Wireless thermostat for the garage - need help!

"deekster_caddy" (deekster_caddy)
02/24/2014 at 16:46 • Filed to: None

I'm not buying a Nest thermostat (pictured) for my garage. I'm looking for a wifi based thermostat that I can remote into to turn it on and set the temp. That way I can turn the heater on an hour or so before I go out there, without having to be there. Sometimes I'm leaving work and know I'm going to do something in the garage, and it takes a long time to warm up (because it's 7 degrees...)

I normally want the heater "OFF" not on low or 40. Thermostat needs to do low temp range (45 is enough some days), and needs to be able to turn off heat completely.

I can't tell from any of the packaging/descriptions if basic wifi enabled thermostats can turn off the heat completely. Has anybody used one that can tell me for sure?

Here are the three things I need the thermostat to do:

Thermostat - normally off. I can log in to see the current temp.

Remote login - enable heat, set to 50 (ish) if 55 were the lowest setpoint I wouldn't be horrified

Remote login - disable heat.

Anyone? Thanks!

DISCUSSION (26)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 16:49

I don't know about the Nest specifically, but I'm pretty sure the one I've been exposed to did have a full off.

CAR_IS_MI > deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 16:52

http://www.smarthome.com/_/Thermostats_…

deekster_caddy > CAR_IS_MI
02/24/2014 at 16:58

Have experience with any of them? I don't see in the descriptions if they can choose 'off'.

deekster_caddy > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
02/24/2014 at 16:59

Thanks. I'm definitely not buying a Nest for the garage! But I couldn't see in the descriptions of most of these if 'off' was a choice.

CAR_IS_MI > deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 17:03

Not directly, no. I have been looking into this as well as various other bits of home automation. I like the Nest for inside the house, I also looked into the Honeywell as I grabbed an Insteon starter kit and an giving that a test run. I think the Honeywell may be your best bet.

jariten1781 > deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 17:06

I have a friend who has a honeywell wi-fi focuspro. I know from fooling around with the app that it has heat, cool, and off as well as the temp controls. I'm not 100%, but I believe 40 was the low setting for heat.

deekster_caddy > jariten1781
02/24/2014 at 17:14

awesome, thanks!

nafsucof > deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 17:45

Kinja'd!!!

Try this one. We use it at work. You can adjust it from the office, or from you phone.

deekster_caddy > nafsucof
02/24/2014 at 17:47

great, thanks! I can't tell from the pic brand or if it can go to 'off'. Edit - oh, Radio Thermostat IS the brand!!!

desertdog5051 > deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 17:53

Check out Lowes. They have a plethora of that stuff.

horspowr1001 > deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 18:30

I don't have experience with using it, but I researched quite a bit and I think this one will suit your needs: http://www.amazon.com/ecobee-EB-STAT…

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nafsucof > deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 19:33

Yeah you can adjust if from anywhere and set a program online. They are pretty great as long as you have wifi. We have 6 in my restaurant. It can go to off. The nest can't? I've heard the nest has a hard time keeping people comfy, ie the way it cycles ac on and off it's either too cold or waits too long and gets too hot. Opposite for the heat, read it in the nest forums btw.

Straightsix9904 > deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 20:08

$100 from Sams Club I'm pretty sure. I helped my dad install 2 of them about a week ago.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/7-day-the…

deekster_caddy > desertdog5051
02/25/2014 at 08:45

Yeah I've been to Lowes and Home Depot and looked at them online. But it's not easy to tell if they have an 'off' or what the range is. Figured I'd check in with Oppoland because you guys always have good suggestions!

deekster_caddy > horspowr1001
02/25/2014 at 08:46

Wow, $250 is kinda steep! Looks like it does way more than I need.

deekster_caddy > nafsucof
02/25/2014 at 08:48

Oh the Nest probably can, but it's way over what I was hoping to spend. Plus the Nest has way more features than I'm looking for. Just the garage - mostly off, and all I really want to do is be able to turn it on and off remotely.

