New room controllers that don't break the bank.

So I've just gotten the go from the Management types to be able to share. I've been beta testing some new modular grow room controllers for the past 3 cycles. The company Sero Systems (www.Sero-Systems.com) has officially opened their online store. They are also carried by sunlight supply.

I've had great results with this system. The best part is the fact I can customize the whole thing to what I want. So for me I've got the Sensor pack which does TDS, Ph, and Temp for my rez. I added the power pak to run my fans and pumps, I also got the switch pack. I hooked up some float sensors to the switch pace and put them on the top of my EBB and Grow controller bucket... NOW if it starts to over fill the floats trip the switch and kill the power to the pumps... I'll never have to clean water off the floors again!!!

The customization levels on these modules is endless and you can run everything with them and set all kinds of conditions to keep it all in the grove. It has really made my rooms much more hands off.... Best part is I can set monitor and control it all from my laptop (via the Tech Pak) anytime anywhere with a secure connection!!! Take a look and drop a note if you have any questions.

so whats the price?

$270 to 600 to start . . very nice looking setup that puts a lot of control into 0ne unit. I still worry about putting all the eggs in one basket(personal problem ?).

$600 Will get you the main head unit, but not much else. To really get started, it'll cost you in the neighborhood of $1000 and that doesn't include the newly released $200+ CO2 sensor. But yes, this system is completely customizable from cycle timing, to the light timing, to double-programmed heat/cool functions (ie, if the temp reaches 80, turn on AC1, if the Temp reaches 85 turn on AC2, etc). As linden mentioned, there's float switches as well. These can be used to keep resevoirs topped off, or to prevent over filling. The unit can support up to 16 modules connected. A standard system for one hydro setup would eat up 5 of those BUS slots. This means, it could easily run 2, if not 3 seperate hydro systems from 1 head unit.

I haven't gotten to put the unit under actual use, but I've bench tested it a bunch and it works flawlessly. I've owned it for a year, and it's still working...so I guess that's a good sign It'll be ran in conjunction with an Aeroflo120 soon.

Personally, I think your better learning some basic electrical skills. A lot of the shit this units do is pointless -- most decent heaters / AC's come with thermostat support.

Get some timers and relays and there isn't much you can't do. If everything is 120 volt, you can pretty much hook anything to anything, like temperature controlled outlets, co2 controllers, wall switches.

Personally, I'd be damn careful setting up auto-refilling reservoirs - pump hose comes loose or something and you can end up with 1000 gallons of water on the floor, even run your well dry depending on where you live.

Only thing I could see a super-fancy setup being good for is either logging or remote monitor / operation. It would be nice to be on vacation and be able to log in and see your res still had water, video feed of your room, no DEA guys in the driveway

It's true that A/C and Dehumidifiers and the like have thermostats built-in, however I've encountered plenty that are horribly calibrated. It's nice working from a single head unit that's controlling the monitoring of environmental factors, instead of multiple units that could be reading different temperatures/humidity levels etc. I'm not sure where your assumption that the things this unit does is worthless, as I see extreme flexibility and customizability within the system that Sero has developed.

It does the same things that current EVCs will do for you, except for its completely programmable. It has multiple levels of programmability that can control any outlet hooked up to the system, based off multiple variables which is above and beyond the capability of any current EVC out there. It also was super easy to setup to the network for email/sms notifications based off 16-alarms that can also be programmed. The alarms can let you know general things, or most importantly lets you know if there is any catastrophic failure, within 1 minute.

I've used just about every standard Environmental Controller out there, but for the majority of my experience I've used the EVC-2 by Sentinel before the Sero. For about double the price, you quadruple your capability and versatility. This head unit can take up to 16 modules connected, and you get to choose the modules you want to expand/use. This would allow you to run various hydro setups, and/or whatever soil setups you wanted with a single unit controlling every light, fan, pump, and chiller, from a single head unit that is also able to be monitored/administered remotely from a web browser, with complete data logging, graphing, and the ability to export.

I mean come on, you can turn your lights off or on, from your iPhone 5000 miles away! You could change your light cycle for flowering while out of town, or at your girlfriends for the night, or hell...from your laptop in the room over. I'm impressed with the unit, and it's versatility personally...for some, this level of use may be unecessary...I've been known to overdo things .

Can you do everything the Sero does by purchasing 5 different controllers and gadgets? Sure...but working within a single, browser-manageable interface is nearly priceless for me.