Controlling central heating (HVAC) through X-10

Post by **MindBender** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:26 pm

Please remember that the gateway controls the thermostat, not the boiler. So you need a Remeha thermostat as well. Perhaps it works with different brands of OpenTherm thermostats too, but that hasn't been tested. I'm really curious about that, though.

Further, I have contacted Remeha to ask them if they are willing to support the initiative of developing a HomeSeer plug-in. I could write one, but I have abandonned HomeSeer in my system in favor of home-made software, so I longer have any motivation for that anymore

Post by **Rebel** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:22 am

I know the status and opinion, but in my enthousiasm and the prise I found for the gateway, I've posted.
For sure I know that I need the thermostat as well, the winter is coming, maybee there are other people who will share their experiences

Post by **MindBender** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:51 am

I have to give it to you: That's a good price! I think I've paid over two times that price. The Celcia 20 can be found at Marktplaats starting from 75 Euro or a bid.

Post by **emomartin** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:41 pm

Hi,
I found this forum via Google, very interesting. My question might be a little off-topic, but as I have several experts here I make a try:

Does anybody have a serial port interface cable for the Remeha heating device (e.g. Avanta, Aquanta)?
see e.g. http://nl.remeha.com/index.php?id=207&no_cache=1 , click "download" and on "Avanta/Aquanta Interface"
I would like to ask some questions to this.
Thanks!

Post by **MindBender** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:14 pm

No, I don't have one, and I don't think anyone else here has one. However, I don't think it's very hard to make one yourself; It's probably not much more than a RS-232 level shifter on a header connector. Though I'm wondering what you'd like to do with such a cable.

'We' control the Remeha heating system by controlling the room thermostat. This is done through the OpenTherm bus, using the Remeha gateway. A summary of my earlier postings on this topic can be found here:
http://www.nerdclub.nl/remeha_gateway/index.html

Post by **emomartin** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:09 pm

Hi,
thanks for the response. I will not bother you here with this topic further and opened a new thread:
http://www.domoticaforum.eu/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1453

If anybody would have experience with such interface, I would be grateful for a response there.

Thanks,
Martin

Post by **MindBender** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 3:56 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MindBender
 [quote]Originally posted by MindBender
 By the way: The Bosch TF30 and the Itho IDK 300 are probably OEM versions of the Celcia 20. I am not aware of any AWB OEM versions, but they may very well be available.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Forgive me for quoting myself, but I have found yet another OEM of the Celcia 20: The theben RAM 812 and RAM 816 look remarkably similar. I'm starting to wonder if the better looking theben RAM 822 would also work in my setup...

Post by **mvreijn** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:19 pm

Hi everyone,

quite an interesting read, this thread, albeit a long one

I just got my x10 stuff up and running for lighting, now looking at other things... first useful option is the heating.

Now, I have a Chronotherm IV, and I see some reference to a digital input it's supposed to have. Google does not provide many meaningful results.
What are my options for controlling my Chronoterm IV?
I'm willing to experiment

Cheers,

Mark

Post by **Snelvuur** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:40 pm

The only thing as far as i know is that you can set a default temperature on it. So you can control the input on the chronotherm that once its connected (close the contact) it will go to that predefined value. If you disconnect (open the contact) it will go back to your normal regular temperature routine you allready had. Pretty basic, no remote setting of temperature, or turning it completely off for instance.

// Erik (binkey.nl)

Post by **Rebel** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 1:40 pm

You can find here http://home.kpn.nl/lhendrix/x10_verwarming.htm the explantion (in Dutch)

Post by **MadSeven** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:05 pm

Hey guys,

I tried reading through it all, but since I have no experience in this area, it's a bit hard to comprehend...i'm a network-techie, so the only part that really makes sense is the ack/nack bit

My current setup is;
- a nefit boiler/hvac
- a nefit moduline 30 thermostat

My goal is;
- remote readout of the system
- remote control of the system

If I understand it all correctly I should;
- replace the moduline with the Celcia 20
- add the gateway
- get some x10 control software
- bug MindBender for the code...

Am I on the right track?

Post by **MindBender** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:14 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MadSeven
Am I on the right track? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">You would be, if you had an OpenTherm compatible boiler. I'm sorry to disappoint you, especially becuase you seem to be very enthousiastic; I don't think Nefit uses the OpenTherm protocol. Just like Atag they have probably cooked up their own proprietary protocol in a last effort to control their market.

If you're not sure, check out the specifications of you boiler and your thermostat. If they are OpenTherm compatible, it must be specified in there and I can help you out.

Post by **Bwired** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:26 pm

I think Nefit is Opentherm but they changed or added some things.
Nefit is telling nothing about it, the keep the protocol very closed!
So it might work, but no guaranties at all

Post by **MadSeven** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:37 pm

Hm, my bad...Since I was told the Honeywell Chronotherm would be the alternative to the Nefit thermostat, I jumped to the conclusion they would use the same protocol...
I'll take a look at the manuals and post my findings...

Post by **MadSeven** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:45 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MadSeven
 Hm, my bad...Since I was told the Honeywell Chronotherm would be the alternative to the Nefit thermostat, I jumped to the conclusion they would use the same protocol...
I'll take a look at the manuals and post my findings...

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">EDIT; Well...that took a whole 7 minutes to find out...since almost everyone seems to be dutch;
" Kan ik een Open Therm thermostaat aansluiten op mijn Nefit ketel? De branderautomaten van de Nefit toestellen kunnen niet communiceren met het Open Therm protocol. U zult, afhankelijk van het type toestel, een Nefit ModuLine modulerende thermostaat of een aan/uit thermostaat moeten toepassen."

Ok...back to the drawingboard....any suggestions?