IP or Z-wave

[CharlieWayne]

http://www.venstar.com/Thermostats/

Well as soon as I got your reply I revisited looking at the Venstar Tstat and put aside the cosmetic features that are bland. I Compared the three models (T1700, T1800, T1900) followed with reading ALL 108 pages of the T1900 Manual.

I must say this baby packs so pretty bad a$$ features and fits my needs for function wise. Features that really caught my eye were as follows
http://www.venstar.com/Support/Manua...ManualRev1.pdf

1) Viewing the Outdoor Temperature ............................5.2
(can put the AUX temp sensor anywhere ie attic)
2) Viewing the Indoor Humidity....................................5.3
(monitor & use variable to control output analog signals)
3) Setting the Fan-Off Time Delay.................................7.4
(run Fan for up to 90 seconds after compressor shuts off)
4) Thermostat Output Jumper for Dehumid Operation......10.2
(I'm looking into adding an whole house dehumid system and would be able . to integrate it with HS using this feature I think)
5) Section 14 Contents: 14.2 thru 14.7 (controlling the compressor)
(able to reduce compressor cycling but not sure how it would work with . . multi stats on a zone controller)
6) SECTION 18 Energy Save Operation .......................18.1
(this feature would make life SO easy being that it would reduce the . . events and logic in HS)


A couple questions I have after reading this the stat manual as well your plugin are.

A) Seems the T1900 doesnt come with Insteon and would require the Thermostat Adapter INSTEON Item# 2441V. (Insteon is closed today so I couldn't call to confirm)

Being this connects through RJ11 connections do you think I could hide the INSTEON Thermostat Adapter inside the wall where the stat is and connect them with a patch cable? (just trying to keep the look clean & I think I have more then enough Dual band close by to communicate through the drywall)

B) You said in your post as well within your plugin that it can "sends updates when someone changes something at the thermostat directly" or ""Supports real-time updates of thermostat changes made at the physical thermostat. (Requires v2 of the 2441V or greater)". Also your plugin manual says "can track when the thermostat is actually calling for heat, cooling, or fan"

I understand this as when a person makes a change to the stat BUT what about when the stat it self makes a change like A/C On, Heater On, Dumid On, Fan On? (Looking to use these values to trigger events like turn ceiling fan on or something like that)

C) With your plugin, your support page says "Thermostat template provided to ease integration into HSTouch screens".

Are these templates pretty much turn key ready? I couldn't find the templates on your webpage and they didn't seem to be in the ZIP download)

D) What features, benefits, or extended functionality will this provide? "there are many other scripting APIs that allow for extended functionality and easier interface."


Over all, the more I look at this T1900 Venstar I think its superior and the cosmetics that I spoke of earlier are not much of a concern. Smaller might be better as its my intent for people within my home to use HST through Touch screens to interface with all other components such as the Tstat, Pool Equipment, Security etc...

I noticed that even you can get replacement Door Face plates which might allow me to try and paint the face-plate to blend in with the wall paint making these thermostats even more discrete as they already have a small foot print.

Well its been a long night and day of reading so I'll give my fingers a rest and listen for some input.

Again thanks everyone for the support.

Charlie

[tpchristian]

Thanks Tom for your input.
1) Viewing the Outdoor Temperature ............................5.2
(can put the AUX temp sensor anywhere ie attic)

Note that getting sending the aux temp to HS is not supported. There is a waterproof external sensor that can be connected to the 2441ZTH wireless that does support sending both the internal and external temp. However, the wireless is not meant to control HVAC directly.

A couple questions I have after reading this the stat manual as well your plugin are.

A) Seems the T1900 doesnt come with Insteon and would require the Thermostat Adapter INSTEON Item# 2441V. (Insteon is closed today so I couldn't call to confirm)

Being this connects through RJ11 connections do you think I could hide the INSTEON Thermostat Adapter inside the wall where the stat is and connect them with a patch cable? (just trying to keep the look clean & I think I have more then enough Dual band close by to communicate through the drywall)

All three of these would require the 2441v adapater. However, SH did sell a series of "professional" products that include venstar thermostats with the adapter mounted internally. You would probably have to call to ask if they still have these.

Maybe these could be mounted into the wall, but it may cut down on the range.

