Help a new guy

[draythomp]

My plan is to reduce my electric bill. I've spent a ton of time on the phone with my local power company (APS Phoenix, AZ) and I've also sucked up a bunch of time from folks at UDI already. Now, I'm going for a wider audience.

 

The plan so far is to get a Brultech monitor and an ISY99i and hook them up. I want to implement a system that drops loads until I reach some reasonable number of KWs during peak periods. We have demand charges here. I've already built a remote contactor for the water heater and the parts are on order to do the same for both of my air conditioners. The contactors are to remove the possibility of turning on the compressors by someone that thinks their comfort is more important than my electric bill. Eventually, I want to completely remove the air conditioner thermostats in favor of remote control relays based on temperature monitors around the house and outside.

 

Yes, I've read all about weatherbug and it's an interesting idea but, I want local control based on the (extremely occasional) cloud we get out here in the desert.

 

So, my first question: how can I measure the temperature and get it into the ISY? I've seen the insteon thermostat, is that the only solution?

 

Next, it would be really nice if there was a small insteon controller that could be wired into applicances. A 24 volt relay that could be added to an air handler would be nice. There's power, neutral, 24 volts and wires to control in there. The devices I've found are pretty big.

 

Does the ISY99 interface to the Brultech such that I can say something like: if the current power is 4.5KW, turn off the North air conditioner? I've done a ton of programming over the years, but I'm old now and I don't want to reinvent the wheel.

 

I'll have a ton of questions over the next several months as I put this together, this is only the beginning.

 

PS. I'd have the ISY and Brultech already except, my stupid septic tank filled up and had to be drained. While draining, they discovered that the lid was cracked and had to be replaced. While replacing the lid they discovered it was buried too deep....you know how it goes. Now it'll be Christmas before I can afford the darn things.

[tahoe]

I've been looking at the same things for vacation homes. We use a lot of heat tape to melt ice off of our roofs up here and it's a power hog. You should look into the Ezswitch 30 for large loads and the linelinc for small loads and low voltage.

 

You could use venstar t-stats and send yourself a notification if someone else adjusts the t-stat manually. You could even query the t-stat and set it to your desired setpoint every 5 minutes, overriding a manual setting.

 

The brultech os going to be a great measurement tool when it's compatible with ISy but just start with the isy and the network module. See how close that gets you to your goal...

 

We have done some clever things in motels up here like shutting off the room heat and lights when motion is not sensed. You could try a motion sensor control system too.

[RatRanch]

Does the ISY99 interface to the Brultech such that I can say something like: if the current power is 4.5KW, turn off the North air conditioner? I've done a ton of programming over the years, but I'm old now and I don't want to reinvent the wheel..

 

Check out this section of the forum for more info about interfacing ISY with the Brultech devices. The Brultech ECM-1240 should be fully supported very soon.

[draythomp]

Thanks a lot.

 

I have looked at the Venstar thermostat and it is a nice device but the cost is pretty high. I would need two of them and I would like to check the temperature in each room eventually and run the air handlers to equalize the house temperature. This way I can share the cool air from closed off rooms with the rest of the house or leave them off if the sun is cooking an empty room. This would mean a Venstar in each room unless I can find a temperature sensor.

 

I posted in the Brultech area about what I'm hoping to do with the power as well. I'm currently building my own high current controls because I want control over 50A with the entire set of electronics inside the box. With 50A I can use the same device for pool pump, water heater, air compressor, air conditioner compressor, etc. It's cool to leave the air compressor on all the time and not worry about it kicking on during peak or at night when I'm asleep. I can get a contactor for $21 and the box for $18, then a little wire and a remote module and I'm done for far less than the prices I see for other devices out there for sale.

 

How about a small Insteon device? It would be so cool to have a device that interfaces to the ISY and could be placed inside a lamp base. Heck, give me contacts on a small relay and I could go nuts building them into coffeemakers, bedside lamps, model trains...... See where I'm going here?

 

It would even be great to have a sonic or optical device to measure distance. This could help parking the car and measuring the depth of my stupid septic tank. The ISY is perfect for monitoring things like this.

[tahoe]

You can use an insteon device to control a 110v coil on a contactor. 50 amp contactors aren't too expensive