Comfort Automation/ Security System Forums > Third Party (interfacing to Comfort) > Heatmiser > Heatmiser RS485 |
Comfort Automation/ Security System Forums > Third Party (interfacing to Comfort) > Heatmiser > Heatmiser RS485 |
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palmlodge Member
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I've got a Heatmiser control system for the heating system - multi zone, touchpad, etc This is a vote for a new UCM that can talk into Heatmiser - and Comfort can then totally control the heating system. Cytech have the protocol documentation. For any Comfort users who have a normal central heating system (or an alternate heating control thats standalone) - Heatmiser do a direct replacement for about £40 (US$80) - this could then be connecte to Comfort. Last edited on Wednesday Jan 16th, 2008 08:25 am by palmlodge |
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Pgordon Member
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Aye, - I'd buy that for a dollar.... consider this a vote in favour! Paul G. |
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mikegriff Member
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I would vote for it Mike |
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ianh100 Member
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Assuming the UCM would work with Comfort 1 then I would go for that! |
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fredbasset Member
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Another vote here, I have Heatmiser in all zones and a Comfort system. A good call for this I think. Regards Fred |
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phlwht Member
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I'd have one of those if they existed! We likewise have a number of PRT-N stats, and the touchscreen - woud be great if comfort could control it all based on time, other temps (solar hot water, external and domestic hot water would be great) and occupation. |
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palmlodge Member
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Some good examples of control might be : 1. Allow Comfort to control times and temp. setpoints 2. If Away Mode, dont put the heating on 3. If vacation mode, dont put the hot water on, nor the heating 4. Put controls on the Comfort touchscreen ? 5. Any others ? Heatmiser PRT-ENs just tell relays to go on or off - they dont switch the load directly themselves. They should pretty much work with any type of heating system. They are about the same price as a standard off the shelf unit, and gives the advantage of 'networking' - you can easily swap out your existing sensor for the high load version (not the EN's) - and still have networking. |
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JimNoble Member
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This sounds very useful. We're going to be extending the house this year, and intend to fit Comfort in the process. We have Smartfit already so will fit the UCM to control that (if we end up keeping the smartfit controller), but we'll need additional zoned control for the new rooms. Smartfit doesn't support multiple zones, but the heatmiser range looks like it could fit the bill. Jim |
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garym999 Member 
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We have also looked at this briefly and the cost/performance of heatmiser is attractive. As I understand it all zone control is local to the heatmister stat, that is temp readings, timers etc. but these are all blurted over a RS485 bus. And can be overridden remotely aka thier touch panel. So Comfort should be able to report/adjust zone temps & provide timer control of different zones readily. Another intresting product although closed is Honeywell's CMZone. If this could be hacked it offers retrofit options for those with radiators. I know Hometronic is the baby here but it starts to add the expense & duplicates Comfort in many ways. |
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AJTaylor79 Member
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Hi Guys Can anyone offer me advice on how to get my computer communicating with my heatmiser thermostate, I have bought a RS485 convertor but have no idea after that. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Andrew |
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mwillett Member
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AJTaylor79 wrote: Hi Guys Hi Andrew, I've just order a Heatmiser PRT-N, I have an RS485->RS232 convertor so aim to connect this to my computer. I have the protocols which don't look too difficult so I've written the basic code. Once the equipment arrives, I'll give it a go. Are you (or anyone else) interested in helping out in getting the code working or improved ? Mike |
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palmlodge Member
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Mike I have the same kit so yes ! :-) If we cant go direct to Comfort, how about a homeseer plugin ? Last edited on Tuesday Sep 2nd, 2008 03:55 pm by palmlodge |
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AJTaylor79 Member
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Hi Guys Where did you get the Protocols from? A homeseer plugin sounds fantastic by the way its exactly what I am looking for!!!!!! Last edited on Tuesday Sep 2nd, 2008 07:30 pm by AJTaylor79 |
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mwillett Member
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Got the protocols from technical support at Heatmiser. I can send them to you if you wish. They're not especially well documented - but hopefully not too difficult to reverse engineer from what I've got. The Heatmiser run off 12v so my first issue will be connecting them up somehow. Mike |
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palmlodge Member
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Here you go - protocols Attachment: Heatmiser Protocol.zip (Downloaded 191 times) |
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mwillett Member
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Hi, Does anyone know much about the PRT-N wiring. I know it runs off 12V, but what about the Amps/Watts ? Whats an appropriate transformer to use ? Mike |
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garym999 Member
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Not sure but it will only be mA. Mine is powered but Comfort. I only use the relay side of things at the moment. I to would like full Comfort integration. There is an RS485 UCM but we would need a translator module to pass values in/out of counters etc. |
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garym999 Member
