ta-planning

Planning with Technische Alternative

The output of a planning session is a plan someone can order and wire from: an I/O list, the chosen devices with reasons, a bus plan, a bill of materials with article numbers and links, a function plan with starting values, and the checklist of applicable regulations. Template: assets/plan-template.md. Worked example: references/example-plan.md.

Two audiences, one method:

• Homeowner: explain choices in plain words, flag every point where a licensed installer or electrician is required (Austria: installation for funding, mains connection, acceptance of the firing system), and keep the plan honest about uncertainty.
• Installer: be terse, give article numbers, terminal-level I/O and bus figures; skip basics.

Ask early which one you are talking to, and which country/state the system is in.

Live data, not memory

Product data, prices and document versions change. This skill holds how to find them and the figures as of November 2026; check before quoting:

• Product pages, datasheets, manuals, price list, program library: references/catalog.md – including the soft-404 trap on ta.co.at and how to find stable datei/<id> links.
• TA wiki for function details: https://wiki.ta.co.at/index.php?title=<Page>&action=raw.
• Prices: the current price list (list prices, EUR excl. VAT). Installer discounts (price groups) are not public – say so instead of guessing.

Method

1. Capture the system

Ask for or derive: heat sources (log/pellet boiler, heat pump, gas, district heating, wood stove with water jacket, electric rod), storage (buffer volume, DHW tank or fresh-water station), heating circuits (number, radiators or floor heating, mixed or direct), solar thermal (fields, consumers), DHW circulation, extras (return-flow boost, pool, cooling, ventilation, PV surplus), existing sensors and wiring, remote access wishes (app, Home Assistant, logging), and whether a hydraulic scheme exists. Without a hydraulic scheme there is no reliable plan – sketch one first or ask for it.

2. I/O list – the foundation

One row per signal: name, type (temperature PT1000, 0–10 V, impulse, digital, DL value), location, cable length; outputs with type (relay switching, relay pair for 3-point mixer, 0–10 V/PWM for a high-efficiency pump, potential-free contact for a boiler demand), load. Count, then add ≥ 20 % reserve – systems grow (a second circuit, a heat meter, a sensor that should have been there). Measurements worth adding from the start: buffer top/middle/bottom, DHW tank, every flow temperature, outdoor, collector; flow/heat meters where energy matters; room sensors where curves need tuning. Room temperature at a reference room makes heating-curve tuning possible later.

3. Choose devices

references/devices.md has inputs, outputs, loads, function limits and typical uses. Rules of thumb:

• Fixed standard scheme, ≤ 6 inputs / 7 outputs, no programming wanted → UVR67 (program number from its list).
• Everything else → UVR16x2 (16/16) as the central controller; UVR610 (6/10) for small systems or as a second controller; CAN-I/O45 (4/5, max 44 functions, no own supply) as a cheap extension; DL modules (AI5-DL, AO4-DL, TDI5-DL, RM2-DL) for a few extra signals.
• C.M.I. whenever remote access, logging history, Home Assistant (CoE), Modbus TCP or loading programs from a PC is wanted – for most systems that means always.
• Bus converters only for real needs: CAN-BC2 for Modbus RTU/KNX/M-Bus or galvanic separation, CAN-RP for long stubs, CAN-EZ3 for electrical energy (PV surplus, heating rods).

4. Bus plan

references/bus-design.md: node numbers (defaults collide – renumber), line topology and termination, length vs. bit rate, 6 W budget on the CAN 12 V, DL bus load (sum ≤ 100 % per master), cable types and separation from mains.

5. Sensors, actuators, accessories

references/sensors-actuators.md: PT1000 as standard, sensor type per location and temperature range, immersion sleeves and lengths, flow sensors (FTS-DL vs. VIG), pump control via PWM/0–10 V and output scaling, auxiliary relays, mixer motors (third party).

6. Bill of materials

Table: article number, description, quantity, list price, datasheet link (datei/<id>), source date. Mark items that appear in the catalogue but not in the price list as "verify with TA". Separate TA items from third-party items (pumps, mixer motors, cables, enclosure, surge protection).

7. Function plan and starting values

Start from the x2 program library or a programming example if one matches the hydraulics (catalog.md); otherwise list the TA functions per task (heating circuit, heat demand, charging pump, solar + priority, legionella, comparison/logic, heat meter). Give starting values with reasons, e.g. heating curve for radiators after renovation lower than for an old house; demand set-point tied to the circuit's Anforderungssolltemp. rather than a fixed value; legionella release only from a heat source that starts by itself. Details of each function: skill technische-alternative, references/functions.md.

8. Regulations, commissioning, handover

• Regulations and funding: references/austria.md (Austria, example state Upper Austria). For other countries, say that the checklist is missing and list what to look for (building law, firing-system acceptance, standards for hydraulics/DHW/solar/electrical, funding conditions).
• Commissioning: sensor plausibility (every sensor reads sensibly), output test in manual mode, CAN node list, clock/NTP on the C.M.I., logging running, program export (.txt) and versioned .dat handed over, passwords handed over separately.

Boundaries

• No legal or safety sign-off: hydraulic safety equipment (expansion, safety valve, thermal discharge safety on solid-fuel boilers) is the installer's design responsibility; the plan points to the standard, it does not replace it.
• Do not summarise standard contents; cite number, edition and scope.
• Prices are list prices at the stated date; never present them as an offer.