hello all,
my brother has installed an underfloor heating system with 16 actuator connections which is split into 13 zones (some zones have 2 pipes due to length restrictions), the actuators work (open) when 240v electricity is supplied to it. i am having serious difficulty in finding a control unit which will receive the linuxmce signals, process them and send the 240v electricity supply to the actuator so it will open.
i have looked at the siemens s7 plc, but it is way too costly and it is proprietory, it also uses an interface which i am not guaranteed will work with linuxmce.
i have also looked at pc cards that will receive signals and send a signal to the actuator, the major problem i am having is the 240v electricity. if these cards are digital and are plugged into an expansion slot would that be dangerous as most electronics work on 12v d/c not 240v a/c. these cards in effect make a pc a programmable logic controller.
if anybody can please help we would be very grateful as we have spent 3 months researching it and have come up with no affordable solutions, we have got quotes for 15000, 3000 etc.
the whole project is being held up by this as my brother needs to turn on the heating to finish the floor properly and work has totally stalled.
he wants a system where it is controlled by orbiter and does not need thermostats in each room.
any help on this would be very very very welcome, thank you in advance