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Just to clarify. I have a very simple heating senario at the moment... House is equipped with a combi boiler with all radiators having thier own thermostatic radiator valves. At the moment Comfort just simulates the time clock on the boiler. With the benifit that the heating gets switched off to save energy in away mode. I have the heatmiser stat connected to comfort via its internal relay contacts such that it turns on the heating regardless if the temp gets below 12deg. This means the house is quick to warm up when we return and that it keeps the damp away. Now the next part would be to not use the relay but pass the temp via the network to a comfort counter allowing a far more flexible programing options and senarios. |
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mwillett Member
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Hi, My PRT-N thermostat has arrived. I've wired it into a 12v transformer and connected it to a RS485/RS232 converter and then connected it to my computer. I've written some very simple Perl code to talk to it. Surprisingly it all just worked. I'm now going to improve the code and extend it to support the full protocol. If anyone is interested, in the details or helping out - let me know. BTW, I've connected to a Linux PC but I guess it would work with Windows Perl as well. Mike |
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AJTaylor79 Member
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Hi Mike This is fantastic news! Can I ask what RS485/RS232 converter you are using (Make and Model) I don't know much about programming but would love to know more about how you managed to get it talking using perl. Have you got anything you can send me? Many Thanks Andrew |
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mwillett Member
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> Can I ask what RS485/RS232 converter you are using (Make and Model) I just bought a cheap one from ebay. Its a Sintech (from China) one which is probably one of the cheapest on the market. (Search ebay for RS485.) An RS485 has 4 connectors; just use 2 of them (called either D+/A or D-/B). The PRT-N has blue and yellow comms cables. Blue goes to B and yellow goes to A. > I don't know much about programming but would love to know more about how you managed to get it talking using perl. Have you got anything you can send me? Send me your email address and I'll email you the code. Its very simple. Open COM port, Send x bytes, Read y bytes back. Mike |
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ndh Comfort Installers
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Yes - count me in for Heatmiser integration. I need to revisit this in more detail, but can see a lot of possibilities. A reminder also that the Esprit scene control switches have temp sensors. No display but could probably make use of the voice feedback if say multi-room and I dare say other possibilities. So could be used as a Stat. (In the EIB/KNX world there is a variant with a display.) Also the Heatmiser type colour screen has an interesting price / performance point and would make a good interface to Comfort even as a self contained unit. But since the KT01 stopped production I guess there is probably something in the pipeline anyway. Last edited on Wednesday Nov 5th, 2008 09:14 am by ndh |
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palmlodge Member
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Corect me if I'm wrong - but we can easily send RS232 commands out to Heatmiser via the converter - but Comfort cannot read rs232 values and bring them in to use. Not without a specific UCM to map to something internally ie counters What we need is a UCM that you can "remap" incoming responses or values into a counter - that way it could work with any system ie Send an rs232 command to a heating system and the value that gets returned store in a specific range of counters. very simple , very powerful. |
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garym999 Member
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Takes me full circle. Behind the scenes I have been looking at how we might put together a Universal UCM (UUCM) both for Heatmiser and other devices... A UCM card that could be preconfigured via a PC with a custom interpreter to allow two-way comms to different devices. Would allow you to map counters, respond to certain strings, transfer data etc. I would also suggest that so additional work would be required within firmware and comfigurator to support Maths operators. As NDH says there is already a thermometer in the SCS's but trying to use them without being able to speak the temps or do basic maths is tricky if you need it to be interactive. The if's & nested tests within the beta comfigurator are much better though. |
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cgiltrow Member
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I think this is a great idea and have given it thought in the past. I have even looked at developing an interface module to go between the UCM and whatever system you want to integrate with. If all the interface did was map a string (or part of a string) from the external system to comfort in a look up table then I am certain that you would be able to do just about anything. So if the external system sent BedroomLightOn and the UCM (or interface module) had a table that mapped that string to O!0101 (assuming that the bedroom light was switch by output 1) then the external system would be able to tell comfort to perform operations. |
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aladar Member
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FYI. The currently shipping PRT-N V3 has a totally new and more elaborate protocol which is different from earlier models. Their tech support department will send you a copy if you ask nicely. Their site also describes how to tell if you've got a v3 model. The new protocol has a non-standard CRC16 checksum and there aren't any example checksums in the spec - there is source code though. The command to read back all the data from a PRT-N V3 set to address 01 is:- 01 0A 81 00 00 00 FF FF 2C 09 The unit won't reply to any message if the checksum is wrong. RS485 connections are identical to the earlier model. Ian |
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ident Administrator 
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Could someone ask them nicely for the new protocol? I hope they dont keep changing it though |
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tsoutherwood Member
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I've ordered a Heatmiser PRT-ENTS to test. I fully intend to hack around with the protocol for open source purposes. Do Heatmiser have an NDA on the protocol (in which case, it would be better to hack it rather than be tainted)? Thanks for the tip off on the CRC - had bitter experiences on non standard CRC-16 sums!!! Ta Tim |
