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Thermostat that controls Humidity?

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    Thermostat that controls Humidity?

    Hello All,

    Does anyone know of a HA capable Thermostat that also controls Humidity? I currently have a Carrier Humidstat which controls Humidity and Temperature, this thing work works great! Much better than any stand-along humidistat I have ever used, problem is it is not HA capable. :-(

    #2
    There is a 1-Wire temp / humidity sensor available for about $35. Combine this with the serial or USB PC adapter ($30?) and MSCTemp plugin and you have a way to get current and historic graphing of humidity and temp. Then, plug your humidifier into an X10 outlet, set high / low ranges in MSCTemp and you have a controlled humidity system.

    You would also have a second opinion on Temp in case your thermostat goes on the blink.

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      #3
      Thanks for the suggestion, I know I could do this with discrete sensors and X-10 modules but I really want a stand-alone thermostat to control my heat (humidity and cool). HA Software is not bulletproof enough to be trusted with this responsibility, my entire system (if you can call it that) is built around redundancy and interconnection of discrete systems to automate. I do not want the failure of a Windows PC to jepordize the comfort and safety of my home and family. To me, a separate HVAC control system that can accept set-point commands from an HA system, but still has hard coded limits and safety systems, is the only way to go.

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        #4
        Jello4

        I agree with your approach and thats how I handle it. I have the ocelot controller, it brings the value of a harden, stand alone controller. I used it exclusively before homeseer, and will continue to. I draw the line at critical vs convience. Convience functions go in HS, and critical functions like HVAC go in the Oclelot. I have never had to reboot it; any bad side effects from having it have been coding problems by yours truly.... I just got a RCS TX15B, and I am putting base code for it in the ocelot. I will pass variables to HS and it will provide the "user interface". But the critical HVAC functions, stay in the Ocelot.

        I use a basic humidistat that came with my house, and hooked it to an inteface module. I use that to directly turn on and off supersockets that control both humdifiers. There is code in the ocelot that checks the "on time" of the humidifiers, and will eventually shut them off. It also checks an attic humidity sensor, and turns them off if the average humidty goes above a certain point. The supersockets could exchaned for X10 2-way modules, and then you would know for sure if it was on or off, and have logic accordingly

        Paul
        Last edited by pbibm; December 23, 2004, 10:53 AM. Reason: typo
        Paul

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          #5
          jello,
          agree with you regarding temp, but humidity is a pretty non critical thing in my opinion. Not worth looking for a single solution that might not even exist. Not to mention that what I described also provides that redundancy you are looking for with regard to the critical temp. I wasn't suggesting replacing temp control with a non thermo solution.

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            #6
            I'll take a SWAG on this one.

            Part 1. Take a look at the Aprilaire line of communicating stats. They might have one that does temp/humidity and also commmunicates via RS232.

            Part 2. Look at some of the temperature and/or thermostat plugins for HS. Some of them might support the Aprilaire thermostat from above. If so, then you have your solution.
            My system is described in my profile.

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              #7
              I looked awhile back to see if I could find one unit to do both. My reason was to get rid of the ugly humidistat but not lose my communication tstat. I did not find any at that time. Their was one site that was suppose to be building one but I never checked back and I have misplaced the link. Here is a link for a standalone unit that will do both.

              http://www.thermostatusa.com/humidistat.asp

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                #8
                Here is something interesting:


                http://www.qasupplies.com/superstat.html

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                  #9
                  Yikes $810 for the temp and humidity version. No thanx!

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                    #10
                    Ouch! I did not look at the prices

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                      #11
                      Here is the Aprilaire site. http://www.aprilaire.com/

                      And here is the owners manual for the communicating stat. http://www.aprilaire.com/pdfs/ct_8870.pdf

                      I was able to find one price quote for a little over $200. Better than $800, but still not cheap.

                      It mentions an optional humidity sensor, but I couldn't find more info.
                      My system is described in my profile.

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                        #12
                        That's what I saw, a mention of an optional Humidity senor but no additional information. This looks to be the most promising...

                        Merry Christmas
                        Mike

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