View it online here: [url=http://www.asihome.com/ASIshop/product_info.php?products_id=4560]http://www.asihome.com/ASIshop/product_info.php?products_id=4560[/url]
Nice, thanks Barry.
I know there are several forum members that have a two wire thermostat connection might be interested in this unit since it can power itself off of the batteries.
Wish I had waited. Just got this from homesecuritystore.com for almost $20 more than the ASIHome price. Oh well !! >:(
I JUST got the Trane thermostat delivered today. I will need to buy another one for upstairs, and this one is cheaper! Can anyone speak to the differences between this one and the Trane? One thing I noticed about the Trane unit already is that in Vera you can’t see what exact program you are currently in (hold, run, energy savings status check), although you can command it to switch to two of the modes. Also, you can’t see anything like if the unit is currently running (cooling, heating, or fan are active). Is it the same for this 2-gig?
@Automated … the ‘advanced’ tab will show the states of your Trane … ie. Idle/Heat ON/Cool On.
One of the differences is the Trane supports Auto mode and the 2-GIG does not.
OK…just installed the 2-gig and was a bit surprised (mostly due to ignorance of what it would or would not do). Here is my review/findings…
Stand-alone interface
- was easy to install. I did not have a 24vac power wire from the furnace so I used the supplied batteries. The unit works fine on battery power. Screen is bright and nice.
- takes a bit of an effort for initial programming. Some of the touch-screen icons are miniature and you almost are better off using a stylus for accuracy.
- The unit can be programmed for each day of the week. The nice feature is “Copy Program” which will copy your current program into the next day. Since my Mon-Fri program is similar, this feature is pretty handy.
Z-wave interface
- pairing with my Vera 2 was relatively pain-free. In order to join the network, I took the Vera to the unit and put the Vera in the include mode and pressed the “mate” touch-screen icon. After successfully connected to the Vera network, the word “Link” shows up below the radio icon.
- also noticed that the words “Remote Control” shows up to the right of the screen. No idea what this is and what it does. I guess it has something to do with the z-wave network.
Anyways, once added to the z-wave network, the local programming on the unit stops working. I found this out when the target temps did not initiate. Looks like the 7-day programming is only available when using this unit as a stand-alone (not connected to z-wave). Not sure if the Tranes behave the same way. Eventually I removed this unit from the z-wave network and currently am using this as a stand-alone so I can use the 7-day programming feature.
Now, my question is in order to use 7-day programming on this device with Vera, what do I have to do? Once I had this on the Vera network, I could only see the options for setting the temps at a certain degrees and stay there. What I would like to be able to do in Vera is to set different temps for different times of day as well as different days of the week. Do I have to create multiple scenes for this or luup programming? Anyone using this thermostat with z-wave can shed some light? Also, what does the “Remote Control” mean on the display? I do not have this unit on z-wave network, but still the Remote Control shows up on the screen. As always, any help is appreciated.
[quote=“fall-line, post:2, topic:166960”]Nice, thanks Barry.
I know there are several forum members that have a two wire thermostat connection might be interested in this unit since it can power itself off of the batteries.[/quote]
Just noticed this… So can I take this unit and replace my pellet stove thermostat with it? ( Pellet stove uses 2 wire mechanical thermostat).
Found a bit more about the 2 gig stats. The company that makes them is RadioThermostat ([url=http://www.radiothermostat.com/control.html]http://www.radiothermostat.com/control.html[/url]). These stats come with a wifi module by default if purchased from them and are sold at your local Home Depot’s for $99 under the 3M brand. The model is 3M-50 and the only difference between the 3M-50 and the CT30 is that the 3M-50 support auto mode and come with a wifi module instead of a z-wave USNAP module. The cool thing is that they have a nice looking iPhone/Android app which is free without any monthly service charges. Also a very active/helpful board.
I purhcased this stat yesterday from my local HD and the wifi module that came with it fit nicely in my CT30 that I bought earlier. Since these stats have 2 slots I am going to try and use both the wifi module as well as the z-wave module in one thermostat. So even if vera is down, I can still get updates from my stat and control it with my iPhone.
