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Nils154 / mynest

very simple python module to interface with google nest
GNU General Public License v3.0
10 stars 2 forks source link

Thermostats that provide API with local data access? #1

Open jessicamillar opened 2 years ago

jessicamillar commented 2 years ago

Hi! I am doing some work for a company called Sunamp that is making a really cool product - a space heating system that combines an air-to-water heat pump with phase change thermal storage. We are also supporting a quasi-governmental organization (Efficiency Maine Trust) in setting up a space heating demonstration in Millinocket Maine, where local constraints on the grid and a couple large wind farms are creating negative wholesale energy prices about 20% of the year. Electric heating systems with embedded thermal storage (like Sunamp's, but there are also others) can really save a lot of money in a place like this. It is also frankly a much cheaper way for doing a lot of grid balancing than using chemical batteries. Happy to share more information about this if you are interested.

In any case, that is the preamble to my question. Sunamp wants their own pcb to control the heat output of the heating system. So they want thermostats that can act as user interfaces for setting temperature setpoint schedules and temperature sensing. But they want to do the controls.

Do you know if any thermostats on the market allow for local API access?

Nils154 commented 1 year ago

Seems to me any thermostat will work. If I was Sunamp, I would create my own controller and allow any low-voltage thermostat for temperature setpoint schedules and temperature sensing. Then I would create an API to allow third party software to interface with both Sunamp's controller and the thermostat. Home Assistant or other home automation systems should be the first choice for the third party software. Wouldn't even need the low-voltage thermostat connection, and allow the third party software to ask for heat.