B) You said in your post as well within your plugin that it can "sends updates when someone changes something at the thermostat directly" or ""Supports real-time updates of thermostat changes made at the physical thermostat. (Requires v2 of the 2441V or greater)". Also your plugin manual says "can track when the thermostat is actually calling for heat, cooling, or fan"

I understand this as when a person makes a change to the stat BUT what about when the stat it self makes a change like A/C On, Heater On, Dumid On, Fan On? (Looking to use these values to trigger events like turn ceiling fan on or something like that)

Yes, it does notify when it sends a heat or cool call to the HVAC. I have separate devices for the HVAC that represent that state. It also has some devices that track the total hours of heat or cool and a countdown timer that you can use for things like changing the filter after x hours of use. It does send the humidity, but not a trigger humidy on/off type of thing.

C) With your plugin, your support page says "Thermostat template provided to ease integration into HSTouch screens".

Are these templates pretty much turn key ready? I couldn't find the templates on your webpage and they didn't seem to be in the ZIP download)

I do have a "template" on my site. I would not say it is turnkey. You will need to update the buttons and such with the name of the thermostat that you want to to control. I would call this more of an example, that a template. Here is the direct link...

http://sage-software.com/index.php/d...-hstouch-files

D) What features, benefits, or extended functionality will this provide? "there are many other scripting APIs that allow for extended functionality and easier interface."

I don't know if this is what you are getting at, but there are programs which is a name set of mode, setpoints, etc. that can be triggered based on events. For this purpose, there are custom triggers and actions that can be performed in addition to the normal triggers that can be done based on the devices that are added.

Over all, the more I look at this T1900 Venstar I think its superior and the cosmetics that I spoke of earlier are not much of a concern. Smaller might be better as its my intent for people within my home to use HST through Touch screens to interface with all other components such as the Tstat, Pool Equipment, Security etc...

I noticed that even you can get replacement Door Face plates which might allow me to try and paint the face-plate to blend in with the wall paint making these thermostats even more discrete as they already have a small foot print.

Well its been a long night and day of reading so I'll give my fingers a rest and listen for some input.

Again thanks everyone for the support.

Charlie

I couldn't agree with you more. The color touchscreen thermostats look very cool. IMHO, I would just get a thermostat that serves its control purposes well. Then, if it is in the budget, us a Android tablet with HSTouch for your touchscreen. It will control your thermostat as well as much more. I still bump the setpoint from my tstat sometimes, but not that often.

[CharlieWayne]

Totally understand and thanks for your input.

Just need to wait for the new year and then call SM about the T1900 and find out if they have an integrated Insteon RF receiver..

While I think I already know the answer to what I am going to ask, I will ask anyways. Being that I desire to have multi-zones with multi-tstats, can these T1900s share one INSTEON Thermostat Adapter Item# 2441V through the RJ11 to report back to HS? (Just looking to save money by running cable instead of buying an Adapter for every stat and I know this has nothing to do with a zone controller)

Happy New Years To ALL

Charlie

[tpchristian]

You cannot use a single 2441v adapter for multiple tstats. I don't have a multi-zone system, but do you just need the Venstar for your main and could use the newer Insteon tstats for the other zones.

[CharlieWayne]

Just as I thought about using one 2441v Adapter per each stat. It was my intent to save money thinking that the T1900 Tstat's could send hardwired digital signal to one common gateway adapter with HS.


All have to be Heat Pump stats as each stat will send analog signal to a zone controller.

The zone controller provides two functions,
1) Send Power to the dampeners on the requesting zone
then
2) Forward the analog call from the tstat to the HVAC Handler & Compressor.

So being that diff stats call at different times and the dampeners are controlled for that zone by that calling stat, all stats must be compatible with the type of HVAC system you have.

Being I have an HVAC Heat Pump system, I must run Heat Pump Stats. Overall I think I will be happy with the T1900 and am gonna test one regardless of wither a Insteon controller is built in.

After I talk with SH on Wed but from my googling the Venstar Tstat with the built in Insteon is the T1800. I'll let you know after I talk to them on wed.

Thanks again

[CharlieWayne]

Ordered the Venstar T1900 and also the Insteon Adapter yesterday. It will be a couple days tilll it arrives but I'm already excited to play with some of the features of the T1900.

Here's a link to its features and ill update once i get it up and running.


http://www.venstar.com/Thermostats/SlimlinePlatinumR/

Again, thanks guys for your inputs and help

[AutomatingIT]

Are there any good IP stats still available?