Only caveat is that for the wifi module to work, you HAVE to have a 24VAC C wire powering the unit (otherwise the batteries drain in a couple of days). Since I am in no mood to pull new wires to my stat location, I am going to rig a 24V transformer and connect it to the stat from my nearest plug.
BTW, still looking for help in programming this thermostat in Vera (Luup code anyone?) ;D
According to their forums they arent releasing their [wifi based] API until next year.
Thank you --but waht “@Automated” would be? I appologize but I am too nw to recognize the mental shortcut.
Click on the little wrench icon on the top right. One of the tabs is advanced.
“@ Automated” is the screen name to whom grybrd was replying to… ;D ;D
Just wondering if you have had any success in getting both modules to work in one unit?
Haven’t tried it yet, but according to the support guys at radiothermostat, should not be a prob. Since I do not have a 24V cable from the furnace, I am waiting to buy a transformer that will do the job (you need power in order to run the wifi module, but not to run the z-wave module)
finally got around to installing this. pairing with vera was easy and i set a bunch of scenes to program it. trouble is, i set the target temp and it never reaches it. my last thermostat had no problems. just as a test, i turned it up to 80 about 3 hrs ago and it’s still stuck at 72. maybe i missed something stupid but i went through the directions twice. anyone else have any issues?
Remember that if you are one wire short for the thermostat, this product may be able to help you:
i thought the selling point of the 2gig is that it will work on battery power alone? that is how i am running mine. is that why its not reaching the desired temp?
I’ve been running three 2Gig thermostats for about a month now. So far, no show-stopper issues. I have four scenes that set the temperatures: morning, work, evening and night. The “morning” time is different depending on the day of the week, “work” doesn’t run on Saturday and Sunday, and “night” starts later on Friday and Saturday. The “night” setting doesn’t run while I have my “Party Mode” virtual switch on (so the temperature stays appropriate while guests are over).
I have two large dogs that sleep in the master bedroom with us. With four of us taking up oxygen, I have another scene that turns the fan from “Auto” to “On” for 5 minutes every 30 minutes, 10:00pm to 7:00am everyday. My wife and I sleep better as a result, especially on those warmer nights when the heat doesn’t kick on as often. I have the same type of scene for the second floor thermostat, but it only runs when my virtual switch “Guest Mode” is on.
There are three additional scenes that, when the first floor thermostat is changed from one mode (heat/cool/off) to another, sets the other two thermostats to the same mode. So if I change the first floor thermostat from heat to off, the ThermSyncOFF scene is triggered and turns the other two thermostats off. The idea is to not have the first floor on heat and the second floor on AC at the same time. Still have some more work on this approach because if one of the other thermostats is changed, I do not sync things up.
My next Luup coding adventure is to have the second floor stay a little cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer unless “Guest Mode” is on then the temperatures will be in line with the rest of the house. After that, I plan to use the outdoor temperature from the weather device to alert me when I’m running the furnace when its over 78 degrees outside and the AC when its less that 68 degrees.
Two of the thermostats are running on battery, one on 24v power from the HVAC. No noticeable difference between running on battery vs HVAC power. Luckily, I have 5 wires to each thermostat so its just a matter of opening up each furnace and connecting the 5th wire to the (C) connection. None of the thermostats have problems reaching their setpoint temperature (at least in heat mode).
A couple issues I’ve noticed. On the main display the fan always shows “On” even though the thermostat is set to “Auto,” same problem on the “Control” tab. Also the Control tab does not display the Energy Save Mode state. Both issues are minor because the scenes work well at keeping the house temperature comfortable.
as we speak, the unit is supposed to go from 69 to 74 at 8am. i see that the target changed from 69 to 74 but the temp has not gone up at all and its almost 10am now. i will probably try running it from a 24v power just to see if that makes a difference but i didnt think i would have to
I have the 3M-50 and use it via WiFi. I was thinking of also getting the Z-Wave module for it so that I can access it via WiFi or Z-Wave. Supposedly, you can use WiFi and Z-Wave. Anyone have experience using both? How well does Vera 2 work with it?