Hello
Looking for some advice on HVAC systems seems like I could get some good opinions here as their are a lot of owners.
Looking to add a HVAC system to my house from the 1970’s in Melbourne Australia. It’s on stumps so Im guessing chucking all the duct under the floor instead of the roof will be more efficient? ( House has poor pump in insulation which I plan on replacing after I run ducts)
But if I place the duct under the floor I guess that rules out adding Evap cooling unit to the system, as that unit would need to be on the roof…
Then is it plausible to have split zones? that can be controlled through vera, either through the z wave thermostat or should it be done directly to the node?
Would like to have bedroom’s, kitchen/lounge and cinema room as separate zones that can be turned off or isolated from the other rooms.
I have all the duct and vents from a mates renovation he just finished, so dont mind splurging a bit more on the Unit and thermostat.
My biggest problem will be sourcing zwave parts in Australia.
Any advice or guidance so I can plan ahead?
HI Javelin, you might be better off asking about this on whirlpool.net.au
There is a few HVAC experts there . with respect to using zwave to control zones there are not any known zone controllers in Aus using zwave… But you could control these using zwave switches… Or the mysensors stuff if your up for some diy!
Hi Javelin,
How did you end up going with this project???
You would need to locate suitable Duct Flow Valves google), once you have these then I would suggest using a DYI with a Z-Uno or Arduino controlling a 4 or 8 channel relay module to control zones.
Depending on your level of expertise, you could add Temp, Humidity, multiple or other sensors to the Z-Uno and have it all controlled by Z-Wave using PLEG for schedules, occupancy etc.
Have a look at the mysensors site
and Z-Uno
http://z-uno.z-wave.me/
Hi Zedrally,
I’m keen to have a crack at this, but I’ve never played with arduino and I’m only just starting with Vera, so not a lot of experience.
But if you have a little patience I’d like to have a crack at this with your help?
I googled and seen a few videos of people using relays on arduino to control a dampener. My ducted system already has dampeners as it works as a 4 zone system in its own right, and I think it’s 24v already to boot…
Regards,
Josh
If it’s 4 relays, the there already exist an example.
Using a Z-Uno: [font=verdana][url=https://www.blackcatcontrolsystems.com.au/Z-Uno-Z-Wave-Board-for-Arduino]https://www.blackcatcontrolsystems.com.au/Z-Uno-Z-Wave-Board-for-Arduino[/url][/font]
4 Relay Board: [font=verdana][url=https://www.blackcatcontrolsystems.com.au/ZUNO/ZUNO-Modules/4-Relay-Board-(240V)-for-ZUNO]https://www.blackcatcontrolsystems.com.au/ZUNO/ZUNO-Modules/4-Relay-Board-(240V)-for-ZUNO[/url][/font]
some resistors and some time, this example should do it as far as the hardware side goes.
[font=verdana][url=http://z-uno.z-wave.me/projects/four-power-relays/]http://z-uno.z-wave.me/projects/four-power-relays/[/url][/font]
I had planned to make up a 8 channel example over the next week, however, I will try to make one up a 4 channel today and post it as a project.
The PLEG control is easy, depending on the level of control you desire then you could just use your existing Thermostat or add a sensor to the Z-Uno.
Well that was much easier than I expected, thanks to the Sketch Code already being available.
Thanks to Vitaliy Yurkin, Z-Wave. for the sketch.
It probably took me longer than it would for someone who is familiar with Z-Uno or Arduino and hooking up with a Bread Board, this is my first project and I was surprised with the ease it all went together.
The only additions to the Z-Uno was the additions of 4* 220 ohm limiting resistors, a Bread Board, some hook up wires and a rearrangement of the components on the bread board.
Time about an hour, I moved very slowly on this.
Next project will be to add an on board Power Supply & temp sensor, that will take a lot longer as I’ll need to learn to add code in C, but I’m up for the challenge.