HVAC zoning system reccomendation

[ERDrPC]

Hi

As a part of our reno we are going to retrofit a zoning system for the main level and upstairs. We have a 5 tonne unit for central heating and A/C. We will use either tekmar thermostats or the C4 aprilaire stats as they both integrate with c4 without a cloud based solution. We want to avoid wall acne (each bedroom will have a TS already) so we will homerun flush mounted wall temp sensors to the HVAC control panel and have all thermostats in the furnace room.

Main level - 4 zones - mudroom/laundry (also has additional nuheat infloor heating); living/dining/music/powder room - all one zone since open concept; kitchen (will have nuheat infloor heating); office

Upstairs - 5 zones - each bedroom and ensuite (all have additional infloor nuheat) as it's own zone, landing as a zone

Basement - whole new separate system with a zoned hydronic infloor heating controlled by tekmar and a second zoned central A/C.

What I would like is a simple system to change climate per zone. Ie minimizing the number of button presses on a c4 TS. I've found three different retrofit zoning systems:

http://www.arzelzoning.com/products/dampers/

http://www.retrozone.com/Catalog/retrofit.htm

https://forwardthinking.honeywell.com/products/zoning/zoning_products.html

My questions to the experts:

1. What system to people currently use for adding in HVAC zoning to C4? The HVAC contractor doesn't know what's compatible with C4

2. I see there is a houselogix driver for the honeywell system but it requires cloud routing. I still want to be able to control my system if the internet isn't working.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

[ERDrPC]

Any suggestions?  Am I asking for something outside of c4's ability?

[knowitall]

Well, if the internet isn't working you won't be able to remote in to anything unless you're local then you can just to goto the tstat. 

 

If if you can put a Honeywell tstat on the st states you can put a c4 tstat in. 

[ERDrPC]

My concern is that all thermostats will be centrally located in the furnace room. If I'm upstairs and I want to change the temp,  I envison using a c4 ts - choose room and climate. C4 has to communicate with the Honeywell redlink system using a houselogix driver which utilizes the cloud. If my internet is down then we would have to go into the basement to change the temp. My wife will NOT approve of this. 

That being said - how do people control their garage doors using the liftmaster gateway when their Internet is down? Ie in the master bedroom and need to open/close without leaving the room?

[knowitall]

Where do you live that you have such unreliable internet? Or get a different provider.  My power has been out more than my internet in the last year. That being said, put aall you AV and network stuff on a battery back up. 

[ERDrPC]

I appreciate the reply. My house will have a whole home generator as a back up in addition to battery backup for HA equipment. 

My point is how can I accomplish what I need without going thru the cloud. 

[knowitall]

buy control 4 tstats, give to HVAC guy to install. The zoning is done inside the unit not the tstat  

 

C4 also makes a garage door kit or you could even hard wire the contact/relay to processor if you wanted for them. Plenty of ways to avoid cloud, but you probably won't for some stuff

[Elvis]

We have a 10 year old Bryant 5 zone central A/C system. The fact that it is running strong after 10 years is apparently a big deal (sadly).

I would encourage you to research the system first, then the C4/T-stat compatibility. For example, my house is 3400 square feet single level. If one room needs cool air, the unit comes on at low speed. If there is enough demand, it switches to high. They have made a lot of technical progress in this area and apparently they are a lot more efficient than our 10 year old beast.

If the system requires a bypass, it is probably old-tech. Multi-speed fans are much more efficient from my study. Hope this helps.

[ERDrPC]

Thanks for the replies. Finding the hvac zoning equipment that can handle my zoning request is the tough part. 

I'm thinking of changing to three separate units (3 furnaces and 3 a/c) - one for each floor. The Basement will have a hydronic in floor heating system as well. 

Tekmar can control the hydronic floor and hvac system on a per room basis (with remote temp sensors and central tsats). Figuring out how it will talk to the zone controller is where I'm stuck. Honeywell seems likely the best zone controller option. 

[GPower1]

I realize that this is an old discussion. I hope that there are some new solutions on the market.

I have 7 T-stats and three separate HVAC systems.

One is for the basement - single zone no a/c.

The other two systems each have 3 zones. The thermostats connect to a Durozone SMZ 3SW. It in turn controls dampers

I am looking for something that can either talk to the SMZ or at least use my existing dampers. 

 

[cdepaola]

On 8/27/2016 at 11:11 AM, ERDrPC said:

Thanks for the replies. Finding the hvac zoning equipment that can handle my zoning request is the tough part. 

I'm thinking of changing to three separate units (3 furnaces and 3 a/c) - one for each floor. The Basement will have a hydronic in floor heating system as well. 

Tekmar can control the hydronic floor and hvac system on a per room basis (with remote temp sensors and central tsats). Figuring out how it will talk to the zone controller is where I'm stuck. Honeywell seems likely the best zone controller option. 

Individual units are the way to go... I would highly suggest brining in an outside HVAC engineer to do the Manual J calculations per floor  and leave all options on the table regarding equipment.  

[Cyknight]

6 minutes ago, cdepaola said:

Individual units are the way to go... I would highly suggest brining in an outside HVAC engineer to do the Manual J calculations per floor  and leave all options on the table regarding equipment.  

That's the 4 year old post...

 

18 minutes ago, GPower1 said:

I am looking for something that can either talk to the SMZ or at least use my existing dampers. 

Not familiar with the piece specifically, but if it can be used using a regular thermostat - you can get a number of t-stat solutions to integrate. Be it C4's own, Ecobee or others.

If it's proprietary, well then you may be stuck...unless there's a driver for them.

[cdepaola]

18 hours ago, Cyknight said:

That's the 4 year old post...

 

Not familiar with the piece specifically, but if it can be used using a regular thermostat - you can get a number of t-stat solutions to integrate. Be it C4's own, Ecobee or others.

If it's proprietary, well then you may be stuck...unless there's a driver for them.