Wireless control advice needed

[andykn]

I want to be able to replace my room thermostat with a device that will allow me to program on/off and temperature times from the internet without having a PC turned on.

Unfortunately neither the location of the boiler, thermostat or intervening wires are easily connectable to the router using ethernet cabling or ethernet over mains so I would like a solution that uses wireless, preferably with something I can just replace the Honeywell with and maybe a seperate unit connected to the router.

I have found the Heatmiser Netmonitor that will plug into my ADSL router but that system seems to only then offer a hard wired connection to the thermostat.

Does anyone know of a wireless solution that can connect to my router but doesn't need a PC?

[hornydragon]

Originally Posted by andykn

Does anyone know of a wireless solution that can connect to my router but doesn't need a PC?

Honeywell Hometronic
http://www.sensibleheat.com/how-does-it-work.html
Wireless control with a web interface, will do everything you need

[andykn]

Hi, thanks very much for the response.

I had already looked at the Honeywell system; but Sensible Heat seems to be the only way to purchase it in this country and they didn't seem to think my email enquiry worth responding to. Technical information is difficult to come by too.

From my researches, the home automation industry seems years behind current technology - both AMX and Crestron require an untidy chain of modules for this quite simple requirement. Crestron don't even publish a dealer list.

Might have to keep my money in my pocket for a few years.

[neilball]

If you've not seen any of my previous posts you might not know that I work for Sensible Heat - I run their Scottish/Northern England office

Honeywell have a dedicated Hometronic website and you can download the R4 manual from there. Note that the R4 manual does not include absolutely every application or some of the newer modules but the descriptions of control strategy are correct.

When did you send in the email and which was it using the link on the website? We would normally respond to email enquiries the same day and either email or post out our brochure. If you PM me your enquiry I will make sure it gets dealt with.

In the meantime feel free to PM me with any technical questions and I'll do what I can to help.

[neilball]

Regarding Crestron, AMX and similar systems they were designed originally as a high spec, customisable user interface to sit on top of the various hardware units/platforms that required to have integrated control. In the past this made good sense - a variety of dedicated sub-systems could be used (HVAC, lighting, security, cctv etc) and all ran independently such that a failure in one sub-system or in the integration layer did not stop the other sub-systems from operating. The dedicated sub-systems were designed just for their own application so were generally robust & well tested.

Now Crestron & others have introduced their own hardware to cary out some of these functions directly, T-Stats, dimmers, amplifiers etc. However what you don't get is the fully developed control strategies to do the more complex things that many dedicated sub-systems do as standard. If the Crestron (or systems integrator) has the programming ability and fully understands the application then they may be able to replicate some or most of these control strategies but it can be incredibly difficult to design, code reliably, test and document. It can then be even more difficult to get support at some later stage if the original programmer is unavailable as someone else has to try and interpret the code - this is always an issue with any fully programmable system, affects BMS systems just as much as Crestron and others. So the options are to use the dedicated sub-systems designed for there application and use Crestron (or others) as an integration tool or try and use Crestron as a generic control system and code for the applications.

[andykn]

Thanks for your reply Neil. I have pm'd you with a copy of my email.

I have the Hometronic R4 catalogue, but can't quite tell how easy it it to replace my current thermostat with one I can wirelessly control from the internet. I think I need a HCM200t controller (located near my router) with an HCU 30 (so I can set the temperature without having to use the controller) and an HS30 to switch the boiler.

I wasn't too frightened by the Crestron programming, I work in IT and know a couple of Crestron programmers in the AV industry - it was more that it appeared to need 4 boxes to achieve what should need only 2.

[neilball]

Andy, you have a PM

In Hometronic land for a single zone system you would need a Manager and power supply, Room Sensor, Boiler Relay and a Web Manager. While the R4 manual is useful it is a few years old and many of the modules have been updated since and some new modules are not listed at all! You will not find any mention of the Web Manager, this is a brand new piece of kit from Sensible Heat as Honeywell do not have any native network-capable modules for Hometronic. The new Web Manager allows all of the user functions to be carried out using any suitable browser-based device and would be the only part of the system that needed to be next to your router assuming you don't want to use powerline networking products to bridge between 2 locations.

So Hometronic can meet your needs and requirements (specifically as it uses wirless comms) but it does not come cheap. It would not cost a huge amount more to zone your heating (using the Radiator Controllers) and have much better control and this would also make better use of the capabilities of the Hometronic package.

As I mention in my PM there are no other wireless stat systems I'm aware of that have ethernet networking/webservers built-in. There are some wired systems that operate over a comms bus and have software to allow central control from a PC but ths means running cables & therefore some disruption to install.

[andykn]

Thanks to Neil for his help.

It does appear that no-one else offers this type of solution, indeed that's why Sensible Heat have had to design and build their own web controller for the Honeywell system and hence why it's not really economical for my one zone requirement (I only have a modest 2 bed flat).

Having researched myself a bit more, no-one seems to make a battery operated wirelessly controllable thermostat that can be dropped in to replace an existing thermostat. The closest I can find is the RF 210, but that needs a separate boiler switch and can only be controlled by PCs or Marmitek controllers, which, in turn, only have phone remote access, not ethernet.

All the other remotely controllable thermostats that I can find, even from the likes of Crestron and AMX either require power, wired data connections or more than 2 wire control of the boiler.

[Isco 3]

Originally Posted by neilball

If you've not seen any of my previous posts you might not know that I work for Sensible Heat - I run their Scottish/Northern England office

Honeywell have a dedicated Hometronic website and you can download the R4 manual from there. Note that the R4 manual does not include absolutely every application or some of the newer modules but the descriptions of control strategy are correct.

When did you send in the email and which was it using the link on the website? We would normally respond to email enquiries the same day and either email or post out our brochure. If you PM me your enquiry I will make sure it gets dealt with.

In the meantime feel free to PM me with any technical questions and I'll do what I can to help.

Hi Neil,

system is working fine!
Any news on the updated Netstreams driver?

[neilball]

Hi Dimitri

Updated Netstreams driver is being tested on a couple sites right now, should be signed off by InVision in a week or two if all goes to plan. I'll give you a call as soon as it is ready