Humidity Control?

[misraels]

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to set the 8870 up to control humidity? And does the plug-in even support that?

[RJ]

Hello,

I do not believe there is any control over humidity from the protocol. The plugin does not support it as of mow, simply because there does not appear to be anything about it in the protocol docs I have.

[misraels]

I am not that familiar with the unit yet, so you may be right, this topic is hard to get information on from AprilAire. However, the programming manual references commands of SHUM, SHUM++ and SHUM-- for Humidify Set Point, increment and decrement.

This is from page 5 of the Aprilaire Programmers Manual for the 8870.

Not even sure how to physically hook that up, but I am going to try figure that out.

[RJ]

Hello Again,

I did some more digging, and it seems you have a later version of the control documentation than I do. Perhaps the SHUM is a new command that was added more recently.

I would be happy to implement this if you have a digital version of the documentation. The latest version I have here omits the commands you mentioned, so it appears mine is out of date. Also, given that this is a free plugin, I can add this but it might take some time.

[misraels]

Here is a link to a collections of manuals from Aprilaires contractor web site.

http://www.aprilairecontractor.com/h...matedHVAC.aspx

You may need to create a log in to access the information, which is pretty simple.

I have also attached the 8870 Series Programmers Manual, which contains more functions than is listed in the operators manual.

Some interesting functions include setting Messages on the display, turning on the backlight, setting humidify and dehumidify settings.

And yes, I do realize this is a free plug-in and it is working quite well as is. Actually, I am still waiting for the humidity sensor and then I have to figure out how to hook it up, so no hurry for me at all.

[misraels]

Sorry, wasn't paying attention to the attachment, it was too big to attach, 7mb.

[misraels]

Well...in working with Aprilaire, I have dounf out that in order to control humidity with the 8870, it becomes only a humidistat and cannot control heat or cooling functions. Basically, you add a remote temp/humidity sensor and select the jumpers to control humidity.

So...it may be nice to add this for completeness to the plug-in, I personally will not be using it as a dedicated humidistat for a while becuase I am not ready to buy one for dedicated humidity control yet. Maybe in a winter or 2 when I have an extra $300.

Messages to the stat and blinking the backlight might be nice though.

[bkvargyas]

I would love if the plug-in supported this feature! I'm actually using 3 Aprilaire 8870 units, one is used for humidity control only. The setup is one operates the garage heater, one operates the house heat/cool and the 3rd operates the humidifier and a whole house Aprilaire dehumidifier. However, homeseer reads this unit as a thermostat and basically polls the remote temperature sensor instead. I could easily test this feature out if you put the programming in.... I would also love to set the humidity as well, but I'm not sure if that command exists.

Brian

[RJ]

Hi Guys-

Just letting you know that this isn't dead, but certainly in limbo. I am working on another project right now, and dont have time to work on this. If after I finish my current project I have some time to do this, I will certainly work on it.

[Steve Q]

I'm not familiar with the Aprilaire plug-in but I control the humidity in my house in the winter by having Homseer turn on the furnace fan for several hours during the day. This allows the humidifier to add additional moisture to the air until the humidistat turns off the humidifier. In the future I will add a humidity sensor to my onewire network ; then have Homeseeer run the furnace fan until the humidity reaches the proper value.

[bkvargyas]

I'm going to refresh this thread --- any update if there are any plans to add the few commands necessary to control humidity? I would like to set up a HSTouch system and remove the 8870's from my wall, and place a touchscreen in it's place....But what's keeping me from doing so is Hummidity support. I need to be able to set the hummidity/dehumidify settings in order to go touchscreen.

I've also got a client with about 10 of these 8870's and they are looking to upgrade their existing touchscreen system that's about 9 years old now and I'd like to demo a HStouch system to them running the 8870s.

Can the source be opened up on this plug in so we can add it ourselves? -- I have not seen any updates in quite a while, but it looks like you've been busy on other things....

Thanks,

Brian