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Need a new thermostat, recommendations?


ulrick65

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Posted
What's wrong with black?


Nothing, but it doesn’t blend in with my current decor! Regardless of what TSTAT I buy won’t allow it to auto update / remote access like it did with NEST!

Probably the biggest sh^t show in modern history only second to Windows Vista / Windows 8 / Windows 10.


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Posted (edited)

I have the white ring around the ecobee. Helps me see the display better from across the room.

I down load the monthly data each month and have a summary report for the HVAC that I look at with the total run-times.

You can tell I live in Florida. I have not finished adding the monthly totals.

2019 ecobee summary.jpg

Edited by Mustang65
Posted
I have the white ring around the ecobee. Helps me see the display better from across the room.
I down load the monthly data each month and have a summary report for the HVAC that I look at with the total run-times.
You can tell I live in Florida. I have not finished adding the monthly totals.
1036353834_2019ecobeesummary.jpg.653874d28500c955859259bef867249b.jpg


Can you explain the significance of the fan tracking for me?


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Posted
32 minutes ago, Teken said:

 


Can you explain the significance of the fan tracking for me? emoji848.png


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The fan runs the longest, and sometimes I run it just to circulate the air within the house. I just wanted to know how much more time the fan runs than the heat-pump.

Posted
The fan runs the longest, and sometimes I run it just to circulate the air within the house. I just wanted to know how much more time the fan runs than the heat-pump.


Got it!


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Posted (edited)

Then add the $ and kWh reports (to the ecobee reports) and it gives you a bigger picture. Example, if you look at the kWh below you will see that I finally got the kWh's close. When I first got the GEM there was a 25% difference between Main1 and Main2. The annual numbers are fairly low as we are traveling a lot in the summer to avoid the heat down here, so the AC is set to 81 and it keeps the humidity right at 50%. Still tossing around SOLAR (6kW to start). Duke Energy should be real happy with me then.

 

GEM - 2019 Summary kWh.jpg

GEM - 2019 Summary Dollars.jpg

Edited by Mustang65
Posted
Then add the $ and kWh reports (to the ecobee reports) and it gives you a bigger picture. Example, if you look at the kWh below you will see that I finally got the kWh's close. When I first got the GEM they was a 25% difference between Main1 and Main2. The annual numbers are fairly low as we are traveling a lot in the summer to avoid the heat down here, so the AC is set to 81 and it keeps the humidity right at 50%. Still tossing around SOLAR (6kW to start). Duke Energy should be real happy with me then.
 
2124333728_GEM-2019SummarykWh.jpg.f5c53816f42a94d55712152234fef453.jpg
1980872048_GEM-2019SummaryDollars.jpg.60fc0cf110eb80d61b91d3b128f4ffd9.jpg


Wow

Looking over your stats is like seeing my dear friend BBB Dash Box data. Just one of your AC units consumes (approx) fifty percent of my total electrical usage!

It must be hot where you are! Must be hot as balls out there!!


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Posted
Just hope it is cooler in the place I go to in the life after


You might consider cutting back on the fast cars and fast woman! Produces lots of heat my friend.


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Posted (edited)

OK, back to the original request.

My 1st thermostat was the ecobee Smart (commercial use) thermostat (with optional Equipment Interface) and is the one that I would recommend if you want total control over your HVAC. You will have to do a little hunting for it.

If you have zones in your home, this is the one for you. Multiple AC units, more than one Aux heating system, this is it.  If you want to have the outside temperature determine if the heat or AC should come on this will meet your needs. I was having high humidity reading issues with it, but I was the one causing the problem, I did not seal the wall opening where the wire went into the thermostat. Amazing what that little hole can do. That is the reason that I went to the ecobee 4, which my wife really likes for how easy it is to use.

I purchased the additional Equipment Interface which has relays for fans, humidifiers and for zone use, relay use, remote temperature sensor connections.... 

