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Good evening,

I am preparing my first baby steps in the world of domotica and am quite puzzled as how to start in small steps. I therefore hope that someone can shed some light on my questions and give me some tips or advice.

Since I currently do have a problem which I want to address I thought it would be nice to start from there. The problem is that the thermostat I am using doesn't suffice any more. Since I am at my girlfriends place every other weekend (but not always) I need to have a thermostat with a 14 day program. My current thermostat 'only' provides me with a seven day program.

I therefore need a new thermostat And since as far as I can tell, and have searched, there are no standalone thermostats which provide for longer intervals than 7 days. On another forum I read something on domotica and being able to program activities in your house. Hence my plan to enter the world of domotica

But since I am still unexerienced I don't quite know how to start. What I want is a simple system ( to start with) which tackles the problem of my thermostat. But I am sure that when it works, I will soon think of other thing in my house to automate. Plenty of examples on the internet

I currently have
-a Honeywell Chronoterm III
-a city heating system which uses a valve which is controlled by a 220/24v transformer which is controlled by the thermostat in an on/off manner

I would like to have more flexibility than my Chronoterm III provides me with

I found two possible solutions on the internet so far

a) a Digimax 210 thermostat with an RF receiver (https://www.home-automation-internation ... 094896361e)

I understand that the thermostat can be set to one temperature and that it sends this temperature wireless to the RF receiver. The latter could control the valve like my current thermostat does.

What I yet do not understand

1) How can I use this system to program a 14 day program? I suspect I need additional software and something which can communicate with the x10 devices. But the thermostat sends a signal to the RF receiver to turn on/off the heater. If I have software which would also send a signal to the RF receiver how can the receiver then funcion properly? If my thermostat sends an on signal and the software sends an off signal?

2) Or should the temperature reading from the thermostat should be input for the software and not directly for the rf receiver which controls the valve? But then again, this would mean that the software would always control the valve and should mimic a thermostat including dampening the on/off behaviour? Does this software exist?


b) a Honeywell Chronoterm Vision thermostat + UM7206 - Universal X10 receiver

I can then use the normal 7 day program of the chronoterm and use the tele-input (controlled by th UM7206)) to switch the thermostat to a fixed preset temperature as long as the tele-input is closed (I could program the tele-input on the Chronoterm to have a fixed temperature of 16 degrees celsius so I can use it as an 'away' state).

3) Which of both ways is best? Or perhaps another alternative I have not yet been aware of?

4) Do I need an rfxcom (trans/re)ceiver for this to work or are there (cheaper) alternatives? Keeping in mind that I will surely want to expand my domotica system in the future and do not want to buy components which would then be useless.

5) And if appropriate which rfxcom part do I need? A receiver, a transceiver, both? And what do the number of COM ports mean and how many do I need?

6) Is there good freeware software available which can be expanded with custom written C#.NET code (since I am a software developer myself)? Or is Homeseer THE way to go?


I hope some of you experts can help me with my baby steps I know it are a lot of questions


Best regards
Peter

Hi Peter,

Welcome! I hope you'll enjoy your stay here. But you didn't pick the easiest project to start with

To make it short: in your case, i would go for the solution with Chronoterm Vision with UM7206.
(I know there's a topic on this forum somewhere about this combination, but i can't find it [:(] )

And consider this: why not get rid of the idea of a 14-day cycle and make it more flexible. You'll be happy you did, after a couple of years...
What happens when you have succesfully implemented your 14-day cycle and you're going on a vacation for 3 weeks?
So i would think again about what things trigger the temperature setting you want at a given time.
Presence could be one of them. There are several ways to find out; motion sensors, or alarm systems for instance.
That in combination with some software (HS or homemade, but since you're a software developer and hopefully like your job i would go for the latter) should do the job.

But also keep in mind, there's no such thing as a blueprint for automating things like this. Everyone has their own wishes and demands, and every one of these can lead to a different solution!

Good morning Peter,

This could be a solution:
TS10 Digimax only,
Homeseer with the RFXCOM plug-in,
If you will NOT use KlikAanKlikUit or Harrison in the future then
order an USB or Ethernet 1 COM port 433.92MHz receiver
Else
If you prefer the Ethernet interface Then
order a 2 COM port 433.92MHz receiver
order the 433.92MHz transmitter module now or later
Else
order an USB 433.92MHz receiver
order the USB 433.92MHz transmitter now or later
End If
End If

If you decided to use KlikAanKlikUit Then
you need the 433.92MHz transmitter,
order a 1000W appliance module and switch the 230V for the transformer.
Else
order a CM11 with UM7206 and switch the 24V
End If

You can configure the thermostat like you want.
And in addition you can receive Oregon Scientific weather sensors and switch the heating now also on weather conditions or make a small plus or minus correction on the set temperature.
Receive remote control units, security sensors and motion sensors. Switch of the heating when the RFXCOM security panel is armed.
Or control the heating from a remote location.
And do a lot of other nice things with your great Home Automation system.

Bert

Hint: Use the old Honeywell thermostat as maximum thermostat. If the HA system fails your house will not become overheated.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Digit</i>
<br />Hi Peter,

Welcome! I hope you'll enjoy your stay here. But you didn't pick the easiest project to start with
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I'm beginning to comprehend that also [:D]
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Digit</i>
To make it short: in your case, i would go for the solution with Chronoterm Vision with UM7206.
(I know there's a topic on this forum somewhere about this combination, but i can't find it [:(] )

And consider this: why not get rid of the idea of a 14-day cycle and make it more flexible. You'll be happy you did, after a couple of years...
What happens when you have succesfully implemented your 14-day cycle and you're going on a vacation for 3 weeks?
So i would think again about what things trigger the temperature setting you want at a given time.
Presence could be one of them. There are several ways to find out; motion sensors, or alarm systems for instance.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">When I use the Chronoterm with the UM7206 I guess I won't need to keep a 14 day schedule. I can make it as flexible as I can program it [:)]". I think that I will program the thermostat with a normal 7 day program and use the tele-input for extra control with my automation server.

