Re: Web Enabled Time/Temp/Humidity and I/O Controller

["Jim Hewitt" <jim.hewitt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Robert Green" <robert_green1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:hcegpi$a9m$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> There no doubt that houses are getting "smarter" all the time.  More and
> more new homes are coming with goodies like alarm systems, intelligent
> controls for HVAC, pools and sprinklers and even devices to monitor power
> consumption in real time.
>
> I've seen a lot of very expensive and complex systems to manage the
> functions of "smart homes" but I've never come across something as small,
> powerful and inexpensive as this unit:
>
> http://www.cainetworks.com/products/webcontrol/
>
> I've cross-posted this in comp.home.automation and alt.home.repair because
> I've seen a lot of posts about monitoring house conditions like
> temperature
> remotely in both groups.  I was first alerted to the product in a  thread
> about USB home control in CHA.  In that thread:
>
> _USB module for monitoring multiple on/off switches_
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/comp.home.automation/browse_thread/thread/c2b9c0f65d305acf/1544156821a9bff?q=USB+module+for+monitoring+multiple+on/off+switches
>
> Marc Hult recommended this device instead as a much more practical way to
> "communicate" with your house remotely than USB devices connected to a PC.
>
> It took me a while to find the secret URL and I don't give cainetworks an
> A+
> for website design - this product doesn't even show up on their "Product
> List."  They seem to be a server load balancing company and I would guess
> they built this thing for themselves as a service tool and then began to
> realize it had other applications.
>
> I have no interest in the company, other than as a customer and it's too
> early to tell whether I am a happy customer or not!
>
> WebControl interests me for a number of reasons:  it can automagically
> send
> emails to a PC or a cell phone when a looked-for condition occurs,
> assuming
> you've got a constant internet connection.  This condition could be a
> furnace failure, an out-of-bounds temperature, water on the floor or any
> number of other events that can sensed electronically.
>
> It's got plenty of inputs - it can accommodate a Honeywell humidity
> sensor,
> up to eight Maxim DS1822 /DS18B20 12bit 1 wire temperature sensors, eight
> digital inputs, three analog inputs and 20 different timers.  It seems
> from
> my Google searches that these are popular with cigar lovers (to keep their
> treasures at constant temps and humidity) and in-home horticulturists
> growing various "herbs."
>
> My first project will be a sensing project, too:  I'm hoping to use it to
> continually monitor how much power the whole house uses in real-time.
> I've
> read about a number of test projects using "smart meters" and they all
> pretty much say the same thing:  People who know how much power they are
> using at any one moment will end up reducing their average monthly
> consumption.
>
> I've got some tiny current sensors that I will attach to the main power
> feeds to the circuit panel, hopefully so artfully that an inspector might
> never notice they're there.  (Yes, I know the evils of mixing high and low
> voltage gear and I don't recommend anyone but an insane person with total
> contempt for life and the law even contemplate copying my actions!)
>
> These tiny (1/4" sq.) Hall-Effect (HE) sensors generate a small electric
> current proportional (well, proportional enough for me) to the current
> flowing into the house from the main feeders.  This unit should enable me
> to
> see the current current use from any PC on the home network.  I should
> even
> be able to rig up an LED bargraph display that shows the real-time power
> consumption of the house with another $2 worth of parts.
>
> The unit has three 3 1023 bit analog inputs (0-10v) that should be able to
> accurately measure the HE sensor voltage level and take an action (light a
> bargraph LED, ring a chime, etc) when the voltage becomes greater than a
> pre-determined level.  Perhaps the hardest part is going to be accurately
> matching the output level of the sensor to the actual home electrical
> power
> consumed.  If I can't get a helper with a walkie talkie,  I can
> temporarily
> mount a wireless CCTV cam outside pointing at the electric meter so I can
> tabulate meter readings and how they correspond to the sensor output as I
> add more and more loads.  I will start with all the breakers off, but with
> lights, etc. left on so that as I flip each breaker on, the load
> increases.
> That way I should have a scale that gives me a pretty good idea of the
> juice
> flowing through the circuit panel.
>
> I'm going to make notes as I go along, paying particular attention to the
> level of technical skill required to implement it.  I'm afraid it's going
> to
> be high enough to make it a techie-only solution.  But looking through the
> manual
>
> http://www.cainetworks.com/manuals/webcontrol/WebControlUserGuide2-03-00.pdf
>
> gives me at least a little hope that this unit may be simple enough that
> with a little advice, a fairly low-tech user could implement a simple
> system
> that could, for example, send them an email if their freezer or
> refrigerator
> temperature rises out of the food safety zone.  Ironically, that's why I
> ordered the board (my fridge tripped the GFCI) but once I read the manual
> and the specs, I realized it would probably make a good and cheap whole
> house power monitor.
>
> Previously, devices like this cost close to $200, so to my mind it's a
> great
> bargain.
>
> The part that I haven't quite figured out about whole house power
> monitoring
> is this:  What's the best way to notify residents that the house is
> burning
> kilowatts without being so  intrusive that they'll just shut it off?
> There
> has to be some sort of override, too, because there will be some days in
> the
> dead of a very cold winter that the consumption will peak.
>

Wow, it does look really good - for lots of things.  You never did say the
price nor does their web siet.  What is the single unit price?

Jim