Home automation - switching the CH on/off

I don't actually have a "remote", but I have a switch by the back door which breaks the "room thermostat" circuit (I have TRVs so this would normally be permanently bridged) so that it is easy to knock off the heating when I go out for a few hours. So you only need to find a way to break this circuit by phone. More elegant than killing the power (which will stop the timer, if this is electromechanical).

Mmm - yes, good point. Except that I've specified a wireless thermostat!

Rob

Google for Heatmiser. they replace the room thermostat and you will need a wireless network access point to the internet. You can then use your smartphone or internet Cafe to adjust the heatmiser remotely.....

Stephen

P.S.

Only the sensor is wireless. The receiver still has to be wired in to the circuit in the same way as a wired thermostat. How else do you think they work?

But that only helps if the thermostat circuit is live, i.e. the programmer is in an ON period.

I would do it by overriding the output of the programmer. That way the overrun is taken care of by the boiler itself keeping the pump turned on.

suggesting you isolating the boiler supply with a remote control socket just shows your installer is an idiot. Maybe it's the same idiot that reversed live and neutral in the supply to my boiler.

MBQ

There's still a 'wired' bit at the boiler.

You might also want to add a low set point stat, so that the heating comes on if the house drops blow somwthing like 10C even when you don't have it on for normal room temperature.

Another way to do this (which is what I did when I first started home automation) is to fix a heater resistor to the thermostat, or in my case, to the thermostat phile of a modulating heater. This works in reverse, in that when it's on, it subtracts a setback of a fixed number of °C per Watt (in my case, 1W knocked about

Some boilers have the option for a wireless thermostat built in rather than a stand alone receiver module... Makes it harder to modify.

Dave Liquorice submitted this idea :

Maybe this on ebay -

Item number: 170748579755

Seems rather expensive and will require a SIM. OK PAYG ones can be had for next to nothing but most will stop working after a while if you don't make a call every so often.

No feedback as to the state of the switch. Not capable of switching mains.

On 3 the credit on the SIM never expires.

My MiL has an unlocked mobile using a 3 free SIM, for emergencies. She hasn't used the phone in 18 months, but the number is active and the credit still shows up in the account.

Terry Fields

The credit's not the issue; the provider will take the number away from you and give it to someone else if you show no sign of ever using it. I'd suggest you make a test call from the machine once a month.

Also the provider I have a similar emergencies-only phone with freeze the account if you've made no top-up payments to it in a 999-day period. So plan to add some once every couple of years. At least if you've made some test calls you'll have spent some of the credit!

Something like this would do the job using an additional relay:

I can use my mobile phone to switch the CH on and off via my broadband connection to the Internet.

Does 3 have a GSM network? I thought they were pure 3G.

In message , Rob writes

Rubbish - you would be switching the switched live (from the thermostat or timer) to control the boiler on / off. The pcb and associated overruns are powered from the perm. Live

Sack the installer quick he's a clueless idiot

They are, however outside of the 3G coverage areas they piggyback off Orange's (Everything Everywhere) 2G network.

Mathew

You could build your own quite cheaply with Velleman kits from Maplin. You'd need a solenoid that can push the buttons on the wall controller, e.g. one like this:

MM

Haven't been following the thread, so apologies if it's already been suggested, but the Heatmiser WiFi programmable stats can do this ..

Similar here. I use a combined alarm/home automation unit which gives a large number of progammable inputs and outputs and X10 and direct phone line connection, and I have it linked to a PC which also has a

I've done this in two homes now, and the integration of the heating controls with the alarm (occupancy sensing) together with remote control has given me a much larger saving than any of the energy saving measures which are more commonly talked about and undertaken. Additionally, I get advanced warning of things going wrong.

Nice idea but it's a timer and thermostat all in one unit, which would mean running three or four (four in my case) wires from the boiler/timer to the thermostat location. You'd think with all that radio technology they could do better than that.