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tsoutherwood Member
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BTW - v3 docs are here: Link kindly provided by Heatmiser tech support http://www.heatmiser.co.uk/support/admin/attachments/protocolv3system.pdf Cheers Tim |
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slychiu Administrator 
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cgiltrow wrote: I think this is a great idea and have given it thought in the past. I have even looked at developing an interface module to go between the UCM and whatever system you want to integrate with. If all the interface did was map a string (or part of a string) from the external system to comfort in a look up table then I am certain that you would be able to do just about anything. So if the external system sent BedroomLightOn and the UCM (or interface module) had a table that mapped that string to O!0101 (assuming that the bedroom light was switch by output 1) then the external system would be able to tell comfort to perform operations. That would work if the strings are like in your example, eg "BedroomLightOn" etc which you could map to a string to Comfort, eg "OP0101" However there may be variables in the message, eg House X, Room Y, Device Z, Operation Y, Scene Z so that may require many hundreds of strings to map to Comfort. There is also a difficulty of providing values for feedback to counters from the message, so some means of handling parameters or variables is needed for a truly universal UCM Interface |
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noelpilot Member
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Hi all, Have just come across this googling for heatmiser info. I've got v3 of the PRT-N thermostat and am interested in what I can do with remote/internet control of it. If I've read this post correctly it started out voting for a UCM interface to Comfort but also there's been mention of people interfacing directly with the v2 version with the rs485 converter. I'm guessing then that this is an alternative to buying the network modules that retail for £300 ish and upwards from heatmiser. Has anyone managed to progress with any of the v3 units? Not knowing anything about perl or coding in general really, can anyone explain how it could then be used? Does the perl essentially give you control of the thermostat? i.e. i could automate it through a home automation system such as indigo on the mac, homevision, homeseer etc? Thanks and apologies for all the questions. Noel |
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swanseamosque Member
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Wow - this is exactly what I wanted e.g. an API for heatmiser. I want to install a huge system linked to a sql database so it switches the heating on from that instead of relying on its limited 4 event timer. Someone appears to have succeeded in linux server controlling their heatmiser installation here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukha_d/message/147813 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukha_d/message/147722 Someone else managed to develop a basic guide (attached). Anyone got good progress (with supporting sourcecode)? Attachment: Heatmiser Protocol.zip (Downloaded 54 times) Last edited on Saturday Nov 21st, 2009 12:45 am by swanseamosque |
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stevejoyner Member
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Hi Ian, Do you have any more example checksums for the V3 heatmiser protocols you could post? I have implemented the example code in the spec in VB and it looked like it was working in that it gives me the correct checksum for a 'read all' command as per your previous example. Now I come to try and write data back to the stats, they are not responding so i'm wondering if my checksum code is working Cheers Steve |
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stevejoyner Member
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I now have this working, that is read and write communication to both V2 and V3 heatmiser stats from VB on windows and from PERL on Mac-OS and Linux. If anyone wants any details, please get in touch. Steve |
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slychiu Administrator
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Congratulations, thats very interesting. Do you have a description on what is possible with the interface? Any screenshots? |
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timmywo Member
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Hi stevejoyner, I have purchased the "12v Network Touchscreen Programmable Room Thermostat - Heatmiser PRT-NTS" with the aim of accessing this from my server. Could you please share the details on how you are currently setup? Many thanks! tim |
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timmywo Member
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Hi, I have installed my "PRT-NTS" and all looks good! Can someone share their setup please? What software and cables are you running? Would this work for the cabling RS485->Cat5e->RS232? With this: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6040 I have all the floorboards up so would like to run the cables now, if someone can share their software and setup would be very helpful thanks |
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admin Administrator 
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I suggest you send a PM (private message) to stevejoyner by right-clicking on his user name, as he may not be monitoring this topic |
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timmywo Member
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thanks admin, I was and now have done so. Ill post details on this list when I have them, will be helpful for others |
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northview Member
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I know this thread is a little old now, but was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction getting a Heatmiser Version 2 thermostat to communicate on its RS485 port. I have a UDS100 that I'm using to communicate with the stat via a TCP connection. Problem being that whilst I can see bytes being written to the thermostat, I don't get a reply from it. I've documented my setup along with some brief code here : http://rs485.olley.com/rs485.htm Any advice / suggestions would be greatfully received. |
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ident Administrator
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Comfort is able to talk to heatmiser one way using the UCM/Universal with AUX485 interface. However I do not know what is the UDS100 you used |
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northview Member
