Software for Central Heating Control
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Posted by on January 3, 2006, 3:18 pm
Please log in for more thread options I'm having a loft conversion done at present, and I'd like to take the opportunity to upgrade my central heating control system, which is currently pretty dumb (3-on 3-off per day controller for hot water and heating, with thermostatic radiator valves). I'm looking for some software that will let me run much more sophisticated control algorithms. Some of the things I'd like to be able to do are: - control three heating zones plus hot water - allow different control temperatures for each zone at different times of day and days of the week - correct for outside temperature, wind speed and direction etc. - don't heat rooms when they are unoccupied - don't heat rooms when the windows are open - heat only as much water as is expected to be required for the time of day (i.e. don't heat a full tank unless people are expected to be bathing or the washing is being done) - use oil, off-peak electricity and full-price electricity in the most cost effective manner - automatically adjust boiler operating temperature for optimum efficiency (i.e. lower the boiler temperature when the heat demand is lower) - learn house warm-up time under various conditions and come on "just in time" to achieve the required temperature - easy to use and flexible manual override facilities via wall-mounted control panels, a web based interface or by phone (e.g. hotter, cooler, on, off, come on for 1 hour etc.) - full logging of temperatures, boiler firing times and valve opening times so that performance can be analysed and improved - interface to temperature sensors, e.g. Dallas One-wire sensors My vision is to run the control software on a small solid state single board computer with the necessary I/O (interface to temperature and other sensors, mains relays for zone valves and pumps, wall mounted control panels, web server for network based contol etc.), with the control program developed on a PC and downloaded to the SBC when the algorithms need to change. What software exists which can help implement this sort of control? What languages are best for implementing the algoithms? Who else is working in this field? What is the best hardware? Thanks for your help - Rowan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by John Stumbles on January 3, 2006, 8:18 pm
Please log in for more thread options On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 15:18:53 -0800, rowan wrote: From a recent discussion on our local Linux Users' Group: http://www.o2m8.com/ http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by John Rumm on January 4, 2006, 2:51 am
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rowan@sylvester-bradley.org wrote: Oh another one! There is another thread running on this here: http://groups.google.com/group/uk.d-i-y/browse_frm/thread/b5ac5d41956ffc24/684c4ea70c6c5acb?lnk=st&q=group%3Auk.d-i-y+boiler+control+questions&rnum=1&hl=en#684c4ea70c6c5acb http://tinyurl.com/9tvhd > I'm having a loft conversion done at present, and I'd like to take the
Does that mean you will be losing storage tanks etc? > opportunity to upgrade my central heating control system, which is
> currently pretty dumb (3-on 3-off per day controller for hot water and > heating, with thermostatic radiator valves). I'm looking for some > software that will let me run much more sophisticated control > algorithms. Some of the things I'd like to be able to do are:
> - control three heating zones plus hot water
> - allow different control temperatures for each zone at different > times of day and days of the week > - correct for outside temperature, wind speed and direction etc. > - learn house warm-up time under various conditions and come on "just > in time" to achieve the required temperature > - easy to use and flexible manual override facilities via wall-mounted > control panels, a web based interface or by phone (e.g. hotter, cooler, > on, off, come on for 1 hour etc.) All this can be done with standard off the shelf control kit withotu needing to get too cleaver (unless you want to!) S Plan+ system with some programmable (optimising) thermostats would do that. Add a external weather compensator etc. > - don't heat rooms when they are unoccupied
> - don't heat rooms when the windows are open > - heat only as much water as is expected to be required for the time > of day (i.e. don't heat a full tank unless people are expected to be > bathing or the washing is being done) > - use oil, off-peak electricity and full-price electricity in the most
> cost effective manner Ignore electric while the oil tank is not empty then ;-) > - automatically adjust boiler operating temperature for optimum
> efficiency (i.e. lower the boiler temperature when the heat demand is > lower) This may depend on how the temperature is adjusted on your boiler - on many it is a hard wired knob which is not that well suited to automated control. > My vision is to run the control software on a small solid state single
> board computer with the necessary I/O (interface to temperature and > other sensors, mains relays for zone valves and pumps, wall mounted > control panels, web server for network based contol etc.), with the > control program developed on a PC and downloaded to the SBC when the > algorithms need to change. Small embedded PCs with flash file systems are ideal for this sort of application and can be bought off the shelf. You could in reality do it with just about anything (old micro computer of some description) since you have very low computational requirements. You can mix in some X10 automation stuff as required for some of the applications, and a smart security system like: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Alarm_Index/Wireless_index/ESP_Infinite_Main/index.html will handle the GSM and Telephone interfaces to the home automation kit to give you the non web based remote access. > What software exists which can help implement this sort of control?
