remote control of furnace

[micky]

Last summer I spent a lot of time trying to decide on a better way to control my furnace. I wanted to be able to turn it off without going to the basement or the living room on a day like today, when it was in the

60's all night and will stay at 65 to 68 all day long, and to turn off the AC on a day when it will be no more than 80 all day long.

I looked into wireless themostats. I could keep it by my bed, atlhough they are as big as 2 decks of cards. Or ones that are controlled by a cellphone. For that, I could use my cellphone or even, I think, my previous cell phone with no SIM card since it could just use the wifi iirc. Of course I'd still have to keep that phone charged and I'd have to wait when I turned it on, and the control unit at the other end costs money.

All choices looked inconvenient at best and not worth the money.

Finally it dawned on me, and I just interrupted the thermostat connection at the furnace, ran a wire from the furnace up the laundry chute and mounted a mini-toggle-switch on the metal panel that surrounds the chute's opening in the 2nd floor hall. Works perfectly and would have cost only $4 except I already had the wire, the switch, and the wire-nuts.

[hubops]

Our home's thermostat is located in a logical, convenient location - on the main floor, where we walk-by-it ~ 10 times-per-day. I can't imagine needing an upstairs or basement control. It has all the fancy programmability that we never use at all - - for us - it functions like an old-style dial thermostat except with digital read-out and control panel ... PS : don't forget to check/replace the batteries every so often ! .. before they go dead & corrode & ruin the device. John T.

[TimR]

This makes no sense.

If the day is warm enough to not need the furnace, then the thermostat will not turn it on. That's what they do.

If the day is cool enough to not need the AC, then the thermostat will not turn it on. That's what they do.

Just set your thermostat to a reasonable temperature and forget about it. Sheesh!

[Ed Pawlowski]

Mine is right outside my bedroom door. When I go to bed I turn it down

4 degrees. When I get up in the morning I put it up to daytime temperature.

Exception is about 4 or 5 night in winter I run some heat.

[trader_4]

And what about when you forget to re-enable the thermostat, go downstairs, figure out it feels too hot or cold and have to go back upstairs to turn it on? It's also not just about turning it on or off. With real remote thermostat control, you can actually adjust the thermostat. If the thermostat is set to 76, it's at 76, but it feels too humid, you can lower it to 74. I would also bet that there will be times when he's downstairs, the AC comes on, he decides it shouldn't, he dials the temp up to stop it. Then later when he's upstairs flipping the switch isn't going to do what he wants, because the thermostat was moved up to disable the AC.

[hubops]

L O L .. glad that _somebody_ thought this through. ;-) John T.

[Clare Snyder]

You forget the OP is Micky, right??

[micky]

That's the way it was for years and every year there were a few days that I didn't like that. It doesn't work. For example, most of the time I want the heat set to 68, but if it's a generally warm time, then I don't want the heat on even if it's 65 out, maybe even 60. With the AC it's even more true.

And I forgot the obstinate nature of so many posters here! Ed's plan is good, and if the floor plan had allowed for a wired thermostat there or near there, I would have done it. I didn't want to use wireless. And my current solution solves all my problems.

[DerbyDad03]

I control my Nest thermostat with my smartphone via the Nest app or with my voice via my Echo Dot(s). The smartphone app works from anywhere. I have 4 Dots, so that method works from anywhere in my house and garage.

Alexa, set the temperature to ___ degrees. Alexa, increase/decrease the temperature. (changes by 2°F) Alexa, increase/decrease the temperature by ___ degrees. Alexa, turn the thermostat off.

Basically, anything that can be set at the thermostat can be set by the Nest app on my phone, including the schedule. The Alexa method is a more limited.

It didn't/doesn't cost me anything. I paid $35 for the Nest through my utility and I've gotten well over $35 in credits applied to my bill by participating in "set-back" periods during times of high AC usage. I already had the Echo Dots for other reasons, so all I had to do was add the (free) Nest skill.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Not a bad deal. I'd do that if offered, I have two Dots. I just don't have the incentive to spend $100 when it is so easy for me to change it with a couple of tops.

In my last house I had two programmable T-stats and rarely changed the program. Overall worked well. I'm on one level now.

[gfretwell]

We screwed around with programmable thermostats for 30 years. I am back to this and it seldom gets touched.

[angelica...]

When we were both working, the programmable thermostat was useful. Now it's set at 71 F pretty much all the time. If we're working around the house, we might nudge it down to 70.

I'd like it colder at night, but when he gets up for his multiple overnight bathroom jaunts, he prefers it warmer.

Cindy Hamilton

[TimR]

+1

[gfretwell]

We just have a separate AC for the bedroom. No use keeping the whole house at 65. ;-)

[DerbyDad03]

I assume you mean "taps".

It's easy for me to change mine with a couple of taps also. Thing is, my taps are on the smartphone that sitting on the nightstand, while I'm still cozy in bed. Even easier is using the whisper mode on my bedroom Dot.

Me whispering: Alexa...raise the temperature Alexa whispering back: The temperature is set to 72

I don't ever change the *program* but I do change the temperature.

Using Eco-mode for vacations is easier than reprogramming to single temp all the time, but not as economical. That's the one drawback of a Nest stat - no Hold mode. I don't understand why. How hard can it be to add that feature to the software?