Air Conditioning from Scratch

[alex88 71]

Hi All,

During my renovations I'm planning on putting an air conditioning unit in my loft. The unit and condenser, with specs, can be found here:

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Does anyone know from the specs whether the 3kw Fibaro module will work with this a/c unit? The unit produces 3.5kw of cooling output and the specs state that unit draws 4.4 amps. The 3kw Fibaro module in the spec sheet says that it can handle loads up to 10 amps, but all that said I'm still not sure whether that means the 3kw module can support it.

Secondly, if this was an a/c unit only then I assume that I could just get the 3kw module to turn the a/c on or off based on the temperature reading from a connected thermometer, but the unit is also a heater which means that I could use it to heat in winter, but this means that I will need to be able to change the output temperature of the a/c unit from within HC2. I can imagine that by using an IR module I might be able to mimic the remote control keys to achieve this. Has anyone done this? If not, is there another way that anyone knows how to do this?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers

Aleks

[smartronix 0]

4,4A x 230 V = 1012 VA, so this is no problem at all.

The generic fuse should be 10A. (see specs) 10A x 230 V = 2300VA

so the 1x3kW is a good module for this one.

when you switch an airco its better to look for a connector inside it to switch it ON and OFF with a remote contact like the 1x3kW module. That will be a better option instead of switching the powerline. ( not all airco''s have them)

good luck

[alex88 71]

Thanks for the tips. i will contact the manufacturer with this information at hand and see what they say.

Any ideas on how to control the temperature?

[pooh 2]

amilanov, put A/C to the lowest possible temp (probably around 16) and just switch it ON in case room temp is higher than desired. you can use A/C Panel for that purpose.

[alex88 71]

amilanov, put A/C to the lowest possible temp (probably around 16) and just switch it ON in case room temp is higher than desired. you can use A/C Panel for that purpose.

Hi Pooh,

That would work fine if it was just an a/c unit, but it can also heat the room so I need to be able to run it at a low temperature during summer and a high temperature in winter. I don't really want to have to change the setting twice a year, but if there is no other choice then I suppose I will have to do that

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Regards

Aleks

[pooh 2]

amilanov, you don't have option here i'm afraid. you will need to change A/C temp to highest and reassign on/off switch to heating panel before winter...

[alex88 71]

amilanov, you don't have option here i'm afraid. you will need to change A/C temp to highest and reassign on/off switch to heating panel before winter...

The manufacturer has suggested using the Procon IO-Interface for the a/c unit. They have said:

"‘The simplest way to interface to the home automation systems would be via an IO Interface, installation manual attached.

This will take signals from the home automation and perform all the function listed below via volt free contacts and 0-10v signals.

One per fan coil is required.’"

Page 6 of the attached manual shows quite a few operations that are possible across the digital and analogue inputs.

I am entering once again into the realm of uncharted territory, but if I was to hazard a guess it looks to me like I could connect the Fibaro 3kw module to the On/Off digital input on the left hand side of the diagram on page 6, for example, I would need to connect S1 to the “on” digital input and s2 to the “off” digital input. This would allow to me turn the a/c on and off.

If the above is correct, and without getting into the details of how to control the unit, I assume that I would need to buy an additional Fibaro module for each function that I would like to control. This would very quickly become an expensive exercise.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Cheers

Aleks

[davedotnet 0]

Where is the "attached manual" ?

[alex88 71]

Sorry, couldn't attach .pdf to Fibaro Forum. Here it is:

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Tell me if you have any problems accessing it.

Cheers

Aleks

[K.Bergmann 2]

Hi,

It will be difficult to integrate this device at the moment, because this device support 0-10V analoge controlling. We will release such 0-10V ouput module in future.

[alex88 71]

Hi,

It will be difficult to integrate this device at the moment, because this device support 0-10V analoge controlling. We will release such 0-10V ouput module in future.

Thank you for explaining that!

Can you recommend an IO interface that I could buy to integrate into the Mitsubishi Zen A/C unit I am planning on buying?

