I'm looking for a way to control the temperature in various rooms in a community building. One should be able to program 'events' where the temperature in the room (channel) in question should be altered for a period of time.
I imagine that such a device would be simple to implement using an embedded controller with flash memory and a TOD clock. I could run linux with a webserver and a simple database.
Anyone here having heard about such devices or have comments on this scenario?
The X10 controllers I have seen have all kinds of features in addition to temperature control (I only want temperature to avoid confusion) and I haven't seen controllers which supports storing events in the future.. Thanks for urls or further tips
How is the temperature in each room controlled now?
- separate heat/cool unit? - - on-unit or wall-mounted thermostat?
- from a central heat/cool system?
If temperature is controlled by an on-unit thermostat, then the best remote control is likely to be on/off.
If heat/cool is via a central system, the only per-room control is to open/close a damper in the duct from the central system. Motor-driven dampers are probably in the $200US and up range, plus the cost of having them installed.
If via a separate heat/cool unit with a wall-mounted thermostat, then an X10 Universal controller could be used to switch between a "room not in use" thermostat and the original themostat. One of the X10 Home Control programs can schedule events for a year (possibly longer). The software downloads events to a separate controller that plugs in to a wall outlet and has battery backup to keep time in the event of a power outage). x10 sells a Windows version of the software for about $50US; there's probably a freebie for Linux.
I use the Windws to schedule a "lived in" look when we're away: lights in various rooms at simiilar or different times each day (most people go to bed near the same time when they must go to work the next day, but may party late on a weekend ;-)
In any case, part of event planning is starting the heat/cool far enough in advance to have the room useable at the scheduled time. If in cooling season and a large group will be using the room, you must start cooling well in advance and to a temperature lower than the desired final temperature - 30 live bodies will warm up a room.
Provide more details and I can provide more ideas.
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