Air Conditioners (HVAC) integration question.

[Kdiamond]

Greetings HS community! This is my first post here.

I have one question. I hope you can help.

How do you deal with Air Conditioners? AFAIK they don't connect directly to HS, but I need tu use Z-wave or IFTTT Thermostats to access cooling, heating, fans.... I would like to turn off the AC as the Window gets open using multi sensors etc....

I found some wiring diagrams and explanation about 24V 5 wires connection. But the question is. Does every AC model have those HVAC connectors that I can wire thermostat to? I guess cheap $200 AC will not provide option for 24V wired remote control, or should it? I don't seem to find it in user manuals.

How do you connect AC devices to HS? What is the best practice?

Thank you very much!
Br,
Dali

[Rupp]

Here in the states we use Z-Wave thermostats. Is your air conditioning connected to a thermostat?

[Pete]

Here in the United States many / most homes utilize a combination furnace / Air conditioning device - HVAC. The Air Conditioner piece uses coils in side where the blower motor is and outside to the coils. There are also large and small window air conditioners controlled on the device or remotely via a thermostat (you see these for single rooms in a home or a hotel here). For a rebuild of a server room here have used portable on wheels AC devices used temporarily while switching or install a new CRAC (computer room air conditioning) unit. Air is drawn from the elevated floor (return) and pushed out of the supply (ducts) in the ceiling.

The basic thermostat design has remained the same for over 50 years here.

Here is a drawing. The 24VAC is used to control high voltage AC power to the FAN, Heat or Cool pieces of the furnace (well like a contactor).

The air conditioner cools the air and removes the moisture.

[ATTACH]62944[/ATTACH]

The automation of the thermostat comes in many flavors of transport.

Serial, Wireless (802.XX), Z-Wave and Zigbee and proprietary wired or wireless.

You can use the specific pieces of the thermostat (heat or cool) wires to configure the thermostat for heating or just cooling needs.

Or build a low voltage widget using AD and temperature sensors.

In the EU mostly saw sort of stand alone Air Conditioners with one duct going out a window or in to an attic space. Thermostat setting were built in to the unit or remote connected (low voltage wiring) to a thermostat in same room. I mostly saw this in office buildings and using these for cooling of small server network closets. Is this the air conditioner type that you are mentioning?

Some thermostats today have remote temperature and humidity sensors and built in averaging of temperatures.

Homeseer can manage all of this remotely in LAN or via WAN.

[Kdiamond]

Thank you for reply Rupp and Pete.

Yes we use same design here in EU.

Inside: (Furnace)

Outside: (Air Conditioner)


So If I got it right, I disconnect those RWYG cables going from Furnance to Air conditioner and go from Z-wave Thermostat directly to Outside Air conditioning device?



Is that the way?

Thank you for your help!

Br,
Dali

[S-F]

Thank you for reply Rupp and Pete.

Yes we use same design here in EU.



So If I got it right, I disconnect those RWYG cables going from Furnance to Air conditioner and go from Z-wave Thermostat directly to Outside Air conditioning device?



Is that the way?

Thank you for your help!

Br,
Dali

Woah! No! What you have is called a mini split here and the communication between the indoor and outdoor units is proprietary. The system Pete described is completely different.

To control a mini split you need to emulate the infrared signal from the remote control. This can be done with either an itach or the Remotech ZXT-120.

For the itach approach see this thread: https://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=170544

[randy]

With Mitsubishi, I believe you can also add a Redlink gateway and use a Honeywell thermostat that can be controlled by a plug-in.

[Kdiamond]

Thank you for reply S-F.

I thought disconnecting 2 proprietary parts might not be the most elegant thing to do


So the only way is to learn and emulate IR commands that are send using the remote.

A few questions pupus up to mi mind.

1.
If I have bigger house, or a hotel. How many itach hardware devices should I have. 1 for each room, one for each AC device, 1 for each floor. IR doesn't reach far.

2.
Is there a dedicated IR command for every temperature value (20,21,22,23,24,25,26 degree) as with the remote you got UP,UP,UP and DOWN, DOWN, DOWN.

3. I suppose there is no reverse info about the current state of AC. IR is one way. For example is someone uses IR remote, HS will not know the current state of the AC


Thank you
Br,
Dali

[S-F]

With Mitsubishi, I believe you can also add a Redlink gateway and use a Honeywell thermostat that can be controlled by a plug-in.

That is only with some of the newer Mitsubishi head units. Mine for example aren't compatible.

[Kdiamond]

Hm.

I'm actually surprised that this field is so purely covered. I was expecting handful of solutions for controlling the AC from HS.

So what kind of AC device would I need to buy to be able to use those numerous Z-wave Thermostats listed here:

https://homeseer.com/compatible-products/

I didn't bought anything yet. Just exploring the options

Thank you for your help.

Br,
Dali

[S-F]

In order to use one of those thermostats to control air conditioning you would need to have a ducted "split system". I think these are more common in the U.S. than everywhere else on the planet for residential duty. It would have a large air handler somewhere in the house and duct work running all over the place. These are usually also used for heating in climates where heating is needed. It's commonly called "forced hot air" and "central air conditioning".

The solution that would be the most cost effective to operate would be to get either a Mitsubishi or Fujitsu mini split like you pictured earlier and control it with an itach or the ZXT-120. The cheapest to install but the most expensive to operate would be a window mounted AC unit that can be remote controlled and again using an itach or ZXT-120. The most expensive to install (and I mean a LOT more expensive) would be the kind of system I describe at the beginning of this post and the cost to operate would be somewhere between the window unit and the mini split. You can get a window AC unit for $300. You can get a mini split installed and an itach for $4,000. You can get a conventional split system with a regular Z-Wave thermostat installed for $20,000.

It would be helpful if you could just describe what it is you're trying to accomplish and then maybe we could help you narrow things down a little bit.

[Kdiamond]

Thank you S-F.

Thank you. Yes you are correct.

I would like to be able to monitor/control my AC devices in the rooms with HomeSeer. Another feature would be to shut it down in case a Windows gets open. I indent to use window open/close sensor for that. I would like to control and monitor all devices (cameras, lights, dimmer switches, AC) from one Android tablet connected to HS server.

I hope that helps.

Thank you
Br,
Dali

[brientim]

There is also Sensibo which is another Aircon IR remote. As far as I know it hasn't been integrated HS as yet, but there is an API and but does integrate with other HA, Amazon, Google IFTTT etc

https://sensibo.com

[S-F]

You have the three options I mentioned above. I suggest you speak with several HVAC technicians to find out which solution is right for you. No matter which you go with HS can control it. Many people have their AC shut off when a door or window has been open for too long. That's the easy part. The hard part is actually installing the correct system for your budget and the construction of your house.

[travisdh]

I have a different type, but I suspect they mostly work in a similar manner. In my case, there is a heap of different commands which are chained together in the remote, for example, turn on AC 25 degrees, swing the vent, fan on auto is one command, then 26 is another, and so on.

It makes it harder to program the devices, but generally, you probably know what ranges you would use, so in my case, i set AC OFF, AC on 16, AC on 18, AC on 20, Heat 22 and so on. These were then assigned to events as i needed them.

Not very elegant, but it works

[Pete]

Is this endeavor going to be for a Hotel or a large home.

IE: is it a commercial endeavor?