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Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 4:08 pm
by PeterJanRoes
Does anybody know of a mechanical ventilation unit available in the Netherlands that can be controlled using RFXtrx433 (or another RFXCOM unit)? I would love to be able to control my mechanical ventilation using my home automation server. For this I already seem to have figured out how I would be able to control my current unit using two KlikAanKlikUit switches. However, as my current unit is also quite old I am considering to replace it with a new one. And most mechanical units I see on the market in the Netherlands seem to support RF control now. However, I cannot find any specification of the RF frequency these units use and whether the RFXtrx433 could theoretically support them. Furthermore, if they work on the correct frequency, what are the chances of the RFXtrx433 supporting it in practice?

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 5:01 pm
by marck
Also curious for the answer on this question.

I'm in the middle of a renovation project, and in two months time the following unit will be installed.

http://www.orcon.nl/shop/nl/professiona ... -bediening

The unit can be controlled wireless, but the technique behind this is unknown.

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:10 pm
by PeterJanRoes
In the meantime I have managed to control my current mechanical ventilation unit using two KlikAanKlikUit switches that I have installed in between the Perilex connections. I have tried to find a ready made solution on the Internet on how to do this but I only found bits and pieces of information that I have combined into my own solution. As it turns out it my current setup works very well and I would like to share my experiences for the benefit of others.

The Perilex wall socket and wall switch seem to be a very low tech way to be able to switch between three levels of ventilation. When the ventilation unit is connected using the yellow/green, the blue and the brown wire only, it runs on the lowest level. These wires use three pins of the Perilex wall socket and the Perilex plug. The remaining two pins are for two black wires used to switch on the other two levels of ventilation. Both wires just carry 230V and the Perilex wall switch just routes 230V to either wire. The important thing here is that although the wall switch actually switches the 230V between the two wires (or to neither of both for the lowest level), it seems that putting 230V on both wires does not hurt at all. This is crucial because now two KlikAanKlikUit switch modules can be used to control either black wire separately. I used a ACM-3500-3 unit for this as it is a cheap option to have two switches and to prevent interference. Then I used a double wall switch AWST-8802 to control the two switch modules.

The end result is that I now can select the three levels of ventilation by the two switches A and B in the following way:
  1. Level 1: Switch A off, Switch B off
  2. Level 2: Switch A on, Switch B off
  3. Level 3: Switch B on, Switch A does not matter
Of course, using the switches A and B in the above way is not the most natural but you get used to it quickly. However, if you want to able to control the ventilation unit in a really comfortable way you can disconnect the AWST-8802 from the ACM-3500-3 and put a RFXtrx in between. Just assign three of the four buttons (A on, A off, B on, B off) of the AWST-8802 to level 1, 2 and 3. Then let the RFXtrx wait for any of these buttons. Once a button is pressed the RFXtrx should send the correct combination of On/Off signals to the ACM-3500-3 using newly generated house code/unit code combinations that you have programmed into the ACM-3500-3. Finally, this setup leaves one button unused to which you can assign another function. I would use this button to trigger a 30 minute override at level 3 after which the previous level is restored automatically.

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 10:37 pm
by marck
I have found that the Orcon ventilation system communicates at 868,3 MHz, www.orcon.nl/files/3bncbySd6s.pdf‎

Maybe Bert can confirm if this frequency and/or this device will be supported by the upcoming 868 Mhz Transceiver.

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:22 am
by b_weijenberg
Orcon is maybe a good candidate.

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 5:02 pm
by Tim Schuhmacher
I myself have an ITHO CVE ECO RFT with an RF remote: [http://www.ithodaalderop.nl/producten/v ... ve-eco-rft] I contacted the company for information on the communication protocol / technical details. Their only response was that the weren't spending time on home automation. Not an answer to my question though.

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 8:40 am
by fraggel
I use the same setup as PeterJanRoes, except I only use one KAKU switch to set the ventilation to level 3.
Using home seer, I watch the output of an Oregon humidity sensor. When humidity is larger than 67%, ventilation is set to level 3, below that percentage, the ventilation is restored to the setting it was before (hardwired switch in kitchen).

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 3:16 pm
by fvant

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 11:15 pm
by Bwired
i think the ITHO is more common...
I dont see the powerusage of the Orcon? is it as green as the Itho?

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:19 pm
by 123unlock
Since one week also an Itho Ecofan in the house.. i bought an extra remote control, and an USB-RLY08 card
combining both together, and now i have full control via the home automation.

Also have a system that measures CO2 level, so the itho is controlled based on humidity and on CO2

Image

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2015 11:27 pm
by epinto
Wouldn't it be possible to combine a Raspberry Pi and an inexpensive RF transceiver to replicate the RF signal from the remote?
The commands seem to be known if I read http://www.domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?t=1632 correctly.

( I have no experience in domestics; I arrived at this forum doing some research on the RF frequency of the ITHO remote. )

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 6:35 pm
by Templar
Tim Schuhmacher wrote:I myself have an ITHO CVE ECO RFT with an RF remote: [http://www.ithodaalderop.nl/producten/v ... ve-eco-rft]
As of 24 december 2015 Itho CVE RFT Fan's are supported. But you need a RFXtrx868X tranceiver which isn't in the RFXcom shop (yet).

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 8:54 am
by simjoc
That will be awesome! Bert when are the devices expected?

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:16 pm
by binkiem
I cannot wait to order. Yes Please give more info about release date

Re: Mechanical ventilation known to work with RFXCOM

Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 3:47 pm
by rovinge
Same here, as soon as an RFXtrx868X becomes available I will buy one.

Can one RFXtrx868 control two different ITHO RFT units (each with their own set of remotes?)

Roel