Wiring and Arduino Update
Wire Cabinet Finished
Well I have been very busy with course work. I though I would post a quick update.
I have finally finished reorganizing my wiring cabinet and I now have it jam-packed with all sort of equipment. As seen on the right.
I also stated the Arduino Power Meter Reader (APMR) project page which I will slowly add information to in the coming weeks. I will also be posting the source code on GitHub in the next couple of days. This will be released as an open source project.
Related articles
- Security system working with mControl via NPort (eco-sustain.org)
Energy conservation drivers
I have been busy getting back in to course work for this fall; but I though it would be good to set up a poll to see what people think about what will drive energy conservation. Please contribute by taking my poll.
Related articles
- Bucks: Friday Reading: Embracing Energy Conservation (bucks.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Going Green: Energy Conservation During Record-Breaking Heat (blogsouthwest.com)
- eeS Group explores Energy Efficiency vs. Energy Conservation (ees2001.wordpress.com)
Proliphix IMT550w thermostat installed
Today I finally installed my Proliphix IMT550w Network Thermostat. As you may have read in my earlier post, it was hard to find the right thermostat for my American Standard HVAC system, and it took me over 2 week to do an exhaustive search to find the IMT550. To review, I have a dual fuel system with a 2-stage heat pump and a 2-stage, variable speed gas furnace.
I spent the last couple of weeks figuring out how my HVAC system is wired. This took some time because there where a different amount of terminals with different labels (e.g. my system labels W2 as X2, and not needed). The colouring of the wires was also different. I cautiously documented the current wiring scheme and the new wiring scheme with my new IMT550w installed. I then talked to Proliphix Support and they worked with me to come up with the right wiring scheme. Proliphix has one of the best support departments. Mark, from Proliphix Support, was knowledgeable and responded quickly to all my emails–what more could I ask for. For those of you who are interested in seeing the before and after diagram of my HVAC wiring take a look at my HVAC Wiring Scheme document.
What I like about the IMT550w is:
- I can read and change setting from my browser, making it easier to set up schedules;
- I can install additional indoor temperature sensors, providing more comfort and energy efficiency;
- the temperature sensors that go with the thermostat (need to order separately) are more accurate than the ACONT802;
- the thermostat firmware can be updated with new functionality.
Related articles
- Installing mControl v3 (eco-sustain.org)
Celebrating CIRS and Accelerating Sustainability at UBC
The University of British Columbia is Celebrating CIRS and Accelerating Sustainability November 3 to 5. This should make for an interesting conference. “It will explore the ways in which we can advance debates, technologies, discoveries, and instruction that support a sustainable future, and will celebrate the opening of CIRS” (as quoted from their invite email). I just registered, see you there!
A new day and a new website
Hi, I am a Computing Science PhD Student at Simon Fraser University. I plan to blog about my research into smart homes for energy conservation, and sustainability. I will be posting information on how I setup my home (and others) to achieve this. My main area of research in is intelligent systems. So we will see how this goes….
