On Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:00:49 +0100, Geir Holmavatn
wrote:

Hi,

I'm looking for a way to control the temperature in various rooms in a
community building. One should be able to program 'events' where the
temperature in the room (channel) in question should be altered for a
period of time.

I imagine that such a device would be simple to implement using an
embedded controller with flash memory and a TOD clock. I could run
linux with a webserver and a simple database.

Anyone here having heard about such devices or have comments on this
scenario?

Thanks a lot for feedback

regards Geir

How is the temperature in each room controlled now?

- separate heat/cool unit?
- - on-unit or wall-mounted thermostat?

- from a central heat/cool system?

If temperature is controlled by an on-unit thermostat, then the best
remote control is likely to be on/off.

If heat/cool is via a central system, the only per-room control is to
open/close a damper in the duct from the central system. Motor-driven
dampers are probably in the $200US and up range, plus the cost of
having them installed.

If via a separate heat/cool unit with a wall-mounted thermostat, then
an X10 Universal controller could be used to switch between a "room
not in use" thermostat and the original themostat. One of the X10
Home Control programs can schedule events for a year (possibly
longer). The software downloads events to a separate controller that
plugs in to a wall outlet and has battery backup to keep time in the
event of a power outage). x10 sells a Windows version of the software
for about $50US; there's probably a freebie for Linux.

I use the Windws to schedule a "lived in" look when we're away: lights
in various rooms at simiilar or different times each day (most people
go to bed near the same time when they must go to work the next day,
but may party late on a weekend ;-)

In any case, part of event planning is starting the heat/cool far
enough in advance to have the room useable at the scheduled time. If
in cooling season and a large group will be using the room, you must
start cooling well in advance and to a temperature lower than the
desired final temperature - 30 live bodies will warm up a room.

Provide more details and I can provide more ideas.

John