Venstar Control Features

I'm really interested in getting a Venstar themostat added to my Insteon/Indigo system. My interest has just gone up with some posts on this forums about some plug-in scripts.

I'd like to be able to turn the Fan and and off separately from the Heating or A/C.

Regular thermostats allow the Fan to be set to Auto (ie: with Heating and A/C) or On (on all the time). I'd like to be able to cause it to go on and off independently.

Is that doable?

Thanks in advance!


Wayne

[jay (support)]

First, a little background: if your compressor/heat pump/second stage heating is running, the fan MUST be on - that's why you can't control the fan completely independently of your mode/setpoints on any thermostat. If you want to turn the fan on/off when a setpoint wouldn't normally cause the fan to be on, you can do that:

For instance, if you put your thermostat into, say, "Cool On", set the setpoint to 80, and set the fan to "always", it will run regardless of whether the compressor is running (that's toggled by the setpoint). And, if the temp is less than 80 and you set it to "auto", the fan will turn off.

Thanks, Jay.

You are correct, of course, that the fan must be on with the compressor/furnace. That was never a question.

From your response, it appears that I can use Indigo to change the fan from Auto to Always ON and vice versa - is that correct?

If so, I'll be ordering a Venstar.

Please confirm

Thanks - and that for Indigo - great product!

Wayne

[jay (support)]

Yep.

wjlevin-

Yes, you can control the fan the way Jay has mentioned, and I am using it in another way. I do not have a humidifier connected to my furnace/AC, so I have a humidifier (set to the "Continuous" setting) with an INSTEON appliance module in the central part of the house (close to where a cold air return is). When the Venstar 1900 reports to Indigo that the humidity has dropped below 40%, Indigo turns the humidifier on, and changes the furnace/AC fan to "Always On" to circulate the moist air from the humidifier throughout the house. When the humidity rises above 45%, Indigo turns the humidifier off, and changes the furnace/AC fan back to "Auto". This works very well through the winter when the humidity is shockingly low (literally!), and in the Spring/Summer when the AC is just starting to be used and pulls too much moisture out of the air. Without the furnace/AC fan, the humidifier only helped in the central part of the house.

I hope this helps.

Take care!

Jeff