Unfortunately ecobee does not make them any more, but they pop up on ebay a lot.  The Smart thermostat does not communicate with the new ecobee models. I am trying to figure out a way that I can incorporate it into system, but need to have the main control being done by the ecobee 4 so the wife does not have a hissy fit.

991712925_ecobeeSmartThermostat(commercial).thumb.jpg.180397ac26d1066eccb958ef86a860b5.jpg1302803627_ecobeeSmart-5.thumb.jpg.549558b0a5cc1ae6e08c7e40b512fdca.jpg
 

Edited by Mustang65
Posted
12 hours ago, larryllix said:

@TekenThis is the shot I thought would be of most interest to you. It shows the built-in fan cycler at work on the 5 minutes per hour setting. Note the time settings do not equate to actual minutes but rather to cycle ratios based on 5 minute clicks. IIRC this setting gives 15 minutes off and 5 minutes on. The scale can be mouse scrolled to expand to display about a minute per 1/4" of screen.
1634014535_Ecobeecyclechart.thumb.jpg.e57907571db823a390eeca8b5380b4ec.jpg

 

 

Love it . ..

Many years ago (what seems like decades) I was never really a stats kind of guy. Now, fast forward 2020 being able to capture factual data on the various systems is one of the key decision makers when considering a purchase / integration. The problem that arises is what kind of data is important to one person may not be to another.

Posted
9 hours ago, Mustang65 said:

OK, back to the original request.

My 1st thermostat was the ecobee Smart (commercial use) thermostat (with optional Equipment Interface) and is the one that I would recommend if you want total control over your HVAC. You will have to do a little hunting for it.

If you have zones in your home, this is the one for you. Multiple AC units, more than one Aux heating system, this is it.  If you want to have the outside temperature determine if the heat or AC should come on this will meet your needs. I was having high humidity reading issues with it, but I was the one causing the problem, I did not seal the wall opening where the wire went into the thermostat. Amazing what that little hole can do. That is the reason that I went to the ecobee 4, which my wife really likes for how easy it is to use.

I purchased the additional Equipment Interface which has relays for fans, humidifiers and for zone use, relay use, remote temperature sensor connections.... 

Unfortunately ecobee does not make them any more, but they pop up on ebay a lot.  The Smart thermostat does not communicate with the new ecobee models. I am trying to figure out a way that I can incorporate it into system, but need to have the main control being done by the ecobee 4 so the wife does not have a hissy fit.

991712925_ecobeeSmartThermostat(commercial).thumb.jpg.180397ac26d1066eccb958ef86a860b5.jpg1302803627_ecobeeSmart-5.thumb.jpg.549558b0a5cc1ae6e08c7e40b512fdca.jpg
 

Nice!

This weekend I plan to drop by the local Best Buy and play with all of the available TSTAT's. Once I get an idea of physical form and function I'll watch some You Tube video's for any reviews along with pro's / con's of each. I have been living without a so called *Smart TSTAT* since day one so it's not going to kill me to take a little bit longer to find and decide on one. There are probably five times more selections when compared to just four years ago but find some of the one's that really interest me seem to have just one missing feature or dependency. 

Let the games begin . . .

Posted

What thermostats are people using with ISY? (that is, direct control, not via a cloud API)

I'm still getting good results using Honeywell Z-Wave thermostats (YTH8320ZW1007), and (as mentioned earlier in the thread) not great results from inexpensive CT32/CT100 models from Radio-Thermostat.    I'd be willing to look at WiFi thermostats if they supported a local API (even if required building a node server), but want to avoid cloud services.

Posted
3 minutes ago, KeviNH said:

What thermostats are people using with ISY? (that is, direct control, not via a cloud API)

I'm still getting good results using Honeywell Z-Wave thermostats (YTH8320ZW1007), and (as mentioned earlier in the thread) not great results from inexpensive CT32/CT100 models from Radio-Thermostat.    I'd be willing to look at WiFi thermostats if they supported a local API (even if required building a node server), but want to avoid cloud services.

The one you reference is it the T6 Z-Wave enabled TSTAT? If so what are you looking above and beyond it showing up in the ISY Series Controller?

