Heatmiser wireless receivers (RC1-W/RC2-W) : protocol public?

liamf

Hi

looking into doing some fancy remote controls as a little domestic project and was pointed at the Heatmiser range.

Their wireless receivers (which, basically, are mains power dual relays with a radio remote control) look to be just the job for what I need.

Heatmiser publish the control protocol to talk to their thermostat units (and those thermostat units can control the wireless receivers). So you can write software to talk to them.

However I wonder if anyone knows that the radio protocol is to control just the receivers? I would like to use existing systems (Raspberry Pi or Arduino based) to control just the wireless receivers.

Anyone done this or know where the information is to be found?

marti9t9

Hi Liamf,

Looking to do exactly what you want to also. Just had a Heatmiser Thermostat and receiver unit fitted to gas boiler today. I'm not sure this forum is really the ideal place to get answer on this topic. An arduino forum would be more useful I expect. Anyway, once I found out they used the 433 rf frequency I immediately wanted to control the heating using an Arduino. I can already control some RF sockets via a webpage from anywhere in the world. Adding heating control would be awesome. Did you manage to get anywhere with this?

liamf

Hi

didn't get anywhere really (and more extensive house renovations put this phase of my project on hold)

I did contact Heatmiser, and they got back to me. They were quite polite but just said that the protocol for the control over 433MHz is not public and they will not make it public.

Someone did point me at this nice article http://blog.omegastar.eu/2014/01/from-remote-vacuum-cleaner-to-my.html where someone reverse engineered the protocol used to a weather station ...

However it was pointed out to me by the end users of this system in my house (ie, the family) that a unit which just switches on and off the heating via some s/w system with no manual UI will not be acceptable, so I am (eventually) going to look at something made myself: so I will probably just go with a relay and one of these: https://www.spark.io/

Good luck
Liam

marti9t9

Spent a few hours working on this. I connected a 433 receiver to my audio input jack on my laptop and used audacity to check for signals from thermostat. Nothing. I can detect signals from my wireless sockets, even from my car key fob. Nothing but noise detected when I press the hold (boost) button on the thermostat. Starting to doubt it used 433 at all.

Didn't understand what you meant when you said system would be useless just using a s/w without a UI.

Wouldn't an arduino webserver be your ui. My intention was to be able to dial in from anywhere and replicate the Hold button using 433 transmitter so heat was on before I got home.


Martin.

liamf

marti9t9 wrote: »

Spent a few hours working on this. I connected a 433 receiver to my audio input jack on my laptop and used audacity to check for signals from thermostat. Nothing. I can detect signals from my wireless sockets, even from my car key fob. Nothing but noise detected when I press the hold (boost) button on the thermostat. Starting to doubt it used 433 at all.

Didn't understand what you meant when you said system would be useless just using a s/w without a UI.

Wouldn't an arduino webserver be your ui. My intention was to be able to dial in from anywhere and replicate the Hold button using 433 transmitter so heat was on before I got home.


Martin.

I mean that the end users (ie mainly my wife) will not accept something that does not have a physical interface allowing them to walk up to something non-computer-display related and press some buttons.

And not just an on/off button either.

Currently we have a clockwork APT-type time setting control which she likes just fine. So a system where you have to go to a tablet/computer to set the temperature or time intervals is currently ... under negotiation, shall we say.

marti9t9

Ah I see. When ours was installed we got one of these with it

http://www.hpwarehouse.co.uk/heatmiser-wireless-programmable-touchscreen-thermostat-prt-wts.html

So my intended project would just to be to decode the signal this ends when turning on/off the boiler and replicating it in an arduino for when we're not at home. The touchscreen. Interface would always be available too (when we're home).

Chet T16

liamf wrote: »

Hi

didn't get anywhere really (and more extensive house renovations put this phase of my project on hold)

I did contact Heatmiser, and they got back to me. They were quite polite but just said that the protocol for the control over 433MHz is not public and they will not make it public.

Someone did point me at this nice article http://blog.omegastar.eu/2014/01/from-remote-vacuum-cleaner-to-my.html where someone reverse engineered the protocol used to a weather station ...

However it was pointed out to me by the end users of this system in my house (ie, the family) that a unit which just switches on and off the heating via some s/w system with no manual UI will not be acceptable, so I am (eventually) going to look at something made myself: so I will probably just go with a relay and one of these: https://www.spark.io/

Good luck
Liam

I had the same issue I made a controller for our heating that was automated and controlled using a google calendar. There was a a touch screen interface which allowed you to set the heating on for a couple of hours (or even from your phone) but after repeated requests i had to add manual on and off buttons to the screen.

http://www.chet.ie/?p=178

We've recently moved so i'll be looking at doing something for the new place in a while

marti9t9

Great project there Chet T16. Very impressive. If i understood your webpage correctly, I guess the man difference between your project and my and Liamf' is that you were using a hardwired relay to actually do the switching of the boiler. Am i correct there?

Whats attractive about the rf 433/mhz is the wireless aspect obviously. I've realised that in my previously experiments mentioned above I should have been using the 'line in' input instead of a mic input which i was using. My laptop unfortunately does not have a line in input jack. This may explain the very unsquarewave-like signals I was seeing from my wireless sockets remote and my car key fob.

When i get access to a PC with 'line in' socket, i will retest with the Heatmiser wireless thermostat and see if i can pick up anything from it. Hopefully I will!