New to this so wondering your thoughts on this approach. I will have to run 120 power to it, but that is not a problem for the location I'm looking at, and this will still provide the low voltage switching required to go to my hvac humidifier. I think. Thoughts?
I am assuming you are going to connect the dry contacts of the remotec in parallel with the humidistat?
What are you using to monitor humidity and outside temp?
I was going to use in parallel, but then was thinking I can just loose the humidistat altogether.
This switch module would turn on/off automatically based on zwave humidity sensors (yet to purchase) averaged around the house. For now outside temp would be supplied by an external provider (until/unless) I get my own weather station.
Since my humidistat is two wire, I would assume I would just put those two wires on the low voltage contacts.
The HVAC is not controlled by hubitat. But the HVAC signals when to engage. The humidistat (or this switch) would decide if conditions are right to turn on humidifier.
So it would not run if blower is not on, even if the zwave switch is on.
And it will not run if blower is on but my humidity sensors says not to run (controlling this switch).
The zen 16 is $55 on amazon.CA, and I'm consused on how to wire since I only have two wires connecting to my humidistat. My suggested solution I understand the wiring.
I think I was making this overly complicated in my head....It drove me crazy last winter having a "smart house" and yet having to go downstairs and adjust this thing everyday.
In the summer I could just leave the dial in the "off"position, and then in the winter I would turn it to "max" and then let my contact relay decide when to "engage"
Sorry I know I'm basically repeating what you posted, I just thought it was going to be way more involved than this.
Just reading this thread and thinking. I would be inclined to put the current manual/mechanical humistat in series with the Z-Wave controlled relay. Then set the mechanical to a %age that is just above what you would ever want.
This way if the Z-Wave goes off the reservation, the mechanical thermostat will stop the humidity from going really high.
For most whole house humidifiers there is an even easier solution. Just plug the whole house thermostat into a zwave outlet. Then set the unit to 'aways on, or maximum humidity'.
That's what I did. I live in an ultra-humid coastal area, so the dehumidifier is likely to be running most of the time. I did want to be able to adjust the setting based on outside temps which are volatile --varying 30-40 degrees F all winter.
Using an old chart from Aprilaire, I set a global variable on a dashboard tile for the 'Forecast Outside Temp' then RM sets the humidity range on-off targets for the outlet.
The house is large and the dehumidifier struggles to keep up since most days are humid, even in winter, so I din't feel it necessary to add the complexity of pulling weather data and calculating indoor humidity settings on-the-fly. Though I do have @dylan.c 's post in my bookmarks and gave it serious consideration
Thrilled to have found this thread, because I also would like to control my whole house dehumidifier via zwave, but in parallel with a wired dehumidistat powered from the dehumidifier controls. Noodled through this enough to conclude a Zooz Zen16 would probably do it, but have not figured out the details...
If anyone has figured out the wiring setup and Hubitat rules for adding a Zooz Zen 16 in parallel to control a Santa Fe whole house dehumidifier with a DEH 3000R De/humidistat, any info you can share would be MUCH appreciated.
My dehumidification system is standalone (not interconnected to heating/cooling), and has no dampers or float switches to wire in, and the dehumidifier compressor should never run without the fan also being on.
The ideal operation would be the Zen 16 sends a signal to the the controls on the dehumidifier to go on/off based on the average readings of a number of zwave sensors connected to Hubitat - for example on at 52%, off at 48%. Then as a backup, if the de/humidistat wired remote sensor reports 54%, the de/humidistat controller causes the dehumidifier controls to turn the unit on, or if someone just decides they manually want to turn it on, they can do so from the de/humidistat. I realize the Hubitat sensors and the de/humidistat remote sensor may be calibrated differently and will make the appropriate adjustments.
Currently the dehumidifier is controlled with a zwave plug that goes on / off based on the average of a series of zwave sensors. There are two issues with this setup:
If I get hit by a bus the chances that the smart controls get deactivated are VERY high, and then the dehumidifier would not run, and this could be bad news in my climate (even though my crawl space is sealed, insulated and watertight). So I need a failsafe "dumb" system backup.
