internet controlled thermostat

Who uses one? Do they require a Cat 5 cable? How many people's schedule can you set the temps for?

My sister and her two kids moved in with me.

My nephew is in school and it would be nice to warm the house in the morning for him, but his come home time is different. He has a smart phone and enough sense to use it.

My niece has a pretty regular work schedule. She also has a smart phone and also enough sense to use it.

My sister doesn't have a smart phone and wouldn't know how to turn one on if she had one. Just kidding, but she can barely run the two remotes for the TV. Her schedule also changes the most. It would be nice if it had a computer interface was brain dead easy.

My schedule is pretty much open 24/7.

Reply to
Metspitzer
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try a timer setback thermostat

Reply to
chaniarts

Sure they make them. Do a Google search. Here is one.

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Reply to
Ralph Mowery

They are horrendously expensive and you will never recoup the savings given today's low prices for natural gas.

If you heat with electricity, then your first priority should be to change over to natural gas.

Answer:

Based on your convoluted household schedule, use an ordinary programmable thermostat and set it to 70f at 7 am, setback to 65f at 9 am, back to 70f at 4 pm, and back down to 65f at 11 pm.

Problem solved.

Even cheap thermostats allow for 4 temperature settings per day (wake, leave, return, sleep).

Reply to
Home Guy

The heat is gas. The thermostat is electric.

Reply to
Metspitzer

You ought to at least look at the Nest. Wireless. Learns your schedule. Can be adjusted over the net using your cell phone.

Buddy has one. He is in sales and travels a lot and loves being able to return to warm (or cool) house no matter what his schedule.

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Paul F.

Reply to
Paul Franklin

Home Depot has a Filtrete 7-Day Touchscreen WiFi-Enabled Programmable Thermostat with Backlight

Reply to
Congoleum Breckenridge

I remember a few years ago I looked into internet-compatible thermostats.

What I found is that they didn't allow for direct communication between you and them over the local lan or the internet.

Instead what they do is communicate with a hard-coded server (owned / operated by the company that makes them) and you have to set up an account on that company's server in order to access and interact with your thermostat.

If you're an iSlave fan-boi, then you would probably salivate over this:

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============ Nest Learning Thermostat 2nd Generation Programs itself. Control from anywhere

$250

The Nest Learning Thermostat 2nd Generation remembers what temperatures you like, turns itself down when you're away, and can be controlled over Wi-Fi from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. Nest's Energy History shows you when your system was on and why, the Nest Leaf tells you when you?re saving energy, and the monthly Energy Report shows you trends in your energy use and tips to save more. ==============

Don't know why they gave it the gay name "Nest Learning Thermostat".

It was first offered for sale a few years ago - then discontinued. I guess they brought it back with this 2'nd generation version.

Reply to
Home Guy

How long does it take to save $250 ?

If it drops my heating bill to ZERO, it would pay for itself in a year.

Reply to
Wes Groleau

Your sister, niece and nephew are probably smart enough to come home, turn on the heat, and leave their sweaters on until the house warms up.

Reply to
Smitty Two

There are other reasons for them, other than saving a few cents. I'm seriously thinking about buying one for our other house. It would be nice to turn the heat on, on the few freezing days we get. This time of year (until mid-January) it likely won't get cold enough to freeze pipes but it's possible. It would also be nice to have the house warmed up when we get there.

Not possible. Neither house.

You really do waste energy.

No, you're still here, HomoGay.

...and aren't recommended for heat pumps.'

Reply to
krw

Nice! ...but that's almost what I'm thinking about doing. If it drops my heat bill for one month to zero (one of the months I'll have to heat "just in case"), it'll pay for itself.

Reply to
krw

So, it would be cheaper to keep the vacation house at 70F all year long, instead of being able to dial it up when you're two hours away?

Which of course has nothing to do with the issue or application. Clueless as usual.

Reply to
trader4

What kind of boob are you?

