Australia - Electrically Certified Hardware

Hardware
3346

I use strips from BTF Lighting on Aliexpress and run WLED on a Wemos to control them. There’s plenty of videos on YouTube (The HookUp etc.) explaining / comparing the different strip models.

In my ensuite I have a 144 LED/m SK6812 above the mirror which is brilliant. Girlfriend approves.

Fully dimmable (yes it does colour but you don’t have to). Using a power supply I got locally from Altronics. Just select one based on your max power requirement (based on LED strip length and LED’s/m)

3347

I’ll second the Ecowitt weather stations. A bit fiddly to get connected to HA (requires a custom source for HACS) but is completely “local” so you can isolate the base station from the rest of the network if you want. Got mine for $130 from Amazon during the Prime sales and it reports wind speed, gusts and light levels in lux, as well as internal/outdoor temp & humidity, rainfall, UV index.

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3348

Another +1 for the EcoWitt. Picked up a GW1003 on special at Amazon and it’s been pretty damn stable.
Also have the lightning detector, outdoor PM2.5 sensor, and two soil moisture sensors.
Will likely grab their camera when it becomes available.

Using the Ecowitt integration via HACS - had previously tried ecowitt2mqtt to try and move as much as I could onto MQTT but never quite got it going and the HACS integration just does its thing.
Also sending data to WU.

Used to have a BloomSky which was pretty but the sensor array and wifi were shithouse.

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3349

Hey Doigal - does look like it ticks all the boxes and there are some MQTT projects. I have ordered one of these now

thanks everyone for the suggestions

Craig

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3350

Thanks Dave,

Will check them out

Craig

3351

Just after a bit of advice around energy monitoring and the need for an electrician.

If I buy an Iotawatt or similar, do I need the CT clamps installed or can I do it myself? Also, I live in a townhouse with shared strata, the electricity meter is outside my wifi range. Can this device be fitted where the fuse box is?

3352

You shouldn’t be playing around inside the switchboard, only electricians.

Yes.

3353

I presumed so. Just trying to work out costs to get the purchase and install past the head of finance.

Thank you.

3354

Hi guys,

A question about ducted air conditioning system zone control motors in AU.

I need to replace my ancient 80’s technology 240V AC spring return style damper actuator/motors and its bank of 240V switches.

I’d like some that I can both control on a wall with a switch/button panel, and also control via HA through an interface.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a model of low voltage damper actuator that is readily available in Australia and where from ?

Also a recommendation for a 6 zone ‘zone control’ that can be both manual and allow HA control via an interface ?
(I can build the interface using ESPhome on ESP32 or similar).

I need to start buying parts for a solution in the next couple of weeks…

3355

I’ve got no experience with making my own stuff but recently got an izone/myzone controller installed with a new ducted system. It has a 7 inch wall controller and an existing integration in home assistant.

I have a seperate question for everyone if I may. My hot water tank appears busted, water inside the electrical compartment (heard the circuit breaker trip at 11pm when it should have started heating)

So I think I’m going to get instant gas installed. Systems like the Rinnai B26 can have room controllers. Any chance they can link with HA?

3356

I have installed 12 of these Polyaire 24VAC damper motors controlled by a Raspberry Pi - linked to HA.

3357

I went with the PolyAire AirTouch4 (with the ITC sensors). It maintains temperatures really well… And the latest 2021.09 release of HA now includes the AirTouch integration by @LonePurpleWolf

3358

@SgtBatten and @bowler i have been interested in getting one of those systems. I would be curious as to how much they cost though as they look expensive. Are you able to give a ballpark figure on what you paid and what you got.

These days i am moving away from DIY projects and toward off-the-shelf solutions as I would rather spend my time with my family.

I actually have an unfinished/uninstalled project to control my 4 AC zones.

