Underfloor Heating Control

[Sam Skillern]

Hi Everyone,

I have been asked by my employer to come up with a system that will
allow their underfloor heating products to be controlled via a PC (or
preferably a web interface) And im looking for some advice on
products/software that i can customise to meet this task.

Currently we have a relay board which can control the actuators on the
heating manifolds , there are 12 actuators allowing control of 12
individual hot water circuits.

Im looking for a product that will allow me to send a signal to each of
the relays from a peice of software to tell the relay board to turn on
each actuator at specific times. This in itself seems fairly simple, and
could probably be acheived using an old printer cable and the +5v line
from it.

The problem is i am looking for a dedicated board with relays and
software. Also i would like to be able to take inputs from temperature
sensors in each room and offer the home owner the ability to control
each hot water circuit based on temperature as well.

Are there any pre-fab solutions to this problem? for the UK market?

Does anyone have any advice on products/software/anything that might
help me in what i suspect to be a long journey of trial and error and
blown actuators :P

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Sam Skillern
contactme@REMOVEsamuelskillern.com

[Dan]

I am not sure if this is a good suggestion, but what do you think about
an Ocelot and the SECU16 RELAY modules? The ocelot can be programmed to
do what you want, and there are temperature sensors available for this
product (but if you don't want to use those ADI temp sensors, you could
use a PC with a better temperature sensor setup i.e. 1-wire based, and
have the PC update the variables in the Ocelot's memory through the
serial port).

More information about the Ocelot and the expansion modules can be found
here: http://www.appdig.com/adicon_new/index.htm

Just an idea.

Sam Skillern wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I have been asked by my employer to come up with a system that will
> allow their underfloor heating products to be controlled via a PC (or
> preferably a web interface) And im looking for some advice on
> products/software that i can customise to meet this task.
>
> Currently we have a relay board which can control the actuators on the
> heating manifolds , there are 12 actuators allowing control of 12
> individual hot water circuits.
>
> Im looking for a product that will allow me to send a signal to each of
> the relays from a peice of software to tell the relay board to turn on
> each actuator at specific times. This in itself seems fairly simple, and
> could probably be acheived using an old printer cable and the +5v line
> from it.
>
> The problem is i am looking for a dedicated board with relays and
> software. Also i would like to be able to take inputs from temperature
> sensors in each room and offer the home owner the ability to control
> each hot water circuit based on temperature as well.
>
> Are there any pre-fab solutions to this problem? for the UK market?
>
> Does anyone have any advice on products/software/anything that might
> help me in what i suspect to be a long journey of trial and error and
> blown actuators :P
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Sam Skillern
> contactme@REMOVEsamuelskillern.com

[Brad Houser]

"Sam Skillern" <contactme@samuelskillern.com> wrote in message
news:vUyFd.139728$Z7.77793@fe2.news.blueyonder.co. uk...
> Im looking for a product that will allow me to send a signal to each of
> the relays from a peice of software to tell the relay board to turn on
> each actuator at specific times. This in itself seems fairly simple, and
> could probably be acheived using an old printer cable and the +5v line
> from it.
>

http://www.x10.com/automation/um506_s.html

X-10 Universal module. Close or open a circuit. Momentary or sustained.

Brad Houser

[Robert L. Bass]

> I have been asked by my employer to come up with a system that will allow
> their underfloor heating products to be controlled via a PC (or preferably
> a web interface) And im looking for some advice on products/software that
> i can customise to meet this task.

Hi Sam,

ELK Products makes a neat programmable controller which has alrady been used
for this purpose by others.
Have a look at the following:

ELK-MT100 temperature sensor module
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com/product_3266_detailed.htm

ELK-MM443 Magic Module programmable controller
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com/product_1485_detailed.htm

Notice: I'm a little biased in favor of ELK since I'm an ELK dealer.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
=============================>

[Sam Skillern]

Robert L. Bass wrote:
>>I have been asked by my employer to come up with a system that will allow
>>their underfloor heating products to be controlled via a PC (or preferably
>>a web interface) And im looking for some advice on products/software that
>>i can customise to meet this task.
>
>
> Hi Sam,
>
> ELK Products makes a neat programmable controller which has alrady been used
> for this purpose by others.
> Have a look at the following:
>
> ELK-MT100 temperature sensor module
> http://www.bassburglaralarms.com/product_3266_detailed.htm
>
> ELK-MM443 Magic Module programmable controller
> http://www.bassburglaralarms.com/product_1485_detailed.htm
>
> Notice: I'm a little biased in favor of ELK since I'm an ELK dealer.
>
Hi Robert, Thank you for the advice on the products.