I am concerned the repeated hard power on/offs from the zwave plug are bad for the compressor. My settings use a fairly wide band so the unit does not cycle and it is usually at least 8-10 hours between run times if I just let it do it's thing based on humidity. But I still think that if controlled via the dehumidifier built in controls the fan operates for a few minutes after the compressor shuts off. If this were working, I would feel better about revising my Hubitat rules to concentrate the dehumidifier run times to the very low overnight power rates, because with such a setting it could go on shortly after it last went off.
The terrific thing about the DEH 3000R is both the de/humidistat and the remote sensor are powered from the dehumidifier controls and do not require batteries. It is also the only de/humidistat I could find that can be set up to operate based on the readings of the remote sensor only, so I can install the de/humidistat in the living space but run the dehumidifier based on the readings from the crawl space.
Dehumidifier controls wiring:
DEH 3000R wiring:
Santa Fe Diagram for wiring the two together:
It looks like the humidistat is just a simple "switch" between the +24 and DEHU terminals on the dehumidifier. You should already have a wire on each of these terminals and will just need to add a second wire to each one. The new wires will run to each terminal of one of the relays on the Zen16. Polarity is not important. Then the dehumidifier will run when either the Zen16 or the DEH3000 commands the unit to run.
As an added bonus, you can jumper the +24 from the relay to the "+" terminal on the Zen16 and run a third wire from the Zen16's "-" terminal to the COM terminal on the dehumidifier. That will power the Zen16 right from the dehumidifier's 24V transformer and you can skip using the USB brick.
@dylan.c Thank you for confirming this!! I ordered a Zen16 for this. Now I need to acquire a DEH3000R. I'll report back after install (or more likely during install with questions...).
Very much appreciate the help.
@dylan.c or others who are versed in this?
I've acquired both a DEH 3000R and a Zen16 Zwave relay, and am ready to wire them up this weekend. I've done a wiring diagram which I think follows your instructions, which I've pasted below.
Did I properly interpret the correct way to wire this?
Will this setup ensure that whenever the compressor runs the fan also runs? I think the dehumidifier wiring diagram indicates that but I am definitely NOT sure about that.
Supposedly the fan is supposed to continue to run for a few seconds or minutes after the compressor stops, but not sure if that is controlled inside the dehumidifier or in the humidistat.
If the fan running when the compressor is on is part of the dehumidifier wiring, would adding a wire from the dehumidifier fan terminal to one side of relay 2, and another 24v jumper from relay 1 to relay 2 allow me to run the fan only via Hubitat? Is there any downside to doing this?
Since this is all 24v, is 18ga wire from the Dehumidifier to the Zen16 appropriate (same as from the dehumidifier to the humidistat)?
Do I have the correct expected color of wires from the dehumidifier to the Zen16?
Thanks in advance for any help and/or suggestions on anything I may have missed.
I'm on vacation at the moment, but your diagram seems fine. Based on my recollection of the wiring diagram, the fan should run anytime the compressor does. Not sure about manual fan-only control without looking into it a bit more. Wiring color doesn't really matter in this case...
Yes. The fan is energized anytime the compressor runs by the unit's internal wiring.
Hard to tell for sure from this wiring diagram, but it seems like the fan will stop immediately when the compressor stops. Although there could be an interal timer connected to the fan relay coil that isn't shown. I've read at least a few articles that recommend NOT running the fan after the compressor stops. The reason is that any condensation still remaining on the evaporator coil would get reintroduced into the environment. That was specifically for a split system AC unit, though. Dehumidifier control may be slightly different.
Yes, adding that wire would allow independent operation of the fan via hubitat. The "jumper" should be from the 24V side of the relay (red in your diagram). In a large-ish space, intermittent fan operation should help circulate the air and keep the space humidity relatively consistent from one end to the other, especially if the space is particularly "stagnant." I wouldn't recommend continuous operation because of the wear and tear on the fan. If you want continuous air circulation, I would buy a cheap(-er) fan and run that. Easier and less expensive to replace when it wears out.
Wire size has more to do with the current flow (amps) than voltage, but 18 ga. Is standard for thermostat wiring and should be fine in this case.
