I have asked a few questions here and always get some friendly advice. We are currently finishing up electrical and they are ready to wire the thermostat. I hope to install an Elk M1 G, so I had requested the wiring so I could replace the cheap thermostats with the Aprilaire 8870.
Turns out the HVAC wants to install not so cheap ($200 ea) Honeywell IAQ Vision Pro thermostats to control furnace, air, humidifier, and HRV. The HRV doesn't have it's own fan, so it needs to be hooked up to the furnace fan controls. We will have two separate systems--one for upstairs, one for main level + basement. I am not very clear on how all this equipment works together.
Is there a way to get this thermostat to work with home automation? ELK specifically? Or can one of the thermostats recommended by ELK (Aprilaire, RCS, or HAI) work well with a humidifier and other equipment? I think that he wants to use the Honeywell because that is the type of steam humidifier that will be installed. I will ask our HVAC guy these questions, too, but whenever there is something a little different we seem to get a lot of blank stares. Getting the HRV was an battle in itself. They seem not too sure about cat5 to a thermostat.
My main goal has been to get the wiring and the basics in and running separately (HVAC, security, and sound), then later when life is not so crazy with 3 little boys and homeschooling, work at getting home automation going and add some type of lighting control. Sure hate to have to waste a lot of money on expensive thermostats that aren't expandable to HA. I'm sure that my husband and I can figure the details out later--we are both technical people, but we just need to get this home finished and our family settled before we start messing with wiring for fun.
Thanks for any advice.
Ginny
Turns out the HVAC wants to install not so cheap ($200 ea) Honeywell IAQ Vision Pro thermostats to control furnace, air, humidifier, and HRV. The HRV doesn't have it's own fan, so it needs to be hooked up to the furnace fan controls. We will have two separate systems--one for upstairs, one for main level + basement. I am not very clear on how all this equipment works together.
Is there a way to get this thermostat to work with home automation? ELK specifically? Or can one of the thermostats recommended by ELK (Aprilaire, RCS, or HAI) work well with a humidifier and other equipment? I think that he wants to use the Honeywell because that is the type of steam humidifier that will be installed. I will ask our HVAC guy these questions, too, but whenever there is something a little different we seem to get a lot of blank stares. Getting the HRV was an battle in itself. They seem not too sure about cat5 to a thermostat.
My main goal has been to get the wiring and the basics in and running separately (HVAC, security, and sound), then later when life is not so crazy with 3 little boys and homeschooling, work at getting home automation going and add some type of lighting control. Sure hate to have to waste a lot of money on expensive thermostats that aren't expandable to HA. I'm sure that my husband and I can figure the details out later--we are both technical people, but we just need to get this home finished and our family settled before we start messing with wiring for fun.
Thanks for any advice.
Ginny
