Re: Control central heating via PC, ideas please?

["Gary" <questuk1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Jon,

"Have a look on the AH forums ... there's a dedicated CH
section...."

Where do i find this forum, a link please?

Thanks

Gary

--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Jon Wilkins" <jonpdwilkins@...>
wrote:
>
> Gary,
>=20
> I am sure you will get lots of replies on this subject as there are
a number
> of ways discussed occasionally and on the AH forums.  There are a
number of
> vendors & routes to getting better control... many will give
impriovements
> without a PC, but that will depend on how far you want to go, and
what level
> of control you currently have.
>=20
> The simplest solution to get lots of time zones is probably to
*replacing
> your RF Stat *with a timer/temp ("programmable stat") to
vary
temperature
> demand by the time of day... e.g during nighttime (in the winter)
you want
> to keep the chill of the place, so 15C is adequate.  Early mornings
you are
> getting up going out ... 18C... evenings at home you might want 19C
etc...
> you get the idea.
> **
> Of course this wont justify the new mini-itx PC though :-)
>=20
> You could go further and zone the property into different room/floor
zones.
> Then you could vary temperature by location & time  (e.g. why heat
the
> bedrooms during the early evening if you're always in the lounge?;
why heat
> the lounge in the morning when all you do is get up, wash & go to
work?).
> This would require some wet changes to put valves in to split the CH
pipes
> so you can independantly control either different rooms or different
floors
> of the house (Floors means less zones than rooms, but is often OK
because
> our homes tend to be organised so different floors have different
functions
> ... bedroms on one, living on another etc).
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> At this point there are multi-zone controllers, which could be
hooked up to
> time variable stats.  Some will interface with a PC.  Or more
complicated HA
> type solutions that require/rely heavily on a PC being available.
>=20
> I'm part-way through a similar small project; we needed to replace
our 15
> years old boiler (it was burning incredible amounts of gas and still
not
> heating our house).  So I took the opportunity to get the plumbing
modified
> so I've now got a different temp zone per floor.  I decided to use the
> Idratek products and am putting in a mix of per-floor and per-room
control,
> with each zone/room having it's own temperature/time profile.=20=20=20
There are
> though, many other options at this level depending on your preferences
&
> budget.
>=20
>=20
> Have a look on the AH forums ... there's a dedicated CH section....
>=20
>=20
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> On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 7:15 PM, Gary <questuk1@...> wrote:
>=20
> >   Hi,
> >
> > With the just announced price rise in gas prices, I think it's
time to
> > see if i can save money by controlling my boiler using a lower
Power
> > PC such as a mini ITX. Then I can have lots of different time
zones
> > and more accurate control of the temperature at giving points in
the day.
> >
> > For example, I have a RF wall mounted thermostat, but you can
only
> > adjust this in 1=B0 intervals, and sometimes that can make it too
hot i=
n
> > a room, wasting gas.
> >
> > I'm not sure how to interface and control the boiler yet may be
> > Ethernet if there is such a way? or perhaps using RF control?
> >
> > As I work electronics that side isn't too hard its more the
software I
> > will have trouble with?
> >
> > Has anyone attempted this on the group?
> >
> > I'm sure many of us now have a requirement for such control, so
any
> > comments welcome and also any ideas.
> >
> > Regards Gary
> >
> >=20=20
> >
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> --=20
> www.jpdw.org / Information : The currency of the Future
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> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>



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