I did two additional tests on my installation and the results are quite interesting.
My current configuration is:
- Zone 1 remote panel connected to D+/D-
- T+/T- Modbus bus active
- A31 set to RPT
- Salus wiring centers connected to terminals 40-41 as an external ON/OFF thermostat
- PDU 2010 left OFF / 0
Test 1:
I set the Zone 1 temperature in Dominus / remote panel to 25°C. Then I opened the Salus contact, so terminals 40-41 were not shorted.
Result: heating did not start. Home Assistant showed the boiler and heat pump as standby.
So even if Dominus / the Zone 1 panel requests a high temperature, the heat generator does not start when the external thermostat contact 40-41 is open.
Test 2:
I set the Zone 1 temperature in Dominus / remote panel to 21°C. The measured Zone 1 temperature was around 23.5°C, so according to the remote panel there should be no heating demand.
Then I set one Salus room thermostat to 25°C. The Salus wiring center closed the 40-41 contact.
Result: after a few minutes the heat pump started heating.
So in my setup, with A31 = RPT, the 40-41 contact from the external thermostat / Salus wiring center is enough to start heating, even if the Zone 1 remote panel setpoint is lower than the current Zone 1 temperature.
This means that, in RPT mode, the Zone 1 panel remains connected and available, but the real heating demand can be controlled by the external thermostat input 40-41. In my case, PDU 2010 is not required for this scenario.
v.k’s discovery is still very important, because it gives a real possibility to remove the Zone 1 remote panel from the installation. If I understand correctly, with the remote panel disconnected, A31 set to RT, and PDU 2010 set to 1, Zone 1 can be controlled by an external ON/OFF thermostat via 40-41 without using the remote panel on D+/D-.
So we now seem to have two possible architectures:
-
Keep the Zone 1 remote panel:
- A31 = RPT
- external thermostat / Salus connected to 40-41
- PDU 2010 not needed
-
Remove the Zone 1 remote panel:
- A31 = RT
- external thermostat connected to 40-41
- PDU 2010 = 1 required
For my installation, the first option is already confirmed and working.
The remaining interesting part is the D+/D- bus. Dominus and the remote panel can change the heating curve / curve offset, so the related register or PDU should also be discoverable on D+/D-. If we can identify the PDU responsible for changing the heating curve, then Home Assistant integration will become much more complete.