Dampers and taking actions

[WheelDweller]

I've seen home-made products here and there controlling dampers. It lets you fine tune air conditioning to save money and make things nicer.

But what kinda hardware exists for turning on/off dampers? Here's why.

We have a wood furnace here, in addition to the gas. Most of the time it's on, I'm around to deal with it. But I have to sleep- sometimes I get to go to work. And when I do, it's possible that the fire runs down and the house gets cold.

I'd like to have it decide when it's getting cold, send a message, then when it gets TOO far gone, switch the dampers to gas, and turn that on.

I know I can do it; I'm doing a bunch of 1-wire and OWFS stuff right now- it's solid. Take a peek:

http://CounterMoon.org

(Be aware: the monthly totals take time to generate- I have an old computer!)

 

[Savoy]

The best way for me was to use a damper with a built in 24vac motor for humidity and ventilation control. Used 1-wire temperature and humidity sensors inside and outside and the 4 channel relay board to power a DPDT relay. The normally closed contacts of the relay powers the dehumidifier. The normally open contacts power a damper damper and fan relay. When the is in tha target range, the hobbyBoard relay is powered. This causes the dehumidifer to turn off and the exhaust fan to turn on and 16 inch damper to open up.

Here is a link to a supplier for the dampers.

http://www.smarthome.com/_/ProductResults.aspx?Ntt=damper

Hope this helps.

 

[Macca]

Hi Savoy,

This sounds interesting, and something I have also been contemplating. What software application do you use to control the 1-wire network and give the "instructions" to open and close the relays?

Cheers
Andrew

The best way for me was to use a damper with a built in 24vac motor for humidity and ventilation control. Used 1-wire temperature and humidity sensors inside and outside and the 4 channel relay board to power a DPDT relay. The normally closed contacts of the relay powers the dehumidifier. The normally open contacts power a damper damper and fan relay. When the is in tha target range, the hobbyBoard relay is powered. This causes the dehumidifer to turn off and the exhaust fan to turn on and 16 inch damper to open up.

Here is a link to a supplier for the dampers.

http://www.smarthome.com/_/ProductResults.aspx?Ntt=damper

Hope this helps.

 

[Savoy]

I could not find any off the shelf application for the job. I wound up writing one using the 1-Wire API for Java from Dallas /Maxim.

I live in a 118 year old house and there are still dirt floors in some areas of the cellar. I got tired of forgetting to open and close windows and turn the dehumidifier on and off and banging my head into pipes when I did remember. Now it’s all automated.

The program maintains a desired humidity level and ventilation rate in the cellar by supervising the coordinated operation of the dehumidifier, exhaust fan and fresh air intake damper using a dew point control process and Air Change per Hour strategy. The software is dependent on the Temperature/Humidity sensors of two Hygrochron I-Buttons. One inside and one outside. Two 1-Wire DS2405 switches. One controls the dehumidifier / fan relay and the other the damper relay. I use a DS2408 eight channel programmable digital I/O switch to drive a 4 line LCD to provide a visual output of current conditions.

The program runs on a Windows XP computer that is on 24/7. It's used for incoming faxes, Internet connection sharing, file server and another 1-Wire program for outdoor reset injector valve control on the primary /secondary piped hydronic heating system.

You can do so much with 1-wire devices but the weak link is the software. If you can write your own programs the possibilities are endless.

 

[Macca]

Fascinating stuff there Savoy.... I am an electrician by trade, so hardware is no problem for me, however writing my own software is totally foreign to me!!! Unfortunately, I would'nt know where to start, and with 18 month old twins currently soaking up a lot of our time there is limited oppurtunity to learn how!! Hence, I tend to buy ready made software where possible and was hoping you had a product that could be bought as it sounds perfect! Thanks for your reply.

 

[EL34]

You can turn things on and off with X10 devices also.
The X10 programs lets you build macros that make decisions.

Problem is, it's not as reliable as one wire, and there are not many sensors, except for motion detectors.

I use a couple x10 powerflash devices here that turn on a x10 code when their contacts are shorted.
If you can find a manual control device that you can use with the powerflash unit, you could go the x10 route

Definately the best solution is one wire, but you have to be able to program.
I am turning fans on and off in a greenhouse project via one wire by monitoring several temp, humidity and current sensors.
Using Visual Basic 2008 express program, which is free.

Here's my X10 page with some info
http://www.el34world.com/Misc/home/X10_0.htm

Here's my solar greenhouse experiment page.
http://www.el34world.com/Misc/Solar/Solar1.htm

good luck

 

[jwilson56]

Well both Homeseer and Girder 5 support 1-wire. I use Girder 5 myself and was looking to do something along these lines. If you use a home automation package the coding will be minimal.

 

[keepersg]

There've been a couple of articles lately in Nuts & Volts regarding microprocessor controls for woodstoves. Might be worth a look. Here's the link to the website:

http://www.nutsvolts.com/online-features.php