HouseHeat system

[martynwendon]

Hi Mike,

I've put some docs up at http://www.aceshigh.net/HouseHeat.zip


Cheers,

Martyn

I've had to remove these documents at David's request due to breach of copyright.

I'd suggest that anybody needing documentation for the HouseHeat products contact David directly.


Martyn

[Innes]

Slightly tangential question, but now I have an FHZ1300, I'm trying to understand what determines which 868 MHz radio transmissions I can receive using it. For instance, I see that the ASH888 weather sensor sends its data on that frequency but the FHZ 1300 doesn't appear to receive anything. Is this a different protocol? Do I need a separate weather station product in order to get this data into my PC?

Assuming my ASH888 cannot be 'received' directly by my FHZ1300, can anyone suggest a good outside weather sensor that can be, and point me to some info (and a vendor!)?

Thanks, Innes.

P.S. Being new to forums generally, should I post this as a new thread or am I fine to ask this question on this thread?

[jameswilson]

I am starting a Project to control some form of valve etc from vb.net
I will release this as my project develops.
I was looking at the house heat system but im concerned about the level of control available to the units, i dont want the 'system' to control these things i want to control them myself.
I had assumed the best way to achieve this was to use inline wired valves. Id rather use something easier to fit etc but i keep coming back to needing the valve to be wired.
That isnt really a problem what is the problem is getting room temps into the pc. That isnt really possible in my home to wire.

So i come back to the house heat system lol.
From what i currently understand i need a controller per room. THis will allow me to get room temps and control valves as needed. I also assume that via the perl script i can do this.
So the question is twofold i suppose.
1. Can i control the valves as needed and read the room temps (say every 10 mins)?
2. If i can would people be interested in an application that did this (other than myself obviously)

[martynwendon]

Slightly tangential question, but now I have an FHZ1300, I'm trying to understand what determines which 868 MHz radio transmissions I can receive using it. For instance, I see that the ASH888 weather sensor sends its data on that frequency but the FHZ 1300 doesn't appear to receive anything. Is this a different protocol? Do I need a separate weather station product in order to get this data into my PC?

Assuming my ASH888 cannot be 'received' directly by my FHZ1300, can anyone suggest a good outside weather sensor that can be, and point me to some info (and a vendor!)?

Thanks, Innes.

P.S. Being new to forums generally, should I post this as a new thread or am I fine to ask this question on this thread?

Hi Innes,

I'd imagine that you'd need to re-write the firmware for the FHZ to add support for a different protocol!

What is your requirement for an "outside weather sensor"? I use a number of 1-wire sensors to monitor temperatures, I also have a weather station that is linked wirelessly to a PC.......

Martyn

[martynwendon]

I am starting a Project to control some form of valve etc from vb.net
I will release this as my project develops.
I was looking at the house heat system but im concerned about the level of control available to the units, i dont want the 'system' to control these things i want to control them myself.
I had assumed the best way to achieve this was to use inline wired valves. Id rather use something easier to fit etc but i keep coming back to needing the valve to be wired.
That isnt really a problem what is the problem is getting room temps into the pc. That isnt really possible in my home to wire.

So i come back to the house heat system lol.
From what i currently understand i need a controller per room. THis will allow me to get room temps and control valves as needed. I also assume that via the perl script i can do this.
So the question is twofold i suppose.
1. Can i control the valves as needed and read the room temps (say every 10 mins)?
2. If i can would people be interested in an application that did this (other than myself obviously)

Hi James,

The HouseHeat system would allow you to do this.

You'd need a thermostat and actuator per room plus the pc usb controller.

Theoretically you could *not* program anything into the thermostats and use the pc usb controller to send / receive commands to and from the thermostats. If you can control the boiler demand from the pc too then you would not need the boiler connect unit.

The basic windows software that comes with the pc usb controller may suffice for your needs but the FHEM perl based software allows greater control. The xAPFHEM gateway brings FHEM connectivity into the xAP world and therefore into any other HA software that supports xAP (for example xAP Floorplan, Housebot, HomeSeer).

However, I'd advise caution against relying totally on pc control as should your pc system fail, you would have no control at all, which could be disastrous (e.g. you're away for a weekend, the pc system fails and your pipes freeze as the temperature plummets!)

