remote ctl interior wall mount thermostat?

_NOT_ a "wifi" one..

We've gotten in the habit of, when it's feeling cold [a], walking over to the wall mounted basic mercury tilt (!!!) thermostat and bumping it up a notch, and similarly, if we feel too hot, sliding it down a bit.

I'd love to have a handheld remote unit that would let us do this from the other side of the room.

The vision I've got is of a wall mount base that has a thermoter display on it optimally showing both the room temp and the setting.

The handheld unit should either let us bump the wall numbers up/down a bit, or alternatively have an actual numerical setting on it which gets transmitted to the wall.

The key requirement is that the actual monitoring thermostat be the box on the wall, not the device in our hands.

- I've seen these types of controls as part of the minisplit (and presumably other) air conditioning/heating units. The handheld part simply adjusts the main circuit. But I haven't found any that are just the basic thermostat set.

- In another location I've got an Insteon remote thermostat. In that one the portable unit does the setting and measuring, and then kicks the base into operation. But again, I'm looking for one that measures the temperature at the wall box. [b]

Any suggestions? Thanks

[a] when the temperature is -10 F outside, there's a big difference in sections of the house... especialy if there's any wind... Or when what little sun there is here comes out, but on one side of the building... [b] works great for the religious temple we use it in. We've got the remotes in the kitchen and bathrooms, set to 40 F, and have adjusted the heat to focus in that area. The rest of the building can cheerfully come down to 20 F. (We turn it back up on the days we hold services).
Reply to
danny burstein
Loading thread data ...

The thermostat you envision does exist - made/sold by "smart home".

see it at

formatting link

Reply to
clare

That's the exact system we're using at the temple, where we just need to keep the water pipe area at 32 (we have it set to 40).

But again, it's controlling the furnace based on the temperature at the handheld/portable portion.

We're looking for something that we can move around that remotely adjusts the _wall_ portion.

Thanks.

Reply to
danny burstein

Honeywell makes one of those too - I believe it is the Prestige.

see

formatting link

Reply to
clare

nice unit. but still doesn't do it:

"If you want the temperature to be 62 degrees at night in your bedroom and you put the PCC on the nightstand, that's what it is, not 62 in the hallway or living room."

- and also it's 5 hundred dollars...

This sounds like such a simple concept, and these are part and parcel of pretty much any Mini Split unit and many window air conditioners [a]. It's a simple handheld unit, the size of a tv remote, which adjusts the temperature settings on the wall mounted thermostat.

[a] prbably available on electric and other heaters, too, but I don't have any experience with them.

Thanks again

Reply to
danny burstein

I would like something like that too.

That would be okay by me. I would just turn it up a notch if I were cold in the bedroom or down a notch if hot. Wouldn't have to care about the absolute temperature.

The only thing I know that will do what you want is a wife from Hong Kong, Singapore, or Japan.

However they usually don't work for more than 2 years. By the end of two years, they've found out how American women live and they want to live that way too. So they won't anymore get up and certainly won't go downstairs every time the temperature needs changing.

Find a minisplit maker and see how much they want for a replacement thermostat and remote. Please let me know. I would love to have that.

Might be expensive, but still less than a wife, considering the travel costs here and then back after two years.

Reply to
micky

This one looks pretty good and it's only 200 dollars, not 700.

1) I was shopping for a furnace, and they all pretty much insisted I buy a new fancy thermostat with the furnace, even though I have a 7-day setback Heat/AC stat that works just fine. Were they bluffing? Just trying to squeeze more money out of me? None of them offered a remote control thermostat.

So if I bought this, could I use it with my brand new furnace/AC. Surely t he answer is yes.

Or would I get stuck replacing it soon after I buy it, because I bought a furnace that had its own assigned stat?

2) Also, from the Details, what does this mean: "When more than one transmitter is used, the receiver will only accept commands from the transmitter that was last used (button pressed). All other set points and modes from other transmitters are ignored. If the transmitter with Unit ID Number 1 has a schedule and is in Program On mode, the receiver will revert back to following the programmed schedule when a time period change occurs, even if the transmitter with Unit ID Number 1 is not the current commanding transmitter."

I"m not going to get more than one transmitter, but it sounds like there is no point to having more than one!! The first 4 lines have to be a mistake, right?

Reply to
micky

My ultimate solution would be to implant an RFID style temperature sensor in my wife that controlled our home HVAC system.

Reply to
Jack Goff

Maybe. One factor is they probably prefer using a new thermostat that they know versus a customer's old one. They may have past experiences of customers having problems, callbacks, etc where it turns out it was the old thermostat.

One key issue is if you're getting a two stage furnace, which, IMO, most people should. With a two stage, it fires at full capacity or about 2/3's capacity. Most of the time, when it's just maintaining, it fires at the 2/3's. These can be set up two different ways. One is to set it so the furnace always comes on at low stage. Then, if it's still running X mins later, it will switch itself to high stage. The X mins may be settable to like 3 mins or 8 mins, etc.

The other way to set it up is with a two stage thermostat. That is the better way. In that case, the thermostat makes the call whether to use low stage or high stage. The thermostat, unlike the furnace, knows right away if the temp needs to be raised just one degree or 5 degrees. The benefit is you get more heat faster when you need it, instead of waiting

8 mins firing on low.

So, if they are including a dual stage thermostat with a dual stage furnace and setting it up to use it, then there is a good reason for the new thermostat. One problem though. The two stage thermostat needs an extra wire. If that isn't there, in your wall, almost all installers are going to set it up in the timed mode, ie where a two stage thermostat isn't going to matter.