Posted
3 minutes ago, KeviNH said:

What thermostats are people using with ISY? (that is, direct control, not via a cloud API)

Well, for me, it's the Venstar Colortouch T7900.  I bought it used from a forum member, and it's working beautifully.  NodeLink supports it just fine, and the API is entirely local.  I've got two remote sensors, and have been very pleased.

T7900_OM_Install_FINAL.pdf

  • Like 1
Posted

@Bumbershoot

Please confirm NodeLink hasn't been ported over to support the Polisy because of a certificate / other issue? I don't believe there is a time line for this because there is some kind of Chicken & Egg situation happening?

Posted
1 minute ago, Teken said:

@Bumbershoot

Please confirm NodeLink hasn't been ported over to support the Polisy because of a certificate / other issue? I don't believe there is a time line for this because there is some kind of Chicken & Egg situation happening?

There's an issue with conflicting OpenSSL versions, I believe.  In know the version included with Polisy has been upgraded since it was shipped, but I don't know which version Dotnet requires/includes.  I haven't heard anything about this for a while, so I'm unsure what the status is.  I'm still running NodeLink on my RPi until this is resolved.  See this thread:

 

 

Posted

Just for a +1, the total fan run time would be better for determining filter changes.

All the cloud stuff bothers me too. I have a similar issue with my solar inverter data. It is all stored in the cloud. While it does prevent needing to store all the data locally (which I still do), one never knows when that cloud may evaporate due to company bankruptcies or mergers or ...

Posted
9 minutes ago, Bumbershoot said:

There's an issue with conflicting OpenSSL versions, I believe.  In know the version included with Polisy has been upgraded since it was shipped, but I don't know which version Dotnet requires/includes.  I haven't heard anything about this for a while, so I'm unsure what the status is.  I'm still running NodeLink on my RPi until this is resolved.  See this thread:

 

 

As always, you come to the rescue and understand where things stand from the link.

So hurry, and wait . . .

Posted
1 minute ago, Bumbershoot said:

It looks to me that it wouldn't be much of a stretch to control this TSTAT with Network Resources.  If I was a Python developer, I would have written a nodeserver for it myself, but alas...

https://developer.venstar.com/restcalls.html

Given the Node Server framework and integration I can't see myself ever going back to using Network Resources unless I had to. I'll freely admit the whole Plug & Play of the Node Server once over the hump has me sold and impressed.

Does it have more room to grow and iterate ~ for sure!

But, given where many us came from where there was no API, no network module, to published API, network module, ISY Portal, Polyglot, and now Polyisy. I'm not looking back to 1986 other than to see rat tales, zippered jeans, MC Hammer pants, and big hair!  

Posted
20 minutes ago, Teken said:

Given the Node Server framework and integration I can't see myself ever going back to using Network Resources unless I had to. I'll freely admit the whole Plug & Play of the Node Server once over the hump has me sold and impressed.

Does it have more room to grow and iterate ~ for sure!

But, given where many us came from where there was no API, no network module, to published API, network module, ISY Portal, Polyglot, and now Polyisy. I'm not looking back to 1986 other than to see rat tales, zippered jeans, MC Hammer pants, and big hair!  

Network Resources don't require another hardware box, although they are one direction only....no feedback or status. Routers are getting extremely complex in function and are not anywhere near as reliable as they were in the good 'ole days and also the router was the only low powered network lump to pass through. Now we have switches, routers, gates, and many more nodes to contribute problems, and heat breaking things down. :( 

However once ISY ports into the same box (polyisy) this argument/point should no longer exist as much.

Posted
On 2/20/2020 at 10:03 AM, Bumbershoot said:

Well, for me, it's the Venstar Colortouch T7900.  I bought it used from a forum member, and it's working beautifully.  NodeLink supports it just fine, and the API is entirely local.  I've got two remote sensors, and have been very pleased.

T7900_OM_Install_FINAL.pdf 11.85 MB · 1 download

 

Same here...this is what I ended up getting and its working great.

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