I’m newer than noob. I don’t know anything about coding. I’m looking to create a WiFi controller for hvac industry.
I’ve found WiFi circuit boards on Amazon. But I also need a remote controller to tell the wifi circuit board what to do.
My son can do the programming and coding.
I just need to find the controllers. One for inside to tell the outdoor control board what to do.
I don’t want to use an app to control the boards.
The indoor control board will get the inputs/power from a set of 24v ac wires. The outdoor board will be the output to tell the device what to turn on and off.
Skip the 24 AC and go for a mains based power supply. It will be easier and cheaper.
No power problems outdoors?
The controls in hvac are 24v ac. Why not the boards?
The outdoor board, if there at least 2 wires from inside would be 24v ac to power the board and pass that 24v to which ever load needed energized.
If there are no low voltage wires available, a step down transformer can be added to power the board and loads.
But I also need a remote controller
If it exists in a complete form, it is part of a system like the one you are developing. There are few or no "generic indoor control boards" that you can program for your own purpose. It presupposes a purpose, it would have to have already the right labelling and functionality. Then it is likely the system already does what you envision, and there is not much point in duplicating it.
What you can get, is components like keypad, LCD screen etc, that you can assemble into some kind of custom indoor controller.
What is your level of electronics and microprocessing know how? I ask again in case you previously referred only to your programming skills. This would be an advanced project.
If you are a programming newb, how can you accurately assess your son's programming abilities?
what will be the typical distance between the inside and outside devices?
this would effect the wireless devices used
Could be as much as 100ft. With walls.
any idea what WiFi boards you were planning to use?
with distances such as a 100feet you could consider Lora or XBee
One thing is that the outdoor board for a heatpump would also need to communicate back to the indoor board to tell the indoor controller to turn on electric heat during defrost. So it needs to be 2 way communicating.
appears to uses 2.4GHz WiFi - you need to check it will cover the distance required
may need an external antenna?
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Goodman makes a communicating system. Only needs 2 wires to communicate.
I want to be able to use a similar setup/design but for all manufacturers. And if it could be completely wireless that’s what I’m wanting to do.
The outdoor communicating board gets its power from a separate low voltage transformer inside the heatpump.
I’m probably overthinking this. I could just use Goodman control boards on other systems but I just want one that is wireless communicating.
there are a number of Relay boards with onboard Lora communication - distance tends to be a function of cost
e.g. 4-Channel_Lora_Relay claims >2km
do you require a 4 channel relay?
have a look at ESP0101S-RELAY-MODULE-TUTORIAL/ - don't know what it's range would be though
Is WiFi the good way to control the HVAC? I'm not sure. Will you use the home WiFi or you're own network? From inside to outside WiFi can be very bad.
A better way is to use modbus/RS485. A industrial standard.
I don’t know. That’s what I’m researching.
It’s used for thermostats.
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