[net.general] info request: solar home controller

chris (11/29/82)

I am looking for imformation for my father, who is building a house in
Virginia.  It is an "earth-covered" house (that's a euphemism for
underground) with passive solar energy used throughout.  He is hoping to
find some way to control the numerous vents, blinds, shading panels, and
security features automatically in response to surveys of temperature and
light sensors as well as by a daily schedule.  A cursory look at what we
intend to do showed at least fifty different things to be controlled (all
are open/close or on/off), though most were in banks of about 4 that could
probably be linked together if that makes the problem simpler.

At this point, I really don't know much about microprocessor- or
microcomputer-based systems that might help us with this.  I would
appreciate any help anyone on the net could give me.  If there was a recent
net-survey on a related subject, I'd appreciate a copy of the results.  I
have asked around locally, and have been pointed to BYTE.  I'll
find old copies of that magazine and look for hints there.

I will of course summarize and post the results of my research.  The stuff
from the network will be summarized as soon as traffic dies down, but the
rest will probably be a few months away.

                              Thanks for your attention,
                                  Chris Hibbert

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