Open by choice
Why Brick runs on free software: what you can change, and what you can’t
Linux, Home Assistant, Node-RED and Grafana have free licences. What that means for buyers of an open-source building automation controller.
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All articles
Measured energy
Four rooms, one thermostat: why every room has its own climate
A living room too warm, a bedroom too cold: why heating leaves uneven room temperatures, what causes them and what to do, from simplest to most complete.
Measured energy
What a class B building automation system actually requires (EN ISO 52120)
The four building automation classes, what class B requires in practice, why EU rules and incentives refer to it, and how to document a system.
From panel to data
From standalone thermostats to a connected system in one day: configuration A0
Keep the zone thermostats, add a controller, and the heating becomes a connected system in a single working day. Here is how, hour by hour.
Your data stays yours
Where your smart thermostat’s data ends up
Temperatures, schedules, your phone’s location: what a smart thermostat collects, what it reveals, what the terms of use say and what the alternative is.
Open by choice
Modbus, KNX and Zigbee: how they work together in a Brick system
Modbus in the panel, KNX on the building bus, Zigbee in the rooms: how they work together with Home Assistant, and which wiring mistakes to avoid.
From panel to data
3-speed fan coils: zone control, and when EC motors are worth it
Fan speeds, valve, summer and winter: how to control a 3-speed fan coil by zone, which mistakes to avoid and when to move to 0–10 V EC motors.
Measured energy
Grafana and Home Assistant: an energy dashboard for a plant room
Which data to collect, where to store it and which panels to build: a Grafana dashboard with Home Assistant that shows how a heating plant really works.
Your data stays yours
Controlling your heating from outside the house, with no cloud in between
You can control your heating remotely without handing the system to a manufacturer’s server. How a private network works and who holds the keys.
Open by choice
Node-RED for heating: a flow to manage your zones
How to build the logic of a heating zone in Node-RED, alongside Home Assistant: set point, hysteresis, schedules and alerts. Flow included.
Measured energy
Upgrading heating control without replacing the system: from one thermostat to eight zones
You can go from one thermostat to eight zones without touching the boiler, pipes or floors. What changes, what stays and how long the work takes.
From panel to data
Weather compensation: how to set the heating curve
Slope, offset and design temperature: how to set the heating curve for underfloor heating or radiators, with examples and the most common mistakes.