Has anyone seen one of these Carrier Humidity Controllers? Any opportunity to replace it with something smart? I am moving into new house in a few weeks and this is under one of the thermostats.
Can it be replaced & automated? Yes, absolutely!
How? Two methods that come to mind are:
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Use a Zooz Zen16 or Zen17 to trigger the “dehumidify” mode. The two cables that I assume are plugged in the unit with the knob would be plugged in the Zen instead of the Carrier unit. The Zen would be placed anywhere in the house where the cable will reach. I have this setup and mine is in the basement next to the air exchanger.
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Use a Shelly Uni to do the exact same thing.
A humidity sensor would also be required, of which there are many options. I use a few myself: Smart Things Multi-Sensor, Zooz ZSE11, Air Things to name a few.
Then a rule in Hubitat can be used to turn on the Shelly or Zen16/17 relay when the humidity reaches a certain level. I have 2 setups for this myself. One turns it on if the temp is lower than the dew point. The other turns it on if the humidity in the bathrooms is higher than that in another “control” room. Works like a charm!
I am not familiar with that Carrier controller, but it looks to me like it is intended to control a humidifier/humidification system to "humidify" the house. See the numbers on the controller to lower the humidity setpoint upon a decrease in outside temperature.
@stephen_nutt ..... First thing I would do is have an AC tech check it out to see if the controller and its associated humidifier are even operational.
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@stephen_nutt That is likely a standard humidity controller. There should be a vaccume switch on the trunk of the blower either before or after the filter. (Follow the humidifer wires and tubes and you'll find it). I just mounted ours directly on the trunk.
That said if you are finding too much or too little humidity, you can simply use the built in humidity sensor of the thermostat and then a zooz-16 relay connected to the humidifier itself. The relay would be triggered by thermostat's humidity sensor and run until humidity changes based on your rule. I usually keep RH around 40 in the winter and as low as possible in the summer (ie off), So my rules are pretty simple. If heat on and RH=<40 then humidifier relay on else off basically (will have to look at my rule but that's the gist of it) Honestly though @aaiyar is the HVAC guru we should all bow to.. He'll give you much better advice.
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Many thermostats can also control humidifiers. You could combine those two devices into one new thermostat. My ecobee thermostat controls both of mine as an example.
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Before purchasing Zooz Zen16 or 17, go to your furnace room and check how the Humidifier is powered. Most whole home humidifiers purchased today will come with a plug in transformer. They look something like this:
If your current humidifier is using one of these you just simply need to plug it into a smart outlet (there are many options for this) and then make the appropriate rules in HE.
I live in Canada and have HE continually adjust my set humidity level based on outdoor temperature. Works like a charm.
Although not necessary, I also used the low voltage humidistat that came with the unit I bought. I set this to 40% humidity. This ensures that if for some reason the smart plug failed in the on position, my humidifier would still shut-off if the humidity was to reach 40%.
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Thank you for all the replies. I haven't closed on the house yet; just getting prepared. I do know there was an off switch for the humidifier in the basement and that's the previous owners only had it on in the fall/winter months. This will definitely require more investigating once I move in.
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