I have an interesting task that I'm automating. I have an indoor pool and it's crucial that the room temperature be set higher than the water temperature in the pool. As long as the room temp is at least 2 to 3 degrees higher than the pool water temp, I can avoid having condensation form in the room. There are dehumidifiers to handle moisture in the room but they become ineffective at least or marginally effective by running constantly at best. (they're quite loud) The pool room furnace is fed by a propane tank as is the pool heater. If I heat up the pool to something balmy like 75 degrees or more, I have to make sure the furnace temp is raised accordingly. This part is easy. The hard part is remembering to continually check the water temperature as it cools down and adjust the furnace temperature down with it so I'm not keeping the room unnecessarily warm which wastes propane like crazy! Having twin two year old boys makes remembering to check/adjust the room temp a challenge sometimes. Even forgetting for a couple of days can make a big difference in the propane bill.
The solution I am currently using is a Homeseer Hometroller SE Pro with a Z-wave thermostat on the furnace that heats the room, (this furnace is dedicated to this room only and doesn't impact the rest of the house) and an Oregon Scientific water temperature sensor that broadcasts the water temperature of the pool. I have a Z-Troller receiving signals from the thermostat and an RFXCOM RFXrec433 unit receiving data from the Oregon Scientific sensor (THWR800 Sensor) I'm currently working on setting up the event to have the Hometroller keep the thermostat 3 degrees higher than what the Oregon Scientific water temp sensor is reporting.
In reading an interesting post by another user, he mentioned that his home automation setup is designed such that it still works even if his computer goes down and Homeseer is no longer controlling it. He achieves this by setting up his various automations to work independently of the HS unit so the HS unit is really just a monitoring device. (I'm guessing that he sticks with a single proprietary brand for each setup but I don't know for certain.)
I don't know if my pool room temperature problem is solvable by any other means (other than me having a brain transplant to maintain a better memory but that's not why we all enjoy home automation . . .) but I was curious to see if any of you out there have any other ideas aside from what I've implemented. My Z-wave thermostat simply won't talk to the Oregon Scientific unit without the Homeseer software working in between. Any solutions you could think of that would allow me a fail safe system in case my Hometroller ever fails on me?
Just curious here. I'm interested to see what others come up with for possible alternative solutions should my current setup ever fail or need updating.
The solution I am currently using is a Homeseer Hometroller SE Pro with a Z-wave thermostat on the furnace that heats the room, (this furnace is dedicated to this room only and doesn't impact the rest of the house) and an Oregon Scientific water temperature sensor that broadcasts the water temperature of the pool. I have a Z-Troller receiving signals from the thermostat and an RFXCOM RFXrec433 unit receiving data from the Oregon Scientific sensor (THWR800 Sensor) I'm currently working on setting up the event to have the Hometroller keep the thermostat 3 degrees higher than what the Oregon Scientific water temp sensor is reporting.
In reading an interesting post by another user, he mentioned that his home automation setup is designed such that it still works even if his computer goes down and Homeseer is no longer controlling it. He achieves this by setting up his various automations to work independently of the HS unit so the HS unit is really just a monitoring device. (I'm guessing that he sticks with a single proprietary brand for each setup but I don't know for certain.)
I don't know if my pool room temperature problem is solvable by any other means (other than me having a brain transplant to maintain a better memory but that's not why we all enjoy home automation . . .) but I was curious to see if any of you out there have any other ideas aside from what I've implemented. My Z-wave thermostat simply won't talk to the Oregon Scientific unit without the Homeseer software working in between. Any solutions you could think of that would allow me a fail safe system in case my Hometroller ever fails on me?
Just curious here. I'm interested to see what others come up with for possible alternative solutions should my current setup ever fail or need updating.
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