First of all, my idea of a "vacation" house is a house that I have to turn the AC on instead of the furnace. Because my idea of a vacation is to go to a place that's warmer then where I am.

Second, is it really that much of a hardship to "suffer" through a few hours of warm-up (or cool-down) at your vacation home once you get there? I mean, how often do you go on vacation? A few times a year, or every other week?

You're the clueless one.

The OP was looking for a way to control his home-heating system in the most fuel-efficient way possible given the new configuration of his household and the timetables of it's occupants.

If the OP wasn't concerned about fuel costs, then he would just set his thermostat to 72F constantly and would have no interest in a new control system.

But since he is seeking a more complicated control system, he is therefore concerned about heating costs, and that's why I mentioned right off the top that he would realize the most fuel savings by converting to natural gas if he was currently using electric heat.

Reply to
Home Guy

Just because your idea of a vacation is limited to warm places doesn't mean that's what everyone does. Try picking up a copy of ski magazine for example. And I would think even you could realize that the scenario applies just as well to a vacation house that requires the AC to be turned on.

The OP gave a perfect example of a situation where people come home at varying times, so it would be desirable if they could turn up the HVAC shortly before returning. Not that hard to grasp, at least for everyone else here.

Why should anyone come home to a cold house when they don't have to? Clowns like you made similar arguments when they moved from out houses to indoor plumbing. You still use an outhouse up there?

He was looking for a way to turn up the heat prior to arrival for households where arrival time varies. Those of us in the real world experience this all the time. For example, I arrive back at the airport. The house has been set back to 50 for a week. I'd prefer to push a button on my phone when the plane lands so I have a warm house when I get home. Really simple concept, except for jerks like you who can't comprehend a modern lifestyle.

Reply to
trader4

It would have to be pretty expensive not to pay for itself when it emails you that the temp in your house is falling below the margin you set for it. So you can go to, or send someone to it to drain the pipes before they burst-- or fix whatever is wrong with your heating system.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

which does not apply to a vacation home which would not need several temperature changes to be made each day so I don't know why you even brought up the vacation-house example.

There's desirable and there's fantasty, practicality, cost/benefit and ergonomics.

Any house that's constantly inhabited on a daily basis will not decline very much in temperature compared to your vacation-house example, and wouldn't take much to reach the desired temperature upon arrival of the inhabitants and they manually set the thermostat.

How much are they willing to pay for this conveinence?

And if they forget to use it 50% of the time, then your cost/benefit really goes out of whack.

I never made any such claims about indoor plumbing. Stop arguing from left field.

Why?

Why was he looking to do that?

Why that, instead of just setting his house to a constant 72F?

Why did you not quote that part of my last post? Why did you delete that observation of mine and not respond directly to it?

Again, you selective-deleting coward, he wants to save as much money as possible on heating costs. That's why I suggested he be using natural gas if he's using electric heat.

Most of us don't live alone.

Is the average person going to spend $250 for a thermostat where a few times a year he can come home to a warm (or cool) house - assuming he's gone either in the summer or winter?

A fool can understand the concept.

You obviously can't understand or model the typical use-case, ergonomics, and cost/benefit for the "average" person or household.

Reply to
Home Guy

Your point is of no consideration.

Because even the simplest, cheapest thermostats (mechanical or electronic) have failsafe low-temp settings where the thermostat will turn on the furnace if the temperature gets that low regardless what your other settings are.

Anyone who has a vacation house in a cold-climate location that doesn't have their furnace turn on at say 45F - 55F is a boob. It doesn't take a $250 internet-enabled thermostat to keep the pipes from freezing at your vacation property when you're not there.

Reply to
Home Guy

Clueless as ever. How about the more likely scenario, which is that the furnace has failed to start up because it has run out of fuel or has a clogged nozzle? Will the simplest, cheapest thermostat connect via the internet or phone and alert you?

Reply to
trader4

Try reading, HomoGay.

Reply to
krw

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