I signed last week for a new condo that will be ready at the end of the year. I can change the plan, the outlet, electricity wire output, plumbing,…until May 1st.
I already have everything in my actual condo from evolve light, evolve outlet, a few sonos, door lock and fireplace switch that I will put in my new condo. But, instead of a central heat/cold thermostat with my actual 3m-50 thermostat, they install only electric heater under windows…
So I have two questions to ask :
What type of electric wire I have to bring near each windows to be able to control it avec z-wave or somfy? I love wood blind, so I would like a blind motor for these kind of blind. (@Shady, I think you are the best to answer this one as I think you are the king for shade here!)
I know that there is not a perfect solution for electric heater, but is there anything I can do to control it from vera? Evolve lm-20 maybe for isolation output to activate electric heater + a RFXCOM oregon thermostat for temperature in each room ? What wire will I need to add to each thermostat?
Are you talking electric baseboard heaters? Any idea how much wattage to be switched?
Builder might be installing a line voltage thermostat that interups the 240VAC going to the heating element. That is a problem for automation as its 240VAC and generally fairly hefty current. If you are lucky and he installs a LV thermostat and some type of contactor (basically a relay for higher current loads) then you may be in better shape.
Since it is a condo you are limited in doing electrical work yourself. You probably wnat a licenced electrician to do the work so it is to code. You need to know a little more before you can get a good answer. DIY forum has an electrical page where a lot of pro eletricians give good advice.
Thanks for the answer. The condo is a new condo currently in construction. I have a meeting next friday to choose everything between the wall like power outlet, switch and everything else.
For the windows, I ask them to bring a 120v ac electric wires and a cat5 cable to each windows. All the wire will go just beside the electric panel. I will see the best solution later, but I will have at least the wires already in place.
For the electric heater, will it work if I ask them to install a 120v ac wire to each place where the thermostat will be to connect a evolve lm-20 to control the electric heater? The evolve can control up to 247v ac and 20A. For the temperature, I can put a oregon RFXCOM thermostat to set the evolve ON or OFF.
Well I would start with 240vac heaters and not 120. Double the voltage 4x the heat. You can put a UL listed contractor at the panel to switch the load. If it is a 120vac coil them any zwave switch should be fine as it is only switching the coil load and not the heater load. Contactors are fairly cheap and they need to be UL listed so you aren’t violating code.
There may be code issues of using a control system to control heaters like this. ,y concern would be proper fail safe states in case controller goes batty. You don’t want insurance company denying a claim because you macguyvered the heating system.
Another option is a 24 coil contractor and then run the coil of the contractor from a z wave thermostat. At least if control goes dead the thermostat and heater are still good in an isolated mode.
That looks like a good option as long as the load side contacts are within the spec of the heater you are sizing (limited to 5kW at 240VAC, about 22A). The box cutout mount will make it pretty easy to mount either near your panel or at the heater (might be easier at the panel). I really encourage a Zwave thermostat instead of direct control of the heaters. This way you have a closed loop control system for the heater independent of the Zwave network. You can still modify settings via adjustments to the thermostat.
For a 20A branch circuit you need 12-2 cable from panel to heater location. 10-2 is a 30A but your relay/contactor can’t do 30A.
Maybe have builder put in a thermostat cable from panel to the logical wall location for it in the room. If you aren’t going to do this for a while just leave 4-5 feet coiled up inside the stud bay and you can drill a hole and fish it out later. Use 5 conductor thermostat cable. You might not need all those conductors but if you add central air later you’ll be glad you have 5 conductors.
I signed last week for a new condo that will be ready at the end of the year. I can change the plan, the outlet, electricity wire output, plumbing,…until May 1st.
I already have everything in my actual condo from evolve light, evolve outlet, a few sonos, door lock and fireplace switch that I will put in my new condo. But, instead of a central heat/cold thermostat with my actual 3m-50 thermostat, they install only electric heater under windows…
So I have two questions to ask :
What type of electric wire I have to bring near each windows to be able to control it avec z-wave or somfy? I love wood blind, so I would like a blind motor for these kind of blind. (@Shady, I think you are the best to answer this one as I think you are the king for shade here!)
I know that there is not a perfect solution for electric heater, but is there anything I can do to control it from vera? Evolve lm-20 maybe for isolation output to activate electric heater + a RFXCOM oregon thermostat for temperature in each room ? What wire will I need to add to each thermostat?
Thanks a lot!
Peter[/quote]
Peter, there are a lot of different options for motor and control so I’ll do my best to give you some options. The fact that you mention wood blinds helps narrow things down. Depending on the size of the Wood Blind and if you want them to raise/lower and tilt or just tilt only, there are options for both AC and DC motors. Larger Wood Blinds (too heavy to pull up by hand cord easily) require a larger headrail on top and AC motors typically. The 40mm AC Motors will allow you to raise/lower and tilt and since you can use a Standard 4-wire AC motor then you can add external Z-Wave motor controllers (zwavemotors.com would work but only for the largest headrail since they offer 50mm motors). For smaller or lighter Wood Blinds or for tilt only applications, you can use Somfy’s RTS products and use a ZRTSI or UTRSI out of Vera to control them without feedback of position etc.
So wiring-wise the AC motors require 14/3 between the Z-Wave controller and the 4-wire motor, if you have room for the controller at the window (in a valance or pocket) then you only need 14/2 for standard AC power (the controller takes power in and switches it between the two directional hot wires on the motor). You have to use one controller per motor. For DC applications you should run at least a 16 gauge 2-conductor to the window and to a location for the DC power supply. If you want a universal wiring scheme for any motor you can run the 14/3 AC wire and it could be use for DC if it is homerun back to control closet or place where the DC Power Supplies or AC Motor Controllers would reside. You can also homerun a Cat5 with each 14/3 if you want options for virtually any motor (Smart Wired Motors or Controls).
I hope this helps and doesn’t add confusion.
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