Hi guys,
I'm looking at installing ducted reverse cycle heating and cooling in my house (it has to go through the roof, as there isn't enough clearance under the floor). I am looking at an inverter system for efficiency, but I've come up with a little problem in terms of integration into my home automation system. It appears most inverter systems run proprietary software, and thus aren't compatible with regular smart thermostats. (Nest, Ecobee etc). Ideally, I want a system that I can integrate into my Amazon Alexas, but I can't seem to find an inverter system that is capable of this? Does anyone have any ideas? The only other option I can think of is a ducted heating system with an AC add on, which I understand are smart thermostat compatible, but terribly inefficient, and I believe not generally ducted through the roof. Any help would be welcomed.
Ducted reverse cycle heating/cooling
Comments
What do you mean? As in why ducted?
several reasons. I live in a period house so anything other than ducted is very unbecoming. Also the purpose of this post was essentially integration into my home automation. I don't believe wall units have that capability.
You are correct. There are proprietary challenges are on the side of the ducted system and also on the automation system. Usually the biggest challenge is the automation system. The majority of big international A/C ducted brands do have somewhat open APIs that can be controlled (I say international, as Australian A/C systems are usually locked down).
However the Google's and Amazon's of this world do not like anyone being able to choose outside of their ecosystem (security blah blah… revenue partnerships… blah blah).
So in short, I don't see that you will be able to trigger/control your A/C system within the Google/Amazon ecosystem.
Amazon pretty much lets anyone interact with the Echo infrastructure. Anyone can submit a skill.
https://coolautomation.com/products/coolmaster-1000d-daikin-…
No experience with it, but seems to do exactly what you're looking for…. connection to home automation using basic PC connections and without proprietary software.
No, that's for VRF systems. That is not a ducted inverter style system. It's a commercial AC system. Completely different tech.
I know it's typically for larger commercial setups, but there's no reason it couldn't be customised for a smaller setup.
A single unit like this: http://commercial.daikin.com.au/product-solutions/vrv/vrv-iv…
Wouldn't take up any more real estate outside, but has energy efficiency savings and has the required tech you are looking for.
I'm just saying that it might be worth looking in to.
No, I live in a period house. There is no way I'm going to put AC units on the wall. It has to be discrete.
I also don't believe that the link you provided gives Alexa integration without some serious hacking.
I understand your position. Manufacturers are bad in general at providing open interfaces, and australian ones in particular are terrible for proprietary interfaces. If they do open it, it tends to be an 'optional' extra - for which they want silly money. It will probably take them years to catch up.
The way I'd address it is to control them via IR - using an IR blaster type device to replay commands to it (and even here, HVAC is a nightmare with the entire state often transmitted, rather than changes). Couple something like the RM Pro via a Home Automation system like Home Assistant, and then integrate with a smart thermostat (if you can find one that works here) and voice input.
Why integrate?