From: D Yuniskis on
Hi,

Years ago I made a cheap and dirty "setback" thermostat
that tried to model the heating load (as a simple passive
network). The goal was to be able to determine how far
in advance the setpoint would have to be changed in order
to achieve the desired temperature *at* the time specified.

And, do so dynamically (i.e., look at current conditions
and adjust accordingly).

At the time, I just used a crude model: plant was an
ideal source (sitting behind a switch) feeding the
thermal mass of the building/air (C) through some
transmission losses (R) with another leakage path
across the thermal mass.

This was pretty cool for oil fired hot water but a waste
of instruction fetches once I moved to GFA. ("R" is too
small and there is very little L).

And, I didn't have access to as much real-time (as well as
predictive!) meteorological data at the time :>

So, as with most engineering tasks -- complexity grows to exceed
the available expertice (this is a corollary to software
growing to use all available memory :> ) -- I'm making another
pass at the problem with *more* available data.

"Do nothing simply if a way can be found to make it wonderful
and complex"

But, can't get *too* carried away since you still don't
have that many inputs to drive the model.

Indoor and outdoor temperature are easy. As is windspeed.
I've no idea how to measure and compensate for solar radiation.
I can get water content in any of several forms (RH, dew point,
etc.). And, if necessary, many "measurement points" inside
and outside the house (though obviously T is the cheapest
to get; wind speed doesn't make much sense indoors! :> )

So, how to embelish a model without going hog-wild?
And, to be able to accommodate different HVAC sources/sinks?

E.g., building is still a big C. R loss/gains through the
exterior walls. The walls themselves probably introduce
another lag (masonary).

I expect humidity only contributes to "comfort level"
(though might it also affect C?) -- though it would also
play a role in determining whether to use evapoprative
cooler or ACbrrr...

This is largely a "toy". A "thought experiment" to ponder
how various things affect the living space.

Yes, there are fancy modeling systems that you can use
(e.g., TRNSYS) but that turns it into a "job". And, I
think most of those systems are designed for predicting
HVAC loads not *controlling* them (?).

--don
From: Paul E. Bennett on
D Yuniskis wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Years ago I made a cheap and dirty "setback" thermostat
> that tried to model the heating load (as a simple passive
> network). The goal was to be able to determine how far
> in advance the setpoint would have to be changed in order
> to achieve the desired temperature *at* the time specified.

[%X]

Don,

Seems like this might get some interest in the sci.engr.control newsgroup as
well.

--
********************************************************************
Paul E. Bennett...............<email://Paul_E.Bennett(a)topmail.co.uk>
Forth based HIDECS Consultancy
Mob: +44 (0)7811-639972
Tel: +44 (0)1235-510979
Going Forth Safely ..... EBA. www.electric-boat-association.org.uk..
********************************************************************

From: D Yuniskis on
Hi Paul,

Paul E. Bennett wrote:
> D Yuniskis wrote:
>
>> Years ago I made a cheap and dirty "setback" thermostat
>> that tried to model the heating load (as a simple passive
>> network). The goal was to be able to determine how far
>> in advance the setpoint would have to be changed in order
>> to achieve the desired temperature *at* the time specified.
>
> [%X]
>
> Don,
>
> Seems like this might get some interest in the sci.engr.control newsgroup as
> well.

Ah, good point! I managed to find my notes from the original
design which included some references to more elaborate models
(obviously, I had done some research back then) so I'll just
see how much of those models I can include before it becomes
too complex to "tune".

Thx,
--don