Home Automation Info

A climate control system can be as simple as a programmable thermostat, but for added benefits you may want more. Everyone who owns a home understands which buttons to push on the wall-mounted thermostat to adjust the room temperature in the home. Many have already installed a programmable thermostat, so why replace it?

The typical programmable thermostat has the following features:
• the mode (heat, cool, auto, off) can be varied for pre-defined time periods during the day,
• heating and cooling setpoints can be varied for pre-defined time periods during the day,
• fan control can also be varied for pre-defined time periods during the day,
• the daily time periods can be adjusted to fit your exact schedule,
• the daily schedule can be different from day-to-day during the week,
• and the thermostat may have a setback feature allowing the setpoint to be adjusted n degrees via an external signal from a controller,

The above capablities will equate to energy savings when the thermostat is programmed to the apropriate setpoints when the house is unoccupied or at night when everyone is sleeping. The drawback in this approach is the thermostat can only be varied from programmed settings by a human standing in front of it pushing buttons on the interface.

However, if the thermostat settings can be adjusted by a central controller, then the dimension of climate control can be added to scenes providing a more powerful control of the home environment. Now a party scene may launch a particular playlist for music distribution, set the lighting to desired levels in certain rooms, and lower the temperature setpoint because of the increased number of people who will be in the home during the party. All with the touch of a single button!

If motion sensors are also connected to the central controller, the California Title 24 solution can be extended to lower the heat setpoint and/or raise the cooling setpoint when people are not present in a heat zone within the home. If the central controller also interfaces to or is part of the security system, thermostat settings can be changed when windows and doors are opened or closed or a security zone is breached. Lastly, if the central controller is also a web server, then the thermostat setpoints can also be changed via the Internet.

Note at least one manufacturer, Proliphix, offers a programmable thermostat with a built-in web server that connects to your home data network. Thus, no central controller is required, making it a useful solution if all you want to do is change the settings via the Internet in addition to manually at the thermostat.