The thing is that I think I do need a thermostat. Because if I were to control the valve completely in software I would also have to write a thermostat program and I guess that is not too easy. My current thermostat is quite intelligent in that it remembers how long it typically takes to heat the house to an certain temperature. And then when it has to be 21 degrees at 11:00 it will start the heater at for example 10:40 so it actually IS 21 degrees at 11:00. I don't think this kind of behaviour is very simple to write yourself. Not to say writing a second order filter to dampen the temperature curve [:)]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Digit</i>
That in combination with some software (HS or homemade, but since you're a software developer and hopefully like your job i would go for the latter) should do the job.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Can you give me a link or something to Homemade? I tried to google on homemade but can't find such a software package. Or is it not a software package but do you just mean homemade software [:D]?

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by b_weijenberg</i>
<br />Good morning Peter,

This could be a solution:
TS10 Digimax only,
Homeseer with the RFXCOM plug-in,
If you will NOT use KlikAanKlikUit or Harrison in the future then
order an USB or Ethernet 1 COM port 433.92MHz receiver
Else
If you prefer the Ethernet interface Then
order a 2 COM port 433.92MHz receiver
order the 433.92MHz transmitter module now or later
Else
order an USB 433.92MHz receiver
order the USB 433.92MHz transmitter now or later
End If
End If
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
But how can I automate the temperature when using the digimax? As far as I can tell, it's a transmitter only? So I can set a single temperature on the digimax. How can I then set other temperatures for when I am away or for the night?

It's a bit confusing. I understand that the KAKU concept is wireless and the X10 concept goes through the 230v wiring. But... the Digimax mentions X10 AND it is wireless? So there is also a wireless X10 protocol which is different from KAKU but they both are using the 433.92MHz frequency?

What rfxcom concerns I understand that a COM port means you can either have a receiver or a transmitter. So if I want a receiver and transmitter I need to have one with 2 com ports?

Is there some sort of software library to communicate with rfxcom using .net?
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by b_weijenberg</i>
Hint: Use the old Honeywell thermostat as maximum thermostat. If the HA system fails your house will not become overheated.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
How should I use it as a maximum thermostat? I cannot connect two controlling devices to one heating device?

Free software:
http://www.xplmonkey.com/
http://heyu.tanj.com/ (limited RFXCOM support)

This seems indeed a promising link, thanks!

Peter,
Welcome to this forum.
I have this project also on my wish list.

I have "stadsverwarming" with no control.

What I'm going to do is close the water circuit with some kind of water pomp.
http://www.waakzaamwonen.nl/catalog/pro ... -voor-stad

Second part will be zone control. I hope this can be done with danfoss zwave modules. At the moment not available here in Holland.

Hi Enver,

Thanks for giving the tip for this forum [8D]

My "stadsverwarming" already uses the valve you mention in your link. So that part of my problem has already been taken care of.

For the time being I hope my solution with the digimax or honeywell will succeed. So no zone control yet, well, for one zone [:D]

Perhaps in time (and with more money [8D]) I hope to be able to use something like http://www1.conrad.nl/scripts/wgate/zco ... avi=oben_2 in every (or some) room. Although I don't know if it can be controlled with rfxcom.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Can you give me a link or something to Homemade? I tried to google on homemade but can't find such a software package. Or is it not a software package but do you just mean homemade software ?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I meant the latter[:D]
Well i see you've got enough tips to work on in the meantime, please let us know how it evolves or new questions arise.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Digit</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Can you give me a link or something to Homemade? I tried to google on homemade but can't find such a software package. Or is it not a software package but do you just mean homemade software ?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I meant the latter[:D]
Well i see you've got enough tips to work on in the meantime, please let us know how it evolves or new questions arise.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">The link to Xpl seems very promising to use in developing custom software. It's open source which is always nice [:)]

Which hardware solition I should choose is still not very clear [:D] Too bad there isn't a thermostat which also can be controlled via RF so you can set the temperature via software and then let the thermostat maintain the correct temperature.

Use a temperature sensor to report the current temperature to the HA system. The touch screen of your HA system displays the software thermostat. The temperature can be set by the user and by the system then.

My brother in law suggested an even simpler solution where I kan keep, for the time being, my old Chronoterm III.

I can connect the output from the thermostat to a SM10 universal transmitter. And I can connect the valve to the UM7206 universal receiver.

This is only for a being away scenario. I should add a temperature sensor like Bert suggested to be able to control the valve myself.

The one thing I can't figure out is how to make it failsafe i.e. if the HA system fails I would still like to have a working thermostat.

To secure the maximum temperature: connect a maximum thermostat in series with the HA controlled thermostat.
To secure the minimum temperature: connect a minimum thermostat over both thermostats.
min thermostat will close when the temperature becomes too low.
max thermostat is normally closed and will open when it exceeds the max temperature.

Hi Peter, Consider one of those switches that you telephone to switch ON/OFF. Use with one of the other circuits suggested for low limit. No need for HA yet!

Malcolm