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The UDS100 is a serial device server, allowing you to easily convert between RS485 and ethernet : UDS100 Description |
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ident Administrator
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Perhaps one for the heatmiser Forum? |
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northview Member
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A good suggestion. The reason I posted here was that there seemed to be a number of people discussing both the RS485 interface as well as the Heatmiser protocol. I had some success last night ; I got the Thermostat to respond. I tried a different command and this time received a response. The problem appears to be a buffer effect in the TCP connection. I will investigate further but believe this to be the cause of my problem. The upside is that if it is a software problem it should be easy to solve! |
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timmywo Member
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Hey northview, I ended up paying someone to build me a page in PHP that talks to a app on the server written in C# that communicates to the device and allows me remote access. I did talk to Heatmiser support with a few problems we had and yours maybe the same, see below. Good luck, im happy to share my code with you. Just PM me. "the thermostat neeeds a communications number in order to access the network the default setting is 00 which means no network. the range is 01 to 32 and each thermostat must have a unique number this number is set in the feature menu see the optional settings at the back of the booklet for the details. Feature 6 is the communications number if it is set to 00 it wont respond to your code." |
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ndh Comfort Installers
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(copied from Heatmiser WiFi thread) In discussions with Cytech it would appear they are agreeable to considering doing the Heatmiser Integration using the UUCM / RS485 (soon I think). For those of you that don't know them the Heatmiser products are very prevalent in the UK and elsewhere and are OEM by lots of other companies. They come bundled with underfloor heating kits etc. with other suppliers name on. At the simplest level you can take say a 12v (touchscreen) themostat and wire it into a Comfort Zone and 12v supply. You then programme what you require e.g. turn on a discrete relay (or Cbus, Dynalite etc.) to control the boiler / electric underfloor / fan / blinds etc. Once you have multiple zones etc. then it becomes more complex in providing overall control and that is where Heatmiser provide their Touchscreen to 'co-ordinate' and make configuring / adjusting easier. Where you have a Comfort system that might be a preferable route to take as you may not want additional devices and may want things like heating set back on Arm. Although I have no looked closely it would appear my Vaillant boiler has both low voltage control connections as well as mains level. The latter being for the traditional time clock / thermostat configurations. The manual actually states the low voltage connections are not for use in the UK but I have not researched this further. In my configuration I have a kitchen / bathroom extension with underfloor heating and since that may be heated say in the morning (before work) I would typically have a single channel stat, possibly with probe and then elsewhere another dual zone (rads & hot water) for the rest of the house with pump, some motorised valves and TRVs. Valves mean an occasionally used bedroom could be generally isolated and then turned on from (say) a wall switch (Scene Control Switch; Cbus etc.) Once 'On' it can be part of any overall control e.g setback on Arm. Considering involving Comfort in heating controls is something for anyone to consider as it may improve control / save cost etc. My experience is that it can work well but perhaps with some for of override in case of rare problems. In the case above the individual stats could be configured to continue operation without Comfort present. In any event a couple of manual switches could provide continuous operation of heating and hot water. Where Comfort is integrated with Heatmiser at the network level it is possible for the KT03 touchscreen to provide a variety of controls. As ultimately the objective for Cytech would be to sell more product it would be good for as many people to feedback their interest etc. here, so Cytech can gauge the benefits. Nigel  |
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palmlodge Member
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No RS485 control directly into the Heatmiser i/f ? As long as there is no reliance on the KT03 - that has to be one of the worst products I have ever had the displeasure of coming across. A KP04 can't come soon enough I'm afraid. |
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juwi_uk Member 
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Presume you mean a KT04 then as otherwise you must have missed the KP04 a few years back during its evolutionary rise to KP06dom! ;0) |
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ndh_basic Member
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Well it looks like the Heatmiser integration will be proceeding soon see: Heatmiser I would agree that integration should not mandate a KT03 although I have personally found them good to use at their price point. e.g. when you layer keypad; blind/window control; door entry and heating control functionality etc. you are doing quite a lot for the £ I would think a 'KT04' slightly larger with colour would be good and (composite) video in for door / gate camera. My documented use of Comfort and Heating (with KT03 without Heatmiser) should finally be posted in the next 2 -3 weeks. Last edited on Tuesday Mar 19th, 2013 02:39 pm by ndh_basic |
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palmlodge Member
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I'm after a Heatmiser Touchpad v2, also badged as a JG Touchpad (they of Speedfit plumbing fame). It looks like this  If anyone has one they'd like to sell, or has seen one somewhere, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks! |
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nokeeffe Member
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I am also in need of the same touchpad on the basis the LCD has just failed. I am at a loss as the v2 protocol is no longer supported by anyone. Alternative products therefore do not work. Does anyone know whether it is possible to get a solution to convert the v2 protocol to the v3 protocol? Any ideas to provide a solution to allow me to control the 32 thermostats I have installed centrally would be most welcome? Best wishes |
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