That looks like it will do just the job, the only questions i have are:

1) Can multiple ELK-MM443 Magic Module's be used in conjunction - as we
will need to control upto 16 actuators on the manifolds.

2) Can software be written for this device so that we can make our own
custom software, we will probably need to this so that it can be branded
, and so that we can have heating controls programmed by
time/temperature/event etc.

3) Are these available in the UK? Will they work in the UK? Do you ship
to the UK lol

Many thanks,
Sam

[Sam Skillern]

Brad Houser wrote:
> "Sam Skillern" <contactme@samuelskillern.com> wrote in message
> news:vUyFd.139728$Z7.77793@fe2.news.blueyonder.co. uk...
>
>>Im looking for a product that will allow me to send a signal to each of
>>the relays from a peice of software to tell the relay board to turn on
>>each actuator at specific times. This in itself seems fairly simple, and
>>could probably be acheived using an old printer cable and the +5v line
>>from it.
>>
>
>
> http://www.x10.com/automation/um506_s.html
>
> X-10 Universal module. Close or open a circuit. Momentary or sustained.
>
> Brad Houser
>
>
Hi Brad,

I assume for this set up i would need to get 12/16 of those X-10 modules
and then use an X10 controller hooked up to the pc to program events etc?

Im still a little weary of X-10 (mainly because im unsure as to how to
use it) Would those modules get wired to the PC Controller directly?

Many thanks
Sam

[Tech-Home]

Sam Skillern wrote:
> Brad Houser wrote:
> > "Sam Skillern" <contactme@samuelskillern.com> wrote in message
> > news:vUyFd.139728$Z7.77793@fe2.news.blueyonder.co. uk...
> >
> >>Im looking for a product that will allow me to send a signal to
each of
> >>the relays from a peice of software to tell the relay board to turn
on
> >>each actuator at specific times. This in itself seems fairly
simple, and
> >>could probably be acheived using an old printer cable and the +5v
line
> >>from it.
> >>
> >
> >
> > http://www.x10.com/automation/um506_s.html
> >
> > X-10 Universal module. Close or open a circuit. Momentary or
sustained.
> >
> > Brad Houser
> >
> >
> Hi Brad,
>
> I assume for this set up i would need to get 12/16 of those X-10
modules
> and then use an X10 controller hooked up to the pc to program events
etc?
>
> Im still a little weary of X-10 (mainly because im unsure as to how
to
> use it) Would those modules get wired to the PC Controller directly?
>
> Many thanks
> Sam

I would agee with Dan on this. With the Ocelot you buy 1 plus any
acessory with Elk you would need to buy several. I would rather deal
with one then several when programing.

I'm not biased as I sell Both. :)
Just signed up with Elk.

Either way, they are both rock solid and proven themselves in terms of
reliability. And forget anything X10 controled.

With Ocelot check out the Leopard a bit more but this will make it very
easy to control.

Brian
http://tech-home.com

[Robert L. Bass]

>> Notice: I'm a little biased in favor of ELK
>> since I'm an ELK dealer.
>>
> Hi Robert, Thank you for the advice on the
> products.
>
> That looks like it will do just the job, the only
> questions i have are:
>
> 1) Can multiple ELK-MM443 Magic
> Module's be used in conjunction - as
> we will need to control upto 16
> actuators on the manifolds.

Yes. The ELK Magic Modules connect via an RS485 (other options are
available) which allows you to string them together.

> 2) Can software be written for this device so that
> we can make our own custom software, we will
> probably need to do this so that it can be branded, and so that we can
> have heating controls
> programmed by time/temperature/event etc.

There's a programming package from ELK that allows you to customize the
units to do whatever you want in response to various types of inputs and
triggers. You can create your own configurations, save them and DL them to
as many units as you like. We have a kit that includes software, PC
connection stuff, etc. That's usually the first module people order. The
rest would be bare bones units.

> 3) Are these available in the UK?
> Will they work in the UK? Do you ship to the UK lol

I don't know if ELK ships to the UK but yes, I do. BTW, I also ship to
Korea, Japan, South America and most of Western Europe.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
=============================>