Or alternatively, can you advise another way that I can hook up the unit to Fibaro?

[Daniel W 0]

Hi,

I'm using the Remotec ZXT-120 IR Extender for this purpose and it's working so - so. (see my post

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). I can change the required temperature from the HC2, but can't power it off. If it's powered off with the original IR remote control it will start again automaticly when you change the temperature from the HC2 next time. I added a second z-wave power switch to power it off, but don't think this is really healthy for the AC unit (I did if for emergency only). HC2 can't read the room temperature from the Remotec device (wich it should...).

Fibaro - could you please add support for this device as it's a really nice utility.

[alex88 71]

Hi,

I'm using the Remotec ZXT-120 IR Extender for this purpose and it's working so - so. (see my post

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). I can change the required temperature from the HC2, but can't power it off. If it's powered off with the original IR remote control it will start again automaticly when you change the temperature from the HC2 next time. I added a second z-wave power switch to power it off, but don't think this is really healthy for the AC unit (I did if for emergency only). HC2 can't read the room temperature from the Remotec device (wich it should...).

Fibaro - could you please add support for this device as it's a really nice utility.

Sounds promising, but given I am starting from scratch I would prefer to get something that turns the unit on and off automatically. I am happy to use an external temperature sensor to trigger this. Fibaro, please help.

[BvD 0]

We will release such 0-10V ouput module in future.

Hi Krystian,

How 'future' is future?

I'm really struggling to find a solution for some 0-10V controlled LED lamps.

Would be nice if we can get a roadmap for new Fibaro products.

Thnx

[Daniel W 0]

In the HC2 version 3 I now get the temperature reading from the room.

Still waiting for the full support for this device like Vera manages.

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[Shad 4]

I saw just this morning they up the zxt-120 in the bugtracker.

Also, the temperature for you is automatic or you push the button on the device???

[Daniel W 0]

The unit I'm using is not that powerfull - so in the summer I'm using maximum cooling 16 deg (cooling) or in the winter I'm using 28 deg (heating). As I didnt manage to remotely turn it off (without breaking the power with the z-wave power module I connected) I didnt include the unit in a heating/cooling panel. My original remote control for the unit has a built in temperature sensor wich I assume will communicate to the unit to turn on or off (when it reached the required temperature) but as I use this remote control to turn the unit off in the evening when I go to bed (and HC2 will turn it on in the morning via the zxt-120) the remote till be in off mode and not communicate to the unit any longer (and even if it was in the on mode it would know the command sent from the zxt-120 about the new required temperature).

[alex88 71]

In the HC2 version 3 I now get the temperature reading from the room.

Still waiting for the full support for this device like Vera manages.

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Hi Daniel,

How did you get this to work?

My a/c will be installed in about 4 weeks so I am still interested in understanding how to integrate it with Fibaro in the best way.

Cheers

Aleks

[Daniel W 0]

Hi Alex,

The HC2 will be able to change the temperature remotely (after that you configured the correct ID/value of your unit in the Advanced Configuration Paramaters (see screenshot) - but only when the xzt-120 was powered with steady power and not with the battery (it then using a continues mode wich seems to made the trick for my unit).

If the unit is off and you just change the temperature in the HC2 UI the unit will turn on and use the temperature you set - but as i haven't found a way to remotely turn the unit off safely I just let it run until I go to bed, wich is the most use case for me (to switch it on from work when I drive home and then manually turn it off when going to bed).

The temperature reading from the xzt-120 just happend to work without doing anything as of the HC2 version 3 (I didnt get it in the version 1). But it doesnt show up in the Room view in the HC2, only on the Your House panel in HC2 UI (so you dont see it on the iPhone app). There is a report in bugzilla for that one as well (

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)

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[haavarda 0]

Hi,

Do you have any updates on this?

I am considering converting from Vera to HC2, but have 2 zxt120 that I am using.

Will I be able to use these with HC2?

regards