justDIY said:
for reading the temperature, consider the LM75 (or equivalent). i2c connected thermostat, it can both read the temperature and operate stand-alone, responding to set-points.
Texas Inst seems to have the cheapest version, the TMP175
Excellent, I should have thought of that (PC's, duh!). And to expand on this a little further, I did some more digging and happened across these:
PCF8591; 8-bit A/D and D/A converter
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The PCF8591 is a single-chip, single-supply low power 8-bit CMOS data acquisition device with four analog inputs, one analog output and a serial I2C-bus interface. Three address pins A0, A1 and A2 are used for programming the hardware address, allowing the use of up to eight devices connected to the I2C-bus without additional hardware. Address, control and data to and from the device are transferred serially via the two-line bidirectional I2C-bus.
The functions of the device include analog input multiplexing, on-chip track and hold function, 8-bit analog-to-digital conversion and an 8-bit digital-to-analog conversion. The maximum conversion rate is given by the maximum speed of the I2C-bus.
ADT7516/ADT7517/ADT7519
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The ADT7516/ADT7517/ADT7519* combine a 10-bit temperature-to-digital converter, a 10-bit 4-channel ADC, and a quad 12-/10-/8-bit DAC, respectively, in a 16-lead QSOP package. The parts also include a band gap temperature sensor and a 10-bit ADC to monitor and digitize the temperature reading to a resolution of 0.25°C.
I've read that Analog Devices also makes a very simple 4 ADC/DAC chip as well.
Both of these chips are very similar to what I am looking for. Something that allows my devices to interface with the i2c bus without causing me too much headache (like having to program every single module that goes out). In the end, I'm not sure which way I'll go because choosing a PIC chip appears to cost about the same, but it gives me alot more functionality...
If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know.