Personally, I like the way that the HouseHeat system is autonomous - I have set a basic on / off time control and fail safe room temperatures accordingly so that if the pc control side of things does fail, the system will still operate.

The pc is then used to enhance the control e.g. to raise / lower room temperature based on room occupancy, to override a pre-set time control if I nip out for a few hours or to carry out basic weather compensation based on outside temperatures. Obviously this type of control relies on other HA systems being in place, for example PIRs for room occupancy, an integrated alarm system to allow for home / away status, external temperature monitoring, etc.

In answer to your specific questions:

1) Yes, of a fashion, but you should research how the components communicate and the restriction of the transmissions in the 868MHz frequency band as this has an effect on how often the pieces of kit talk to each other.

2) It depends on what your application would offer over what is already available! Personally I prefer to keep things simple, I already have central HA software (xAP Floorplan) and so MY only requirement was to get HouseHeat into xAP.....if there was a windows service application that did that and bypassed needing the perl software FHEM and the xAPFHEM gateway then that would suit me! Having said that, I quite like the simple web interface offered by FHEM too and do use it occasionally to make changes to the thermostat controls, so if I did away with FHEM I'd have to replicate that functionality in xAP Floorplan....

Food for thought, hope this helps!

Martyn

[lostboy]

1. For Innes - I seem to remember from browsing and google translating the various FHEM forums that the Conrad KS555 (should = ELV KS300) is compatible with FHEM and the FHZ1300.

2. For James Wilson - I agree with Martyn that the autonomous controller in the FHT80b is more reliable than something that's entirely dependent upon the PC.
Specoifically - the FHEM/FHZ1300 will not permit you the degree of control you wish. Through FHEM and the FHZ1300 the system does not provide you with direct control of the actuators - you get to change the setpoint in the controller, but the controller talks to the actuators using it's own (PID?) control algorithm. The timing of the control signals is again largely upto the system and the feedback to the FHZ1300 (at least through FHEM) can be a little sporadic in my experience (but the local control, FHT80b to FHT8v, is fine).

If you want to talk to the actuators directly I believe that the CUL module from Busware.de, together with some altered firmware, can give you direct control of the actuators (possibly using FHEM). This appears to be a recent development - garnered from google translate of German forums. If you've got the time to experiment and good German language skills this might be worth a punt. Google translate doesn't handle technical German well so my reading of the current state is a bit impressionistic :-)

Chris

[jameswilson]

I think im gonna go for the househeat then, as all i want to be able to control is room temps etc so that when the alarm is set it drops, doors left open it drops, first come home at the gate it ramps up etc.
Looks like FHEM can do that for me.
I also see your point re autonomomous control.
Thanks again ill see how it goes once I get them.

Ta

**EDit
I thought this was going to be simple, ie buying it...
just found
http://www.conrad-uk.com/goto.php?artikel=616100

Can this be controlled by FHEM as well. WOuld save the argument with the wife as to where the stat is going in the lounge!

[KevM]

Hi,

I've eventually had to admit defeat in getting FHEM installed under windows. I'm a harware guy but can normally cope in a windows environment - Linux is new to me buit most of the documentation relates to this.

I managed to install active perl under vista and that appears to work. I also concluded I needed Nmake rather than Make in a windows environment and installed that OK. However, getting beyond this to actually get FHEM running is a block.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to get it running under Windows?

Thanks

[lostboy]

Kev - for XP I didn't have to 'make' anything, but I did have to install the CPAN module Win32-SerialPort for FHEM to function with ActiveState (the FHEM error log said it couldn't find it). On my XP system I downloaded the CPAN module and ran the Install.pl file with it, and that seemed to work. On my WHS (Server 2003) system, the Activestate package manager provided a Win32-SerialPort module for me - dunno why the difference.

To get MartynW's XAP/FHEM gateway running I had to provide some extra perl modules, in this case the package manager found them without problems.

Hope this helps - btw both my systems are 32bit.

Chris

[Mehul]

after reading this thread decided to take the plunge and order a whole load of thermostats, actuators and the FHZ1000 from Conrad-UK. however, i am not so pleased with it. The first couple actuators didnt actually work. even tried to adjust manually and one would not close. also disappointing that one cannot see the actual room temperature on the thermostat so you never truly know if it is really working. i am returning the kit and will probably wait for some improvements to these unless someone convinces me otherwise.