wired thermostat support

[johnnyt]

Hi,

 

This is to request support for a wired thermostat, e.g. RCS TR40, for four reasons:

 

1. It's counter intuitive to have a wireless/PLC controlled thermostat given the importance of this device

2. It's a noisy Insteon network hog (at least the current one I'm aware of seems to be)

3. The current supported one has many apparently difficult to resolve communication bugs, with little vendor communication about the problem, fix and any workarounds from what I read

4. It can't be controlled in a power outage

 

I realize for #4 one might be tempted to say "who can use their HVAC in a power outage anyway?" Well, a mid sized furnace with a DC motor can easily be put on a commonly available 1500VA (or less) UPS. I've done it. When a power outage hits, I turn the fan off and the temp down a couple of degrees to conserve battery power. With an extended run battery I get what I think is about 1-2 hours of furnace runtime (estimated - I haven't run into the limit yet). I set the temp down a couple more degrees if the outage lasts more than an hour. Depending on the temp outside that can mean an estimated 1/2 - 1 day or more of heat. You can't adjust the stat under those conditions if it needs the powerline to communicate.

 

I'm working on moving off HomeSeer completely to ISY but the lack of support for a wired thermostat is one of the things left holding me back.

[autelis]

We'll have a product out next month that will support this. Keep your eyes on the Autelis forum.

 

Contact us by PM for more information.