  • based on a a sonoff 4ch to control my existing 4 x 24vac dampers.
  • I modified sonoff to be able to have external switches for the four PCB mounted buttons to connect to my existing 4 wall switches.
  • The aim is to install it behind the existing switch panel, powered off the AC 24vac.
  • I put esphome on it and made it local controlled so if HA is down I still have damper control.
  • I made the led external as well so I can tell if the manual switches are set different to the dampers.
  • the logic on esphome is that if the manual switches are changed then All the dampers change to what the manual switches are set too.
  • bench tests worked perfectly but the main reason I haven’t installed it is that the sonoff 4ch wouldn’t fit through the wall switch hole inside the wall cavity. To put it elsewhere requires a whole lot of wiring.
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3359

The new Airtouch integration looks good.

I have a Daikin Zone Controller with the Airbase wifi. I wrote my own code to provide similar functionality to Airtouch which allows me to integrate external temperature sensors (and other conditional sensors) to open/close zones automatically. Unfortunately my zones are either open or closed unlike some that have the ability to adjust by percentage.

3360

I like that approach. I don’t want another smart LCD panel on the wall, so being able to interface with something like this appeals to me.
Polyaire ZoneSwitch
I have had recommendations for the green Polyaire 24V AC damper motors, and also Siemens GSD141.7K. The later looks like it only needs a flat plate with the right holes drilled in it to mate up to the round damper shaft in place of the old 240V AC spring return Honeywell & Erie motors.

3361

How are you controlling them with the Pi? Just a relay board?

3362

[Edit: I think these are a room controller now from looking harder, not able to control the number of zones I need]
Just found out that the new Panasonic ducted A/C unit I’m getting installed soon, can have a Schneider 8300 series control panel fitted. It seems it can also do zone control…
Panasonic call it an SER8150 in their brochures.

Has anybody got an experience with these. They seem to have an impressive amount of customization and communication available including Zigbee, WiFi, modbus etc. Can even run user LUA scripts.

Schneider HVAC and zone controller youtube
Schneider SE8350 installation PDF
Panasonic call their version an SER8150.

Anyone here using one ?
(I also wonder what this thing costs above a standard LCD controller…)

3363

Hey @bowler how does the AirTouch4 integrate with the air conditioner? i.e. I assume this is just a zone controller and adjusts individual outlet dampers.

3364

That’s my challenge too. It’s fun to make the stuff yourself (and cheaper) but with small kids I have to pick my projects carefully…

In terms of cost it roughly worked out to the following (but may vary based on the total system size):

  • Controller (in wall controller, can act as temperature sensor for one zone) - $1100
  • AC Unit Gateway $100
  • Main Damper controller & cables $120 (controls up to 8 dampers)
  • Expansion controller & cables $120 (expands to control up to an additional 8 dampers)
  • Dampers & cables $120-$170 depending on size
  • Wireless ITC Sensor per zone (not mandatory - $150)

So it’s not a cheap system, but it does do some smart things that I thought were worthwhile:

  • With the ITC sensors, can set each room’s temperature and it will automatically set the AC controller to the right temperature and control the airflow to each zone to heat up to that temperature. The sensor also doubles as a zone enable/disable button. Once all zones are at temp, the AC unit automatically switches off - although this is configurable to a certain degree.
  • Controls dampers through full range to control airflow (so a zone isn’t just on or off)
  • Supports balancing via the dampers, which is generally less noisy than trying to do it at the outlet.
  • Very easy to install - All the zone connectors are RJ12 style, so you click one end in to the controller, and one to the zone and it’s done.
  • Can group dampers into a zone… i.e. my main living area ended up with 3 dampers (because of the layout in the roof), but they have been grouped together and just show up as one zone… But each damper within that zone has been balanced.

I’d read some concerns on the range of the ITC sensors, but i haven’t found an issue with that. We live out in the country and have quite a long single story house with ITC sensors spread throughout the length, and all are able to communicate back without any concerns. Added bonus is with the HA integration, each of these sensors appears as an entity so you can monitor temps.

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3365

Yep, it integrates with the AC unit (and can support several at once - if you have that). They have a different AC unit “gateway” per manufacturer. If you have a look at Pages 4 & 33-76 in the installer manual it talks about the different AC units supported and how to connect to them.

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