Today if I were getting a new thermostat, I'd want a wifi one. That way, if you're going on a trip, maybe not sure when you're coming back, you can connect via smartphone on the way back and have the house at temp when you arrive. It's also good if you're not sure you turned back the temp when you left, want to check the house temp to make sure the system is working, etc. Plus you can use your smartphone as a remote while in the house. It's not exactly what the OP wants though, because everyone who wants to fiddle with it needs a smartphone, not a shared remote on the table.

Yes.

There are probably some furnaces now that require their own brand specific thermostat. But most don't and you don't have to buy the system that needs the special one.

IDK, it's poorly worded and seems to contradict itself. It sounds like whichever remote sent it the last command is what it does. But that last command could be from a remote that has a time program set in it, in which case, even if that remote is not the one last used, it will become the last one used when the time arrives and it issues a new command.

See above.

Reply to
trader_4

You can remotely control the fixed thermostat - bumping it up or down from the second remote. The primary remote controls the temperature - and if automatic setbacks are used, the setback on the primary has prefference.

They ARE expensive, but innovative technology that actually works generally is.

Reply to
clare

If you have a two stage or modulated furnace you don't get full functionality without the upgraded 'stat.

Yes, it is a dual stage thermostat and actually also an "automatic" thermostat - you don't need to switch from heat to cool - it will heat and cool as required

You can use numerous thermostats. Only one can "take control". You "take control" by pressing a button. When Unit 1 is "in control" Unit

2 has no effect. Nor does Unit 3, etc. Prss the button on Unit 3, and it takes over. However, only one can be the "program master" running scheduled set-backs etc. If #1 is "program master" and #2 is "in control" and you bump the temperature up from #2, when the scheduled setback time arrives, the "program master" takes over, setting the temperature to the programmed value. You can then use #2 to go "off program" again, resetting the temperature to a value that will hold untill you either "run program" or the next scheduled adjustment time, when #1 takes over again.

It is my understanding that the "program master" does all the temperature sensing and the extras just act as"remote controls" - but I could be wrong (it's happened before) or there may be more than one option.

I know there are several different systems out there, some working one way, and others the other way.

The Honeywell stuff has a good reputation

Reply to
clare

Do they make two stage furnaces that run on oil? Maybe that's why no one mentioned two-stage afaicr.

And of course they weren't nearly as comon, or even commonly advertised, just 3 years ago.

I don't have any babies and fwiw that doesn't matter to me. It doesn't take long to heat up or cool down.

That's one way. If I ever get the new burglar alarm installed (I'm 80% done) I'm going to connect a standard 70's round Honeywell thermostat to the alarm, and set it for 5 or 10 degrees lower than the furnace is set for, and it will call the alarm monitioring company and tell them it's too cold in the house. (That is, the furnace isn't working.

The current funace is very good at keeping the whole first and second floor within one or two degrees of the temperatrure the stat is set for, but the easiest place to connect the alarm thermostat would be the basement laundry/furnace room, where the alarm control box is.

I really should start now checking the temp in that room after and just before the furnace goes on, to see how consistent the temp there is. If it's always within 2 degrees, I should set the alarm stat to less than

10 degrees colder.

My own perception is not perfect. I go up to my bedroom around midnight, and it seems so cold, but I keep a known-good thermometer there now and it says 69. When I wake up in the morning, it feels warm and it also says 69. Go figure.

Good.

Okay.

I'll agree with you. Maybe as little as one word got left out. Or the frequent omission of NOT somewhere.

Okay.

Reply to
micky

I don't think they make two-stage for oil furnaces. Probably because you need oil pressure to force the oil out through the nozzle, and ???more pressure won't force out much more??? At any rate, the nozzles are rated in gallons of oil per hour.

Of course there could be two nozzles, sometimes using both, sometimes only one.

I wouldnt' use that. I use the heat maybe 6 months a year, and last summer there were only 8 days I would have used the AC, 30 at the most. I leave the windows open for two months in the spring and two months in the fall, at least.

Okay.

I'd only get one remote, but I do have four remotes for my central DVDR.

OT, but I wanted one for each floor, so I didn't have to run up and down stairs to get the remote. (I'd bought a spare early one because someone was selling them for $10. I should have bought two.)

But this is the funny part. The upstairs remote broke, Several but not all of the buttons in the right column have stopped working. I'll try to repair this eventually, but instead i bought a fourth remote, and I put the broken one in the bathroom to use from the bathtub. Before then I would just walk a few feet to get it from the bedroom, but within

10 days of haiving the broken one in the bathroom, I thought, "Hey, I should get a new one to replace this!" I don't need a new one. (they're $30 now.) I can just go get the new one that's in the bedroom, like the original plan. If I get a 5th remote. I'll put the broken one somewhere and soon want to buy a new one for there.

No, I think you're right. Although I can see someone thinking one remote to do programming is plenty, and then within 10 days thinking, Hey, I shoudl be able to change the program from this one too. Maybe there's an upgrade to the system I should buy.

Reply to
micky

It says 500 to 700 is the installed price. I wonder what the the uninstalled price is?

Though why I would want a "high-resolution widescreen color wall mount thermostat ", I do not know.

Reply to
micky

You can probably find it being sold by someone online, somewhere. One big problem with Honeywell is that for even their midrange thermostats, eg VisionPro, they only sell them through authorized dealers and will not support or answer technical questions from homeowners. If you call their help line and ask how to change set-up parameters in your $500 thermostat, they will tell you that you have to call the local guy with a cigar and butt crack showing to have him do it. The only homeowner installed thermostats they provide that support for are the low end ones sold in stores, etc.

Easy to program, easy to use, and wifi would be high on my list. Color, not so much.

Reply to
trader_4

Apparently they do:

formatting link

But I'm sure gas ones outnumber them greatly.

If it doesn't take long to heat up from say 55 to 70, your system is oversized. I go up about 5F an hour here when it's 30F outside.

That's a good idea.

Reply to
trader_4

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.