Looking for water heater controller

[reidfo]

I'm looking for a good Z-Wave controller for the electric water heater in a second home. Currently we shut off the circuit breaker to the water heater when we're not around, but I'm looking to automate this.

I have looked at the Intermatic CA3750 and the Aeon Labs Aeotec ZW078 but not fully satisfied with either. I like the energy reporting capabilities of the Aeotec, but my big hangup is manual control.

With both of these switches it appears that the manual on/off control is under the cover, meaning exposed 220VAC wiring. Ideally I want something with an external on/off switch that doesn't expose potentially deadly current when you want/need to manually control the device. If there is nothing that gives me a truly *safe* manual control, I'd opt for one that defaults to "on" state when power is cycled, though I don't really care for that either since that means the water heater would turn on after any power outage.

My other concern is that should the electronics fail in the switch, we still need a safe and easy way to turn the water heater on and off manually.

What experiences have y'all had with similar situations? Since the home is used by others in my family who are not as technical I really need a foolproof method of manual control, with automation as a side benefit.

[TomTom]

I believe I read sometime back that intermatic defaults to off status if power is interrupted. This was the main reason I didn't install this


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[Steve Q]

I purchased a "relay in a box" from wolfautomation.com. Can't remember the part number but it is a 220v - 30 amp relay that defaults to ON. I use XAP to control it. It mounts to the main electric panel. I installed it about 5 years ago. It works great. There is no manual control needed. It is only ON when HomeSeer tells it to turn ON ( water heater is off when relay is ON).

Steve Q

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[sparkman]

I use a couple of the Aeotec HS switches to monitor and control a dryer and a stove. They return to the state they were in after a power outage. For manual control, you could use a separate z-wave switch and directly associate it to the Aeotec HS switch and control it that way.

Cheers
Al

[Olbrit]

When I had a regular electric water heater in my FL vacation home, I successfully used this Elk for several years:
http://store.homeseer.com/store/ELK-...ctor-P740.aspx
I had it connected at one time or another to either a Z-Wave Switch or Appliance Module with instant status and located next to the water heater. The spouse seemed to be able to work the on/off if needed without issue, although that was very rare as the water heater was on timers in HS to pre-heat at the popular times for showers etc.
(I also used this for a while to control my pool pump outside by gutting the Elk and installing the relay in a waterproof can).

[macromark]

With both of these switches it appears that the manual on/off control is under the cover, meaning exposed 220VAC wiring. Ideally I want something with an external on/off switch that doesn't expose potentially deadly current when you want/need to manually control the device. If there is nothing that gives me a truly *safe* manual control, I'd opt for one that defaults to "on" state when power is cycled, though I don't really care for that either since that means the water heater would turn on after any power outage.

I asked Chris Cheng from Aeon Labs why they didn't expose the manual switch on their unit. He says it's because they expected the unit to be installed outside and wanted to achieve an IP44 rating on it. I then asked if drilling a hole through the cover to allow access to the switch would void the warranty. He said yes, it would void the warranty. Too bad, since that's the perfect solution!

[TomTom]

Looking for water heater controller

But then again, how often do these companies really stand by their warranties. I had called ge about their defective switch a few years ago and was told a bunch of exception on why they weren't going to cover it. Wasn't worth my time to argue. In tech field I've only found Bose, Sony, and Apple to be responsive to warranty and/or customer issues. I would include HS but I haven't had a problem to test it out. 8-)
As far as stores that cover their customers I can only think of Costco and Home Depot.


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