HVAC control of 2 AC/ Heaters and whole house fan

[jgorm]

I'm trying to find the best way to control the following system.  Each thermostat has it's own AC and heater associated with it.

 

North side thermostat that controls 2 bedrooms and the family room.  

 

South side thermostat controls 2 downstairs bedrooms, and the upstairs kitchen and living room.  The thermostat is downstairs and has a substantial temperature difference compared to the upstairs.  The house is split level and the North Side thermostat is on a level between the downstairs bedrooms and the kitchen / living room.

 

I'm installing a DIY whole house fan based on using 2 quietcool ES-1500 fans. (only 3000 cfm, but only 60W for an impressive 52 CFM/W)

 

Goals:

• Integrate all programmable aspects of HVAC control into the ISY
• Manual override option at each thermostat. 
• Use my current insteon window and door sensors to shut off the AC after being open for a period of time, or shut off the whole house fan if no windows are open.
• Find a way to use remote sensors.  Some helpful guys on this site helped me setup a raspberry pi with the one wire sensors.  I have yet to install sensors in multiple locations, but I hope to get to that project soon.  I'd like to use the middle split level family room as the main area to control, with separate temperature requirements for the upper kitchen / living room.
• Turn on AC remotely via my phone.

 

I've read a lot of the threads, but most of them are many years old now.  Does the Insteon brand thermostat still suck?  What about the ecobee3, honeywell, or the venstar voyager?  I don't have any zigbee or zwave devices, but the insteon network is fairly extensive.

[stusviews]

I have no difficulties using Insteon thermostats independently controlling several zones including now using several Echos. Absolutely no difficulties including having the thermostats control fans in each zone, turning off the AC (or heat) if a door (slider) is left open for a short period.

 

I also have a Honeywell WiFi thermostat that does not allow turning the HVAC on or off, only setting the current set point. I can manipulate the Insteon thermostats, turn them on or off, change the set point and even change the mode.

[smokegrub]

As you see, Stu has had excellent experience with the Insteon stats. In contrast, I have found them to be the least dependable of all Insteon devices I have and their display is terrible. Personally, I will never own another unless a much improved version is developed.

[larryllix]

I have two Insteon 2441ZTH units,

 

The older one works both ways perfectly.

The newer one reports perfectly but I cannot control it.

 

Most of the problems are not understanding the reporting method. It gives many people problems looking for statuses that ISY can't know yet.

 

I also have two  Venstar ColorTouch stats and many 1Wire probes and CAO Tags. I like the CAO Tags best. Accurate, stable, and can report 25 different ways, but cloud dependant for allowing operation, despite local operation.

Edited August 15, 2016 by larryllix

[paulbates]

The advantage of Insteon and Zwave thermostats is that they can be integrated directly into the ISY.   I had similar experience with the insteon thermostat that Smokegrub did, but I acknowledge that many, like Stu, have great luck with them.

 

I have the Venstar colortouch series (T7900) which can have commands sent to them from the ISY if you have the network module. To read the temp and status you need an external server to run software to poll the thermostat and "push" the status back into the ISY. I use Nodelink for that.

 

I have 2 thermostats in 2 parts of the house that are very different. One is on the first floor in the kitchen, the other is between the first and second floors in the stairwell. I also have an attic fan and insulated dampers whose actions are coordinated with outside temp and HVAC.

 

Finally, humidity control is big factor for me. We have very dry winters and the venstar t7900 can run the humidifier via the fan and keep the house at an even humidity level regardless of when the furnace runs. It also can use the AC lower the humidity when the temp is ok but the humidity is high. That's been used a lot this year as the out door humidity is high.

 

The features of the T7900 and the amount of control I get using nodelink made it more than worth the extra effort to set up a server to run nodelink.

 

Paul

[larryllix]

The advantage of Insteon and Zwave thermostats is that they can be integrated directly into the ISY.   I had similar experience with the insteon thermostat that Smokegrub did, but I acknowledge that many, like Stu, have great luck with them.

 

I have the Venstar colortouch series (T7900) which can have commands sent to them from the ISY if you have the network module. To read the temp and status you need an external server to run software to poll the thermostat and "push" the status back into the ISY. I use Nodelink for that.

 

I have 2 thermostats in 2 parts of the house that are very different. One is on the first floor in the kitchen, the other is between the first and second floors in the stairwell. I also have an attic fan and insulated dampers whose actions are coordinated with outside temp and HVAC.

 

Finally, humidity control is big factor for me. We have very dry winters and the venstar t7900 can run the humidifier via the fan and keep the house at an even humidity level regardless of when the furnace runs. It also can use the AC lower the humidity when the temp is ok but the humidity is high. That's been used a lot this year as the out door humidity is high.

 

The features of the T7900 and the amount of control I get using nodelink made it more than worth the extra effort to set up a server to run nodelink.

 

Paul

Just to further the same stat model discussion...

 

I do not have a humidifier on my central air system so I use a floor humidifier, all run for the T7900, via Rpi/NodeLink to the floor model humidifier. The stat controls the setpoint and ISY controls the cycles based on that.

 

ISY also co-ordinates my HRV ventilation system, T7900 stat running the fan, along with the humidifier so that fans are run simultaneously to conserve energy usage. (HRV needs air handler to distribute outside air).

 

ISY can sense how long to run HRV based on outside air being beneficial. ISY also cycles fans when needed based on a time cycle synchronised for the last time they were run, not just a straight timer overlapping heating usage cycles.

[jgorm]

Thanks everyone.  Smarthome had a special on thermostats so I just bought 2 standard ones, and one wireless, all for $199.  http://www.smarthome.com/insteon-2441th-thermostat.html