Benefits Of Integrating Thermostat With Control4

[Neo1738]

18 hours ago, ajd123 said:

These are great safety automations.  I really like the fans turning on to help ventilate in the event of carbon monoxide.  Do you think there would be a benefit to turning all exhaust fans in the event of fire to help ventilate the smoke, or would that create a draft and encourage the spread of fire?

That would draft and make it worse from my knowledge.

[Cyknight]

Fans off during fire.....NOT on

[msgreenf]

Fans off. Oxygen feeds fire 

[cnicholson]

4 hours ago, ajd123 said:

Do you know if your zoned system just opens/closes dampers for the heat supply runs only or does it ALSO control dampers for the cold air returns as well?

The HVAC system is Mitsubishi City Multi--- its a multi-zone "VRF" system, so the zones each have their own inside air handler (either self-contained "cartridge" or a small concealed unit with short duct runs).  AFAIK, the zones are "real" zones without any shared air paths.  So each room has its one input air, heat exchange and output air.  The shared components are the outside units, each of which can feed 1-8 inside zones via refrigerant loops.  So I don't think I have any mechanically operated dampers anywhere.   Hope that makes sense.

That said, the CoolMasterNet box seems pretty Swiss Army Knife-y so i'd bet it would be able to talk to and control such a system. 

[prabeau]

On 3/28/2023 at 7:47 PM, Cyknight said:

Indeed, to each their own to a degree, affected more so by what the outside 'normal' temperature is as well. If you get below 0 degree C (average) temps in winter: 22.5 is high and it's costing you.

No clue where you are, but here, keeping humidity at 45% in winter is asking for condensation going rampant and introducing mold. 'Course in winter -15 C low is the rough average here, with -30 C nothing we'd raise our eyebrows at (and no I'm not talking about 'feel' temperatures)

Everyone gets a tad paranoid I find when talking about mold. Yes it is something to be concerned about. But 45% in a cold climate where heating is on for outside temps below 0C

thats 32F for my southern friends is not a problem if the house was built with modern standards. Its -5C ( out ) 22C (in) here right now the humidity in house is 47% and no condensation on widows ( first tell tale ) with a heat exchanger incorporated to system. Been this way for 12 years since house was built.

I also own a Florida winter residence boy talk about panic looks around there when mold is mentioned. Summer and Fall I keep house Ecobee set at 80F and humidity control at 55% and fan on 5 Mins every hour for the last 11 years no issues. Mold has never been an issue.

So a blanket statement of 45% humidity lacks context at the very least. Different types of building / materials, HVAC, windows and home orientation plays into it.

 

Just saying

 

 

[ajd123]

25 minutes ago, prabeau said:

Everyone gets a tad paranoid I find when talking about mold. Yes it is something to be concerned about. But 45% in a cold climate where heating is on for outside temps below 0C

thats 32F for my southern friends is not a problem if the house was built with modern standards. Its -5C ( out ) 22C (in) here right now the humidity in house is 47% and no condensation on widows ( first tell tale ) with a heat exchanger incorporated to system. Been this way for 12 years since house was built.

I also own a Florida winter residence boy talk about panic looks around there when mold is mentioned. Summer and Fall I keep house Ecobee set at 80F and humidity control at 55% and fan on 5 Mins every hour for the last 11 years no issues. Mold has never been an issue.

So a blanket statement of 45% humidity lacks context at the very least. Different types of building / materials, HVAC, windows and home orientation plays into it.

 

Just saying

 

 

You are correct.  Air tightness for the building plays a big roll.  If inside RH is 45% and the windows are not sweating there is absolutely nothing to worry about.  Even if the windows are sweating, this does not mean there is condensation in other areas.  The windows will always hit the dew point fast than the rest of the house because they will always be colder or warmer (depending on the season) than the rest of the house. 

One trick I use is to leave my furnace fan running 24/7.  This helps reduce condensation via air flow AND it is constantly purifying the house air via the HEPA filters.  The fan runs even if the furnace is not heating or cooling...

I also plan on creating some programming in conjunction with the Open Weather driver that will lower my thermostats indoor relative humidity when the outside temperature gets below -15 degrees celsius.

[Cyknight]

13 hours ago, prabeau said:

So a blanket statement of 45% humidity lacks context at the very least.

Except that I GAVE context in that winter here is -15c low average.

[prabeau]

10 hours ago, Cyknight said:

Except that I GAVE context in that winter here is -15c low average.

True I was stating at time of writing post. Could have mentioned that this is a setting i keep throughout the winter. Mind you I cant quite achieve the level of humidity when temps actually go as low as they do around here. Temp was in the -20 to -30 at times. Nothing like Alberta I admit.

[Cyknight]

3 hours ago, prabeau said:

True I was stating at time of writing post. Could have mentioned that this is a setting i keep throughout the winter. Mind you I cant quite achieve the level of humidity when temps actually go as low as they do around here. Temp was in the -20 to -30 at times. Nothing like Alberta I admit.

Meh temps not so different, we just dip into -30 to -35 a bit more, and occasionally less - prob higher relative humidity over there though.

[prabeau]

For sure no chinooks either 

[Cyknight]

9 hours ago, prabeau said:

For sure no chinooks either 

lol: I don't get those either, that's for Calgary to deal with.

 

[ajd123]

On 3/28/2023 at 7:05 PM, msgreenf said:

Turning it off and keeping it at occupancy temperature or not the same thing. You can change the temperature by a few degrees if you're going to be out for the entire day and save significant money with no impact

Just wanted to post a follow up on this.  We had a cold snap here in Ontario so I shut off the AC.  The furnace remains on in fan mode only since we like to have the air running through the HEPA filter 24/7.  In this mode there is no heating (furnace burners are off) or cooling (air conditioner is off).

Last night the indoor temp in the house was 22.5 degrees Celsius and the outside temp was 2 degree Celsius.  In a 9 hour span of time (9pm-6pm) the temperature in the house only dropped 1.5 degrees Celsius (down to 21).

In a well built house with a tight building envelope heat loss or gain (especially at night) is minimal.  During the day, the house heats up quicker (heat gain) than it cools off (heat loss) which is primarily the result of solar radiation, exposure and number of windows.