Thermostat, which one?????

[Rotech]

Last week, I finished installing a central air in my home. Now I need some advice in what to buy to control the AC. My setup does not have heating only AC. What type and what brand of thermostat I should purchase so it can be controlled by HS? Iam currently using zwave devices in my home.

[wpiman]

I used to have HAI thermostats: RC80s I beleive-- but it required running wire to the thermos for RS-232- but they worked well. Zwave should be reliable, I can't speak for them though. If I were doing it again, I would consider them.

[Rupp]

HAI RS232 is the only way to go.

[misraels]

I would definitely suggest a haredwire connection, rs2332 or rs485, over zwave, x10 or insteon.

I personally use the Aprilaire 8870 and it has worked flawlessly for 18 months.

[dmurphy]

I use RCS zwave thermostat and the HS plugin and it works very well and reliably. Amazingly the zwave stat is cheaper than the X10 RCS stat from smarthome

D.

[BrettS]

I've been happy with my two RCS Zwave TZ16 thermostats as well. Also, it's my understanding that the TZ16 is identical to the TR16, but it has an external ZWave interface that attaches to the RS485 port. I believe that if I wanted to switch from the ZWave connection to a serial connection I could simply disconnect the ZWave module and connect a computer to the RS485 port. I haven't actually tried to do this to verify, however.

Brett

[TeleFragger]

so if someone wanted to start using zwave all you need is
http://www.smarthome.com/1192.html

$40 usb adapter...... hmmmm my summer plans (which may not get done) are to automate the heat/ac and do the rfxcom electric monitoring with a 200A upgrade on panel...

[rmasonjr]

Yeah, the adapter is $40, but the wall switches are just outside of my price range. Coupled with the fact that the more devices, the better the network, z-wave is still a little expensive at this point.

[Rotech]

Can anyone tell me out of all the option above, it is cheapsest?

[midknight]

Yeah, the adapter is $40, but the wall switches are just outside of my price range. Coupled with the fact that the more devices, the better the network, z-wave is still a little expensive at this point.

hm i recommend scouring ebay if youre fine with intermatic and vizia there are lots of good zwave deals only catch is the listings may not be as zwave so you have to think creatively to find an item.
I bought 10 zwave 300w dimmers for $12 each including shipping new in the box. got them all hooked up and the house is running great