Re: Z-Wave Pool Thermostat with Water Temperature Sensor

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

Richard Kaplan <rkaplan@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Also RCS suggets that "this may not be too practical a use for z-wave
>topology since it's a mesh network type of RF transmission and requires
>retransmitters out to the pool pad area."
>
>Are there other manufacturers who make a z-wave thermostat with a pool
>water sensor?  Is it true that z-wave is not a practical use for this
>application?  If so, what other design would be better?

Let me understand this - a manufacturer of a Z-Wave thermostat has told you
this is not a good application and you still to use Z-Wave for this? While
you may find greedy dealers who neither know nor care about suitability, you
should give a lot of credence when a manufacturer indicates you should look
elsewhere.

In general, Z-Wave and all other FCC-compliant RF devices have limited range
(although, outdoors with no obstructions is "best case"). Z-Wave and some
other mesh networks overcome this by using multiple units to relay the
signals but Z-Wave has a maximum number of hops (4 in the standard setup)
which limits the maximum distance even with multiple units. There are also
some issues with feedback from Z-Wave devices and Z-Wave devices relay the
signal sequentially so there are delays proportional to the number of hops.

I would not recommend RF as the heart of the system for this application.

There are numerous companies that specialize in automated pool controls.
Google using "pool automation" and you will be overwhelmed with choices.