Radiate floor heat contolled by ELK

[snickster]

Can the Elk do everything needed to control the temperature and time on a radiant floor heat system ?
Do I need to buy a controler for the system or will the ELK do it all ?

Hate to ask such a simple question , but I have zero experience with HA.
Thanks !

snickster

PS
Hopefully everyone will know that I meant radiant floor heat . I can't seem to edit the topic title

 

[RobWalker]

By itself ... no (AFAIK). What you need will depend on the type of radiant floor heating system you have: hydronic vs electric vs ??

We have just built a house with two types of radiant floors installed: a Legalett slab downstairs which has 2 4kW electric heaters installed with air ducts embedded in the slab controlled by 24VAC thermostats (1 per zone = 7 thermostats!) and standard 110V electric radiant in the upstairs bathrooms.

I intended to (eventually) interface the Elk with the thermostats to monitor/control the downstairs heaters but I haven't worked out how yet. I home ran all the thermostat wire to the mechanical room so it should be possible to tie it together somehow

The electric raidiant I intend to control via a couple of iLine switches from EDT since the loads in each room are small ~600W. This is connected to the Elk panel via a M1XSP (serial port expander).

If you have a hydronic system then I would expect it is controlled via 24VAC thermostats as well.

You will also need a means to measure temperature ... Elk sells temperature sensors or you can hook up something using a 1-wire network, which may be cheaper but would be more effort to integrate.

 

[pete]

As Rob said we would need more details . .

- what type of radiant heat
- how many zones
- what do you have in mind for the UI (how will you set/adjust temp/setback times/etc)
- what do you want the Elk to do (monitor system/change set points w/ alarm status/etc)

 

[Madcodger]

If hydronic radiant, the Elk would work fine if you used appropriate thermostats, such as those from RCS or others. Hydronic heating generally is able to use any, common 24VAC thermostat. You would need one designed for automation, and there are several. I like the RCS units, but others like HAI and Aprilaire equally well.

It's the electric radiant that is a problem. These thermostats have the current for the floor passing through them, and I don't know of any stat manufacturer that makes one for automation. It may exist, but I'm unaware of it.

As others have suggested, you could simply control the current via some type of in-line on/off device. However, you should check with your local building inspector and insurance company about this to see if they're OK with it. While it would work, it's not a standard design for a heating system and could cause you problems should something every happen in your home. Personally, I would elect NOT to control it this way, and would use the stats designed for this, without automation.

 

[JimS]

It's the electric radiant that is a problem. These thermostats have the current for the floor passing through them, and I don't know of any stat manufacturer that makes one for automation. It may exist, but I'm unaware of it.

As others have suggested, you could simply control the current via some type of in-line on/off device. However, you should check with your local building inspector and insurance company about this to see if they're OK with it. While it would work, it's not a standard design for a heating system and could cause you problems should something every happen in your home. Personally, I would elect NOT to control it this way, and would use the stats designed for this, without automation.

I don't see where this is a real problem. If a line voltage thermostat isn't available to interface to the HA simply use a relay system that uses 24VAC control to switch the line voltage and use a 24VAC thermostat that has HA capability. The simplest thing is probably what is called a "fan center" but is actually intended to switch various loads. Here is one:
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2E852

I have used these to control the pumps in a hydronic system but they could also be used for heating elements. I am sure there are other solutions...