> What languages are best for implementing the algoithms? Whatever you can: a) get a development system for that suits your chosen target and b) that you feel comfortable developing in. > Who else is working in this field?
Have a look at some of the many X10 and home automation sites. > What is the best hardware?
Define best? -- Cheers, John. /=================================================================\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \=================================================================/ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Steve S on January 4, 2006, 8:40 am
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<mega snip>>
> Have a look at some of the many X10 and home automation sites.
> >> What is the best hardware?
>
> Define best? > You need to be very careful with projects like this, especially when you have loads of sensors and functions. They introduce very many corner cases and single points of failure. You will need to do a lot of very methodical testing. What happens when a sensor fails? Can you detect it and act appropriately? In the system I am designing (using C, by the way) it is designed to fail passive, reverting to the old control system. Most SBC solutions use cooperative multitasking. This requires careful coding in order not to break it. Also, plan what to do if you decide to move house. A homebrew heating control system is not likely to add to the value of the house. In my case I shall be able to revert to a normal if somewhat outdated control system at the drop of a hat. Dallas 1-wire sensors are OK, but bear in mind that for any significant distance you'll need twisted pair cabling. Also think carefully about the interface to them. If interfacing directly to an SBC the timing is critical, and you'll need interrupts turned off for much longer than is desirable on a multitasking SBC. Use the 18S20's via an I2C interface chip instead. I'd advise looking carefully at risks versus benefits wrt the complexity of your project. Does taking wind speed and direction into account (for example) result in measurable benefit and what is the risk in terms of software complexity? If you want to go ahead, get yourself an evaluation kit and start playing and learning. This will help you understand the magnitude of the task ahead. HTH, Steve S | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by on January 4, 2006, 2:24 am
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Steve S wrote: >
> > <mega snip>>
> > Have a look at some of the many X10 and home automation sites. > > > >> What is the best hardware?
> >
> > Define best? > > >
> You need to be very careful with projects like this, especially when you > have loads of sensors and functions. They introduce very many corner cases > and single points of failure. You will need to do a lot of very methodical > testing. What happens when a sensor fails? Can you detect it and act > appropriately? In the system I am designing (using C, by the way) it is > designed to fail passive, reverting to the old control system. > > Most SBC solutions use cooperative multitasking. This requires careful > coding in order not to break it. > > Also, plan what to do if you decide to move house. A homebrew heating > control system is not likely to add to the value of the house. In my case I > shall be able to revert to a normal if somewhat outdated control system at > the drop of a hat. > > Dallas 1-wire sensors are OK, but bear in mind that for any significant > distance you'll need twisted pair cabling. Also think carefully about the > interface to them. If interfacing directly to an SBC the timing is critical, > and you'll need interrupts turned off for much longer than is desirable on a > multitasking SBC. Use the 18S20's via an I2C interface chip instead. > > I'd advise looking carefully at risks versus benefits wrt the complexity of > your project. Does taking wind speed and direction into account (for > example) result in measurable benefit and what is the risk in terms of > software complexity? > > If you want to go ahead, get yourself an evaluation kit and start playing > and learning. This will help you understand the magnitude of the task ahead. > > HTH, > Steve S The majority of the OP's desired functions are available on commercial heating control systems already. However theyre not cheap. For the computer side of things, I would steer well clear of PCs, as you need a system that will stay running for years at a time, and PCs simply dont have the necessary hardware or software reliability. My first choice would likely be a BBC B. If youre not familiar with them, theyre 1982 32k 4MHz command line machines with inbuilt OS and BASIC, and are stable as a rock. They also have lots of A./D I/O onboard, and are easy to program, so are popular for scientific monitoring and control projects. Despite being hopelessly out of date technically, they still retain a niche market for these sort of apps. E-bay. Burn your software to EPROM, and the EPROM plugs into the machine. Add sideways RAM if you want more RAM, or get a BBC Master instead (128k). And, as has been said, the system must fail to functional. If it doesnt, youre buying yourself a whole lotta trouble downline, and trouble costs money. NT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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> What languages are best for implementing the algoithms?
> Who else is working in this field?
> What is the best hardware?
>