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Am I Hot or Not
Sure, it's not the dream system with computer-controlled vents on the furnace and a genetic algorithm to optimize heat-flow, but it is pretty damn cool. This system makes use of Dallas Semiconductor Digital Thermometers to monitor temperature throughout the house. Hopefully the fellow running the project will put up the source to the Linux driver he has running the sensors. This project ties in nicely with the question posed by a recent Ask Slashdot as well.
I've always wondered why thie hasn't existed for a long time already. All you need is a thermostat for each room and a servo controlled baffle for the vents in that room. Upstairs hotter than down? Close downstairs baffles a little...problem solved. This is hardly innovative technology.
You can't have an article entitled "Am I Hot Or Not" without having a link to the real Am I Hot Or Not page! Who wants to look at thermometers when you can look at real people and rate how "hot" they are based on a completely shallow judgement?!
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I had envisioned something like this for my family's grocery store. We had three beverage refrigerator cases, one dairy case, one retail freezer case, two walk-in boxes, three 8 foot refridgerated display cases, three air conditioners, tons of flourescent lighting, slicing machines, cheese grater, coffee machine, and much more. The electric cost was over $2000 per month in the summer. Another relative had a retail seafood store, with freezers, ice machines, display cases, etc. His bill was over $10,000 per month in summer. This is in NYC.
If I had some way of regulating temperature with temperature sensors, and monitored by a computer, turning fans on and off by computer regulation, I could easily have run ducting between the three display cases as one zone, the three refridgerated beverage cases as a second zone, the dairy case and one walk-in box as another zone, etc. I could have turned off the smaller beverage cases, and the bigger one at night (we did some of this by extending the defrost cycle at night). During the winter, I would have like to pipe in cold (below 36 or so degrees) air from outside into refridgerators. By shutting down beverage cases that had compressors mounted under case (instead of in basement like other cases), we would need less cooling (3 ton, 1 ton, 1 ton air conditioners), and we could have reduced peak usage.
For those of you who know about demand meters and large electricity users in NYC, you know what I am talking about. For those that don't, I estimate that I could have knocked off about $600-$800 from the electric bill monthly in summer, and a couple hundred per month in winter/spring. My relative with seafood store was able to cut $5,000 off of his electric bill by shutting down one freezer and one ice machine. Had he implemented a system like I'm envisioning, I estimate he could have knocked off $4,000, and still retain use of all his equipment.
The system could be made very simple. For beverage cases, display cases, small walk-in boxes, etc., all that is needed is simple flexible 4" ducting, with small fans placed within ends to push/pull air. The fans can even be powered through the computer, since the sensor wiring would go there anyway. Or powered by the display cases, where electric outlets are normally available, if using wireless to talk to computer.
Common sense and experimentation would show you where/how to place ducting and fans. I know this would work because we've done something similar on multiple occasions when a display case went down, and freon was hard to locate. It always worked, but without the computer and temperature sensors. We had to carefully eyeball thermometers, and manually turn fans on/off as needed.
Someone who writes the code to run a computer/temp sensors/fans with a system described above, and goes into the field and installs something like this can make some good money. Businesses may be skeptical at first, but when you mention saving electricity, watch their eyes open up.
It would take some effort, but hopefully a geek has a grocery store owner in the family that can try this out. Be aware that dairy/cheese/frozen spoils, and you may only be given the go-ahead with beverage cases only.
System should include dial up or beeper or internet notification if the system or a sensor/fan goes down overnight, alarms for overheated cases, etc. Be aware for dial up that burglary alarm will grab line if triggered, etc.
System should also be configurable/managed through dial-up or internet. Forget billing for field visits for downed computer. You'll be thrown out on your ass the first time you present the bill due to low margins/profits in industry and coservative nature of grocery store owners.
Such a system will save considerable money for grocery store (and other heavy refridgeration/HVAC users) owners, and will be something that you can sell if examples are provided, and you LEASE THE SYSTEM, GIVING TIME FOR THE SYSTEM TO PAY FOR ITSELF, or provide financing through monthly payments, while giving the grocery store owner time to see the savings in his electric bills.
And you'll be helping to save the environment through conservation as well. And I suspect you'll be a celebrity geek in short order.
Now build it!
I've just created #homeautomation on irc.openprojects.net for anyone who's interested in having a chat about maybe pooling some resources from our many different individual systems.
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