Re: Automating my heating

["Jvert" <Jhenigin 'at' cawmcast.net (cawm=com)>]

http://www.resconsys.com/

They carry zone controllers and thermostats.

Check out the controllers, the commstar, you can wire your thermostats
directly in and keep them off your x-10 (might be noisy), but the commstar
also has a pretty advanced scheduling to keep your heater from turning on
when certain x-10 devices are on.
.

"Davester28" <dcmf6adda9for69@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:RDJmd.180329$Np3.7279528@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> I want to automate the heating in my house.
>
> I have a fireplace insert that throws a lot of heat on one area of the
> house.  This makes it difficult to rely solely on a thermostat to keep my
> house comfortable, for example at night the heat from the fire keeps the
> thermostat from turning on the furnace (thus the bedrooms get cold).
>
> Having computer programming experience, I can envision writing a "smart
> software utility", to do things like...
>
> - Keep the bedrooms warm at night
> - Conserve oil by leaving the bedrooms go cool during the day
> - Conserve energy by turning on fans to circulate heat as required
> - Perform in different ways based on "outside temperature", "home
> occupied/not occupied"(based on last motion detected), etc...
>
> I can use X-10 to turn on fans as required (maybe a floor fan or two
> placed in strategic areas).  I'm sure there are some in-line duct fans
> available somewhere, which could be connected to the existing ducts in my
> hot-air system, (that could be turned on seperately from the furnace
> controlled fan via X10).  There are currently times when it's too warm in
> the living room, near the fireplace, and too cool in other areas of the
> house.  So, instead of relying solely on the furnace to warm the bedrooms
> (while also making the existing hot areas hotter) my software can control
> these fans (maybe also with X10 controlled dampers) to direct heat to the
> needed areas of our home.
>
> Question A :  My software will need to know temperatures of various areas
> (three or more) of the house at any given time...  Can anyone recommend a
> product that can be polled for the temperature (and not restricted to the
> vendor's proprietary software, but from my own application or via X10
> commands)
>
> Question B :  Can anyone recommend a line of products for directing my
> furnace heat to certain areas of the house, such as X10 controlled dampers
> or X10 controlled in-line fans....
>
> I know I can google for such information.  In the past this is how I got
> my information, but I have ended up with a lot of obsolete product that
> I've wasted my money on that doesn't do exactly what I thought it would.
> So I thought I'd start here for recommendations, and try to get the right
> products and the right plan the first time.  Thanks a million
>
> Dave
>