Heat Control

I've had my HVAC connected to my K8000 for years now. I've been able to save a ton of money on my heating bills because I no longer just let the programmable thermostat call for heat when I'm not home. I simply pull up my home automation webpage on my blackberry and turn on the heat 15 minutes before I arrive home. The gas portion of my PG&E bill has gone from about $100/month down to $25/month. Granted I also wear a sweater more often and the house rarely warms up to 68 degrees, but its working for me.

To automate this I simply put opto 22 relay between the normal thermostat connection and the HVAC. Here is a nice wiring diagram site:

http://www.hometech.com/kb/questions.php?questionid=53

Some day I might add some zone dampers to the system. I set the thermostat to 68, just in case my handy work goes awry.