Archive for November, 2009
Carrier Infinity & Bryant Evolution RS-232 driver available – use your existing thermostats with Control4
Last Updated on Thursday, 29 April 2010 04:29 Written by Cody Sunday, 15 November 2009 11:43
The Carrier Infinity SAM drivers allow the Control4 system to work in conjunction with a Carrier Infinity
HVAC system. In order to communicate with the Carrier Infinity system, you must install a System
Access Module (SAM). While the SAM provides both serial and IP interfaces, only the serial interface
provides access to the control protocol. The IP interface is limited to a Web browser. Control4’s driver
utilizes the serial port.
The Control4 system on which you wish to have these drivers installed must be running Release 1.7.0 or later. If you’re not on 1.7.x, contact your dealer to see about an upgrade.
Each SAM is able to control two (2) systems. A Carrier Infinity Thermostat driver must be added for each Thermostat
on the system. Each SAM module can interface with up to two (2)Carrier Systems, and each system can
have up to eight (8) zones (Thermostats) for a total of 16 zones.
We’re working with a house now that has a Carrier Infinity system already installed by the builder, so we’ll check this out and give you a report back on how it works. Of course, the Carrier Infinity system is the same as the Bryant Evolution, so one should expect duplicate functionality.
Tags: Bryant, Carrier, HVAC, Thermostat | Posted under Third Party Hardware | 1 Comment
Lutron Homeworks Driver… use dimmers, switches, keypads other than Control4’s in your house.
Last Updated on Sunday, 28 March 2010 11:59 Written by Cody Friday, 13 November 2009 11:59
You need to make sure that your dealer can install and program the Lutron HomeWorks system, or enlist someone who can since Control4 doesn’t have, at this time, any resources to help you set it up. Remember that when using a 3rd party lighting system in conjunction with the Control4 automation system, you don’t get any ZigBee mesh benefits from the lighting system and will need to plan accordingly by putting in other devices that will strengthen the mesh, like thermostats, controllers, etc.
These drivers allow the Control4 system to work in conjunction with a Lutron HomeWorks® P5 processor. 2 way support for Lutron dimmers, switches, GRAFIK Eye, and keypads connected to a HomeWorks system is available through these drivers. Control4 has not created direct support for the Sivoia blinds/shades; however, where blinds/shades are incorporated in the HomeWorks system and activated via Lutron keypad programming, the Control4 system can send those keypad commands to control the shades. These drivers do not provide support for Lutron Radio RA systems or standalone GRAFIK Eye systems.
Posted under Third Party Hardware | No Comments
Light Tracking Agent driver for your Control4 system
Last Updated on Thursday, 29 April 2010 04:33 Written by Cody Wednesday, 11 November 2009 11:46
This driver was created by a Control4 employee in his free time to help users track lights per floor or per room, as well as to provide simple control of that lighting. Your dealer can find this driver in the official Control4 Dealer Forums.
You should add this driver to your project *after* adding all rooms and lights to your project. All lights should be located (in the project) in the rooms they provide lighting for.
This driver creates bindings and variables based on the state of the project when the driver was added, and does NOT re-scan the project for changes after the initial load. This is by design, as the order of the variables and button bindings needs to be consistent in the project over director restarting. Because of this, if you want to change floors or rooms or dimmers in your project, your dealer should *DELETE* this driver and re-add it to the project after the changes are made.
The driver has the following functionality:
* Allows for viewing the status of lights by floor or by room on LEDs of attached keypad buttons.
* Allows control of lights by floor or by room with buttons of attached keypads.
* Calculates status based on either the percentage of lights used, or the percentage of wattage being used.
* Calculates an estimate of the total watts being used by Control4 lighting devices, by project, floor, and room.
* Calculates an estimate of the cost of running the current lighting per hour and per day (assumes 24 hours of lighting at the current levels).
* Allows the user to change the colors displayed for each status.
* Provides the user with a tree-view of Light Usage (percentage and watts) for the entire project.
We’re getting this setup in a house we’re doing that has many lighting loads, and once we get it in place we’ll show you how it works. Stay tuned for more information!
Tags: "Green", Drivers, Energy | Posted under Drivers | No Comments