Elk compatable Thermostats ?

[snickster]

It's been several months since I have made a post , and we are in our newly constructed house.
I wired for the Elk M1 and have not installed it or connected a single wire . We had a fall full of business and personal obligations, and extensive travel , so we just moved and left it all untouched for several months. I now have a few months to deal with the aftermath and hopefully get a lot of the Elk system installed, connected and functioning.
The HVAC people let me borrow 3 thermostats for my 2 single speed piggy back heat pump/ gas furnace systems downstairs and a heat pump system for the upstairs.

I want to start working on everything step by step.
It is pretty confusing to look at the options of Elk compatable thermostats and I just want to be sure I get the right ones. I need ones that are capable of functioning alone until I get the Elk connected.

Being a novice to HA , it appears to me that the HAI RC122B would work for the 2 downstair systems , and the HAI RC 100B would work for the upstairs. I investigated Aprilaire , but the cost seemd to be a lot more. I want to have a good basic HA system but I don't have to have the Maserati of HA systems.
We had a huge cost overrun on this house . (enough to buy another nice home) so I'm still reeling from that.

Please let me know what you think . Also , it would be nice to get the best price on the thermostats , so if you are aware of a good dealer that has a great price , I'm all ears.

Thanks

Snickster

 

[Steve]

You may want to look at the HAI RC1000 or 2000. I just switch out my Honeywell VisionPro with the RC1000 and really like it. It's not hooked to the Elk yet but it is compatible. Can't even compare the newer ones to the old HAI stats.

 

[Scrambled]

snickster-

I use the RCS T-40 and the RCS T-16. Both work great.


Steve

 

[Kevin L]

To piggyback on this thread, I have two separate Trane heat pumps with variable speed air handlers. The upstairs compressor is a two-speed, and the downstairs is actually two compressors in one unit. Upstairs is one zone with one Honeywell VisionPro 8000 thermostat. Downstairs is divided into three zones, using Honeywell's EnviraZone zoning system and three of the same VisionPro 8000 stats. I also have the EnviraComm RS-232 interface, but it's not hooked up yet.

I have the Elk M1G and Homeseer 2.2. As of yet, I have not integrated the thermostats, since they're not supported by Elk or HS. Does anyone know if there is a supported stat that can be controlled by Elk or HS and interface with the equipment I have?

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[Steve]

Kevin, My system is a plain single stage with variable speed handler. I also had the VisionPro 8000 on it and wanted to replace it. I asked HAI a few questions about that and the difference between the RC1000 and 2000 and here is part of what they said:

1. Stages – the RC-1000 can supply only a single stage for cooling, whereas the RC-2000 is designed to provide a first stage cooling, as well as a second stage, based on internal rate-of-rise algorithms.
2. The RC-2000 has humidity control, which provides a low and high fan speed for humidification and/or dehumidification.

"Can it control the “true” rpm state? No. As mentioned above, we can make a first and second stage call for cooling, but not actually control the rpm speed of the fan."

So, as far as the variable speed goes, I think (at least on my system) that is controlled by the handler itself. I hooked up the 1000 and it seems to work the same as the VisionPro. I can't answer the specifics of your system but my general feeling is the 1000 or 2000 can replace and will support whatever the VisionPro did. I really like the 1000 so far but still need to hook up the serial control. You may want to check with HAI and/or Trane to see if it will meet your needs. After that I would probably recommend looking at the RCS TR-40 - that was my first choice until the new HAI stats came out. And yes, they are controllable by the M1G with an XSP like the other stats and I even believe Elk is adding some additional functionality for these. Don't know about HS, but I would hook it to the Elk anyway.

 

[Kevin L]

Kevin, My system is a plain single stage with variable speed handler. I also had the VisionPro 8000 on it and wanted to replace it. I asked HAI a few questions about that and the difference between the RC1000 and 2000 and here is part of what they said:

1. Stages – the RC-1000 can supply only a single stage for cooling, whereas the RC-2000 is designed to provide a first stage cooling, as well as a second stage, based on internal rate-of-rise algorithms.
2. The RC-2000 has humidity control, which provides a low and high fan speed for humidification and/or dehumidification.

"Can it control the "true" rpm state? No. As mentioned above, we can make a first and second stage call for cooling, but not actually control the rpm speed of the fan."

So, as far as the variable speed goes, I think (at least on my system) that is controlled by the handler itself. I hooked up the 1000 and it seems to work the same as the VisionPro. I can't answer the specifics of your system but my general feeling is the 1000 or 2000 can replace and will support whatever the VisionPro did. I really like the 1000 so far but still need to hook up the serial control. You may want to check with HAI and/or Trane to see if it will meet your needs. After that I would probably recommend looking at the RCS TR-40 - that was my first choice until the new HAI stats came out. And yes, they are controllable by the M1G with an XSP like the other stats and I even believe Elk is adding some additional functionality for these. Don't know about HS, but I would hook it to the Elk anyway.

Thanks, Steve. Do you have any idea if you could replace one of the stats and leave the other VisionPros? If so, this would be a good way to try it out in one of my less-used zones while not disrupting the rest of the house.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[Steve]

I don't see why not. Actually, thinking about it, to automate the way you have it you would need a stat and an XSP for each for control, with wires to each etc. I would think there would be a more centralized type of control where you use one controller with one interface to your system, then the controller controls each unit. Maybe the RCS? Sorry, I'm just not that good with HVAC...

 

[Scrambled]

Steve, Kevin L--

Is this setup for Zone Control?

If it is, I used the RCS zone controller and then added the T-stat for each room.

I tried to contact RCS about an outdoor sensor that I m wanting to use, and they are closed untill 1-5-09 or 1-06-09


Steve

 

[Kevin L]

Hi, Steve (Scrambled).

I have two separate units. Upstairs (XL16i) is not zoned; downstairs (XL19i) has three zones using the EnviraZone system. I do have outdoor sensors. I'll have to check into the RCS Zone Controller.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[snickster]

Thread Hijacked !
I would appreciate any more comments on the original post.
I guess I could start another thread ?

 

[Kevin L]

Thread Hijacked !
I would appreciate any more comments on the original post.
I guess I could start another thread ?

Sorry if you think I hijacked your thread. I waited until you got your answers on two different stats. Automated Outlet is very helpful on this forum and has good pricing. Here's a link to the HAI stats: HAI Thermostats

Good luck,

Kevin

 

[snickster]

Kevin ,
I'm not mad or anything . It's just when the topic morphs into a slightly different topic , the chance of receiving more input to the original question is lost.
I'm guilty of slightly changing a thread's original topic to fit my needs . I also had no ill intentions .
Just needed to try to redirect the thread in the hopes of getting more feedback.
Best Regards !

 

[AceCannon]

Snickster,

I chose Aprilaire 8870 stats because it looked like a lot of Elk folks were installing them, so there seems to be a lot of support.

And I got a great deal on four of them at one time. . (see Ebay item # 170267492351). The auction was for an Aprilaire 8818 distribution panel (which I also needed), but it incidentally included four AMX stats which looked cosmetically exactly like the 8870's. I contacted Aprilaire, and sure enough, they are the same thermostat. $355 for four stats and the distr panel is a steal. All items are new.

So keep your eyes on Ebay.

 

[snickster]

ACE .
Wow that was a great deal !
No such deals around right now though !
Still looking
Congrats on your find.
Thanks