Given that the time we spend at home is very variable - is there such a thing as a programmer that can be set to fixed times in the normal way, but can also be very easily set to come on say at 7 pm if we're coming home at
8 - overriding the normal timing of say 5 pm? Hope I'm making myself clear.Keith
Jim A
1) Make sure the house is run from a programmable room stat sited in a convenient location. 2) IMHO the best way to gain more real practical control over the heating is to have a control which you set to frost mode when you leave the house. When you come in you press the button again and it resumes it normal program. 3) The next thing you can do is to set the program to be a fairly cool regime (which keeps the heating on enough to stop things getting really cold) which you over ride to a more comfortable setting as needed.
I recommend the Horstmann Wireless [Programmable] Thermostat For a wired control I recommend their Centaurstat 7
I built my own system to do this ~7 years ago. It allows me to switch my heating on and off remotely (phone or internet). At the time I was working for a US company and most of my team was in the US, so I worked very strange hours, and spent periods of weeks at a time working in the US. I would phone home when I landed at Heathrow, and turn the heating and hot water back on, so the house had warmed up by the time I got home. Likewise when leaving the office when working in the UK.
Whilst this might have seemed rather futuristic at that time, what amazes me is that this hasn't become standard practice by now. There must be loads of households up and down the country with the heating on when no one's in, just because the controls are still basically just a timeswitch to guess when you might be at home.
Just to amplify that a bit . . . Assuming the CM907 works in the same way as my CM67, the 'Party' button provides a feature which enables you to override the current programme for a specified number of hours. Whilst its intended use is to keep the heating on later when you're having a party, it can equally easily be used to keep it OFF while you are out. All you do is:
Thanks Ed. The house is quite old, timber-framed with a lot of beams, and although it's not highly insulated, it does seem to hold its heat very well, so I'm not too worried about it getting too cold, just wanting to be able to have the heating come on at more appropriate times - slightly in advance of when we expect to get home.
Have you got a good link for the Horstmann Wireless Thermostat? At present the thermostat is in the 6' x 6' porch, which is internal, like a hallway, but quite small and the thermostat is right next to the door so the temperature obviously drops whenever someone opens the front door, so I think I may need a wireless one. The other problem is where to put it? Every room downstairs and upstairs is heated - including the landing. The only place I can think of is at the bottom of the (enclosed) stairs, although even they lead into the (heated) dining room through a door. We do tend to try and keep that door shut though. Any thoughts?
Keith
On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:04:39 +0000 (UTC) someone who may be Ed Sirett wrote this:-
If one has a well insulated house then it is likely to remain at a reasonable temperature without heating. If one has a source of instant heating, including a thermal store, then the heating can be left off most of the time and turned on manually when wanted, for example when returning home. If one is delayed at work/a pub then the heating is not warming the house up for no reason. This can save a lot of energy.
If it's wireless then just move it around until you find the best location. If you've got TRVs then take the head off the rad nearest the stat.
On Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:38:25 GMT someone who may be "Keith Dunbar" wrote this:-
Thermostats should be put in rooms which are representative of heating conditions and not influenced by external factors. Rooms with north facing windows are not influenced by the sun. Rooms with additional heating; kitchens, utility rooms and living rooms for example, should be avoided.
In a house this tends to mean a north facing bedroom, but all houses are different.
South facing rooms, in particular, should have local controls to limit the effects of solar gains, such as thermostatic valves.
You need to find a place in the house that is (a) convenient and (b) heated but heats up more slowly than most/all other places.
Often the hall way is a good compromise provided its heating is commensurate with (or a little less than ) the whole house.
A simple wired or wireless gadget connected to the internet and a couple of mains relays.
Indeed. So why isn't it standard now? Given a modern microcontroller based heating controller (particularly a wireless one), the additional manufacturing complexity would be minimal.
Possibly because the culture of hi-tec and heating controls are very different.
Frankly seeing the complete mess that some installers make of ordinary mains heating controls I can't imagine the difficulties they would get into with wireless networking.
In addition, you've got to consider what the end user can cope with. The only 'hi-tech' bit of my heating system is a programmable room stat. Nevertheless, if I ever get run over by a bus, my wife won't have a clue how to use it!
I have found from experience it is better not to install programmable stats for any user over about 60 y.o.
I'm not sure that it's an age thing - but more an attitude/aptitude thing. A lot of people in their 30's and 40's struggle to programme a VCR (do they still exist?) - and such people would struggle with a programmable stat.
FWIW, I was over 60 when I installed my programmable stat - but I have embraced technology for most of my life, and have no problems with it. But I wouldn't rate my wife's chances of coping with it - and she's a few years younger than me, but is somewhat technologically challenged despite being very intelligent in other areas.
In message , Roger Mills writes
Oh yes - they have to still exist - I still have another 100 or so VHS tapes I need to go through & digitise the parts that are worth keeping. :)
I reckon it's a starting rule, of course there are exceptions. I have found that some older people say they want something more sophisticated and then can't cope. Whilst some younger people have been pleasantly surprised that a programmable was so much better "not faffing about in the airing cupboard".
In message , Si writes
I've abandoned any idea of attempting such an undertaking
I still have a couple of thousand tapes
Let's face it, almost everything that's ever been transmitted will be repeated eventually on digital TV as they run out of programs, so it's only a matter of time before you can copy it directly
In message , geoff writes
Perhaps my pile is more manageable but I tend to do it when I'm doing something else around the house. I might finish in a couple of months or so.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.