App that allows you to use a temp sensor as a thermostat?

Mobile Apps
#1

Hi folks, and thanks in advance!

I was looking at those Flair vents, and just ordered two with a puck to test. As far as I understand it I just need the one puck to control as many vents as I want. But anyway, I was thinking about thermostats for the rooms.

Rather than go blow money on devices I thought about it a little. What does a thermostat need to function? Pretty much a temp sensor. Everything else is code to control what it does. So theoretically an app that watches a sensor in the room should be able to do the job.

Maybe it's the generic terminology, but I can't seem to find an app for this. Does one exist? Preferably one that looks like a device to Sharptools, and can be put on a dashboard.

Thanks again!

#3

Found it! Please delete.

#4

Just want to throw out there that when you deal with these you do NOT want to completely close them. Closing multiple vents is very bad for HVAC systems due to the back pressure. It's one of the reasons I decided against getting these in the first place and am instead having multi zoneing installed. It's a much safer option.

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#5

I wish. This house should have had 2 zones and 2 units, but it's only set up for one 5 ton. I have to run one of those pot grower fans just to get ac or heat to my son's room. I don't know if the Flairs close partially, but if they do I'll be limiting the 1st floor at night just to avoid inline fans for the 2nd.

#6

Mine is about 4.5 ton in a 5600 sqft house. We do use inline fans because of the height (each floor is 10' ceilings). These also work particularly well, and you don't have to worry about blocking ductwork.... (available it lots of sizes). I had these in a couple of houses and they're great.

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#7

{crawls out from under a rock} I have never seen that type of device before thanks!!!

:rock:

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#8

Was always happy with them...

#9

I had to go up to this thing just to adequately heat and cool the room in the same amount of time as the rest of the home. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01L0D0UEQ/

The issue isn't so much the home size as it is the architecture and ductwork. It's just horrible. There's something like a 24x10 main duct that feeds everything, and none of it well. While I have the 5 ton, a 4 ton should be sufficient with the proper duct work. It's only 3000sf. The architectural issue is this. The builder created a community mostly full of the typical rectangle 4br colonial. Only a few homes are like mine and L shaped, with the short end of the L going toward the front. The end of the short end of the L is my son's room, which is the air problem. Because it looks like, from seeing the work in other community homes, that they slapped the same duct design into my home as all the basic rectangle homes, and simply extended two ducts to serve the short end of the L. The core problem is they added the 2nd floor duct on at the end of the first floor duct, So by the time the first floor room under my son's is fed, barely a whisper of air makes it up to the second floor ...and here we are, lol.

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#10

Your system might not be balanced properly. Modern systems, at least in my state, require a damper to be installed down the duct right before the register. Most HVAC guys here just leave them all wide open. Then, each trunk line out of your air handler needs to have it's own damper also.

The proper way to balance is to open all register end dampers, and open all trunk dampers. Find the register on the farthest end of the longest duct, measure the air flow with a balometer. Then find the next farthest register, measure the airflow, and reduce it so it equals the measurement of the first one. Do this all the way down the line. Now do it again for the next longest trunk, but making the flow of the farthest register on it the same as the flow on the closest register of the last trunk you worked on. Once you do this, all ducts should flow pretty much the same all over your house, reducing hot or cold spots.

I haven't found anyone that rents balometers. And they are over $1000. If you want to get someone that knows how to do differential balancing, find an HVAC guy that is National Comfort Institute certified. They have a finder on their website.

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#11

Oh believe me, I know, lol. We have the worst HVAC people around here in my experience. I had a new unit installed around 2013. One problem after another for the first 6 months of use until their bad wiring melted the contactor and about a foot of the whip (power wire). I ended up cracking a book, and fixed it all myself. I brought everything in compliance with NEC, installed a start capacitor, installed the proper hangers, etc. Not one issue since. I'm getting ready to do the EPA test so I can recharge the compressor myself next spring.

Anyway, a balometer can be had for under $500 for residential use. If I weren't so painfully aware of the design flaw in my ducting I probably would have one by now. But why bother when you know the answer is to replace half the ducting? https://www.amazon.com/CPS-ABM-HOOD-200-Easy-Hood-Balancing/dp/B075SDHBJZ/

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#12

And this is irrespective of room size or heat load because, of course, if it was all designed correctly the rooms would have "just the right number" (sq inches) of register input correct? In other words, hypothetically speaking there should be no need to increase or reduce the flow of any room's register(s).

Is this correct?

#13

The actual process of balancing is a little more complicated. This is a good write-up on the process. StackPath

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#14

Well, my Flair vent and puck showed up today. After wasting an hour on the setup I come to find out it has issues with mesh wifi. Back to Lowes it goes. If they can't get simple networking right I'm gonna pass. Motorized dampers plugged into zigbee outlets by way of a 24v transformer are cheaper, easier to maintain, and can be controlled natively in Hubitat or any other hub.

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