"Little" project I've been busy with
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:13 pm
I've always wanted a thermostat I could set unlimited schedule/programs on as well as add some efficiency features such as keeping the fan blowing for a while till the heat exchanger cools off. The primary thing was also accessibility, I want to be able to access it from virtually any web enabled device. No need for a specific device or an "app", rather, just a basic web page that does not use any kind of plugins.
So I got to work.
I found a 6 channel 4 relay control board that would do just as I need, and it's USB/Serial and interfacing with it with C++ was not too hard to do after a bit of hair pulling.
After a bit of research on how to cleanly interconnect everything, I opted for a DIN rail and terminal blocks. It's very modular, clean looking, and I can mount all sorts of stuff on there in the future.
Ran lot of cat6 wiring around, used for the sensors. There is capacity for 6 sensors on that board so figured may as well use em all.
a sensor where my existing thermostat is, one in the hallway, server room, return duct, supply duct and outside. The outside one has to wait till summer. I don't want to drill through my house in Winter and anything I use to seal it wont cure properly.
Some of the wiring is preexisting actual Ethernet runs.
First sensor is inside the old thermostat.
It's the thing that looks like a transistor sticking out from the side.
supply and return duct sensors:
server room sensor (basically basement, it's not a self contained room yet)
And this one is the most genious, I did not have anything existing to hide it in...
...So I installed a wallmount light
Control board connected.
And lastly, the web interface. I plan to make it better and more intuitive, but it's a good start.
So yeah this is pretty much done, and has been running live for the past few days. Got some minor tweaks to do but all in all it works!
We're in the middle of a heat wave right now so the heat does not have to run as much, so it was a good time to test in case something goes wrong and it does not start. I'm also off for a few days. Going back
Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:6430, old post ID:37760
So I got to work.
I found a 6 channel 4 relay control board that would do just as I need, and it's USB/Serial and interfacing with it with C++ was not too hard to do after a bit of hair pulling.
After a bit of research on how to cleanly interconnect everything, I opted for a DIN rail and terminal blocks. It's very modular, clean looking, and I can mount all sorts of stuff on there in the future.
Ran lot of cat6 wiring around, used for the sensors. There is capacity for 6 sensors on that board so figured may as well use em all.
a sensor where my existing thermostat is, one in the hallway, server room, return duct, supply duct and outside. The outside one has to wait till summer. I don't want to drill through my house in Winter and anything I use to seal it wont cure properly.
Some of the wiring is preexisting actual Ethernet runs.
First sensor is inside the old thermostat.
It's the thing that looks like a transistor sticking out from the side.
supply and return duct sensors:
server room sensor (basically basement, it's not a self contained room yet)
And this one is the most genious, I did not have anything existing to hide it in...
...So I installed a wallmount light
Control board connected.
And lastly, the web interface. I plan to make it better and more intuitive, but it's a good start.
So yeah this is pretty much done, and has been running live for the past few days. Got some minor tweaks to do but all in all it works!
We're in the middle of a heat wave right now so the heat does not have to run as much, so it was a good time to test in case something goes wrong and it does not start. I'm also off for a few days. Going back
Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:6430, old post ID:37760