and off by X10.
Now if I add an advanced event where I set the needed temperature this should work well. (if sensor<20 switch X10 on...)
But is there any way to set the temperature at the orbiters instead of typing it into webadmin? Does the climate-plugin provide funktions for that?

thanks a lot
IF

[hari]

not yet.. but that should be quite easy to add to the climate plugin

[_if_]

was that a "quite easy for Hari" or a "quite easy for _IF_" ?

but seriously, what has to be done to make that work?

[mkbrown69]

_IF_,

Keep in mind, X10 is not the most robust PLC communications protocol out there, and it's not a closed loop system (meaning that commands are merely tossed onto the wire and are not acknowledged).  So, if your heaters are on, and the off command doesn't make it through, things could get quite toasty!  You'll want to make sure you embed retry logic into your events to resend the command periodically, or use a technology that does support ACK of commands and query status commands (INSTEON, UPB, Z-Wave, etc).

Most of the home automation lists I'm on recommend that you NOT control anything with X10 that can burn your house down if the off commands don't make it through; similarly, they don't recommend it for cases where a life could depend on it (your reptile cage, fish tank, etc).

HTH!

/Mike

[_if_]

Hi Mike,

OK I keep that in mind, but in the case of my advanced event the system would always loop to check if temperatures are right and if they are too high it would send an OFF signal again and again until the level is reached. So if a command gets lost it should be sent again after the next check. At least that is what I'm expecting...?

IF

[JaseP]

Uhm,... why don't you just control them with a thermostat that can be integrated into your system??? A thermostat would be safer, and you can poll it with the system.

[_if_]

the valves for floorheating don't sit in the rooms, but are all together in cellar...thats why I can't use thermostats.

[JaseP]

The thermostats don't have to be in the room with the valves, you just wire down to them. You're taking an awful risk controlling a heating system with the appliance control units of a home automation system.  Even the z-wave appliance control modules state in their literature that you should not use them with heating devices.

[_if_]

about which thermostats are you talking exactly?
there is no danger at all because the water for the floorheatingsystem gets heated anyway by a seperate device to a set level (i believe about 27°).
What I want to do is just switch it on and off for several rooms, so in the worst case my room will get 27°...

[JaseP]

I am speaking of z-wave enabled thermostats ...

I take it you mean 27° C,... I don't have a concept of what that is. I'm in the US and we use ° F (Imperial system). ... Looked it up, it's about 81° F... Eh,... Don't know how to address the potential dangers of that...

There ARE z-wave enabled water valves. I don't know if they are rated for hot water pipes, ... but it might be something to look into. I believe the are rated for sprinkler systems. If they are rated for hot tubs (doubtful, I think z-wave hot tub controls are different kinds of units) those might work for your situation.

Still, since you are talking about a heating system,  the safer thing is to use thermostats, as they are designed to work for that purpose, and they are not reliant on the z-wave system to be working correctly to do their job.

[_if_]

yes I was talking about °C, sorry...
I only know these Zwave thermostats with a seperate display and they are pretty expensive if you want one for every room. Also I would not have any guarantee that they would never fail.
Can you link any other Zwave thermostats if you know some?

I really don't see that much of a risk when my room could, in the worst case, get 27 C°(or so). At summer a room can get even warmer without any heating, just from sun.

[JaseP]

The risk would be if the heating unit failed to regulate temperature correctly and the system went all runaway on you. I looked at the cost of valves,  and they are prohibitively expensive.  There are two major types of thermostats on the market,  the "Wayne Dalton" rebrands (I forget who really, makes them). and a slightly more expensive model that have been rebranded as a Trane, and several other brand names. The cheaper type used to run about $68 US. The more expensive ones would run about $140 or so. The more expensive ones are still about a quarter of the cost of the valves I mentioned.

I would look at places like SmartHome and ASI Home for starters on what's available at retail, and then search for an internet e-tailer in your region (there are z-wave retailers all over the world). Note that US and EU z-wave frequencies are different. So make sure you get the right stuff for your region. I haven't seen a whole lot of new product for z-wave, other than a few things like emergency sirens. It's mostly the same stuff rebranded several times over.

[Marie.O]

_if_,

what you are trying to do is feasible, imho. And one day, hari will probably come around and add what is needed

[_if_]

ok, I think I will just try it as a testsetup for one room in my old house to check how reliable it works.
Hopefully Mr. Hari feels bored soon