I thought about just putting an X-10 type power switch on the furnace circuit, but it might be nice to get some actual temp feedback too.

msaleem > deekster_caddy
02/25/2014 at 09:55

Hey @deekster_caddy, I'm in charge of advocacy and community relations at ecobee and if you like, I'd be happy to put you in touch with one of our technical support specialists to see if an ecobee smart thermostat is right for you. Otherwise they can probably even recommend alternatives. You can also reach them directly if you want: 1.877.932.6233 or holler at me at @ecobee

horspowr1001 > deekster_caddy
02/25/2014 at 10:14

Yeah, the price is why I didn't get it. I'll get it later when I buy a house, so the cost savings will be realized faster. And I'm sure by then they'll release some newer generations with even better features.

deekster_caddy > msaleem
02/25/2014 at 10:38

awesome, thanks! I don't do twitter but I'll call that number if I can't find the info I need.

deekster_caddy > horspowr1001
02/25/2014 at 10:41

I'm having trouble figuring out how a 'smart thermostat' is going to save me any money on my heating bills for my house over a 'normal' programmable thermostat. The 4 changes per day with a different weekend schedule is really all we could ever want.

Of course, our house has old school steam heat, and the boiler needs to be on for about 20 minutes before any heat actually starts coming out the radiators, plus the cast iron radiators stay hot for about an hour after the thing shuts off. So in our case, there is no thermostat that can save money on our heating costs.

horspowr1001 > deekster_caddy
02/25/2014 at 11:01

I'm actually pretty familiar with radiator systems, but not sure how the smart thermostats work with them. I would expect that in your case you'd see less of a benefit to a smart thermostat, especially if you already use a programmable thermostat. I'm trying to think of any way the smart thermostat would help you, and the most I can come up with is:

1) Irregular days with no occupancy (working late, out to dinner, etc), unless you're religious about turning it off when you leave the house

2) Programming so that the heat pumps turn on once in the morning before work, allowing the house to be heated by the residual heat after the system shuts off.

3) Adjusting cycling and on time to anticipate for weather conditions

4) Helping you adjust your own habits by showing you how much a degree or two will save here and there (even more limited since you already use a programmable thermostat)

You might be better served by one of the Filtrete or similar thermostats with a "Save Energy" mode and "Holiday/Party" override modes such as this one, which is what we bought: http://www.amazon.com/Filtrete-7-Day…

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deekster_caddy > horspowr1001
02/25/2014 at 11:07

Hmm. Interesting strategies for a heat pump/circulation type system. But steam... ah steam. The boiler fires up, boils the water after a while, the steam rises to the radiators, controlled by the old fashioned air release valve in each radiator. Then the radiators get good and hot, the thermostat temp is reached, boiler shuts off, and the steam slowly condenses and drains back to the boiler. No fancy pumps here. I have to set the start time for a heating cycle about 1/2 hour before we actually want the house warm, so if I want the house warm at 6AM when we wake up, I need to have the thermostat turn up at about 5:15. Then the radiators get hot, the house gets hot, and the radiators stay hot for another hour or so, sending the house temp shooting way past the setpoint. By the next time the thermostat needs to turn on it's noon. To warm the house 2 degrees means warming it 8-10 degrees, then waiting for it to cool 6.

horspowr1001 > deekster_caddy
02/25/2014 at 12:14

Ah I see, no heat pumps. Alright then, forgive me if you have already tried this, but let's look at this morning scenario for shits and giggles. Let's say your set point and target house temp is 70 deg by 6AM; currently your morning goes as follows (correct me if I'm wrong here at all).

1) 5:15AM, T-stat changes set point from your night set point to 70 deg. Boiler fires up.

2) 6AM, temp reaches 70deg. Boiler off.

3) You leave the house for work at 7AM. Residual heat still in system, temp continues to rise. Let's say by 8:00 the house temp is now 78 deg.

4) After 8:15AMish temp starts to decline slowly, and by 12P the temp finally drops below the set point to 69 degrees. (But by now you're already out of the house, so set point is prob lower).

How about this alternative setting:

1) 5:15AM, T-stat changes set point from your night set point to 63 deg. Boiler fires up.

2) 5:35-5:40AM, temp reaches 63deg. Boiler off. Cost savings realized here since boiler shut off early. Set point dropped to daytime away temp 55-58deg?

3) House continues to heat through residual heat in system. By 6AM you get up, house should be around 69-71 deg.

4) You leave the house for work at 7AM. House begins to cool slowly around 7:15-7:30AM.

5) By 11AM-12PM temp hits set point of 55-58deg, system activates but shuts off early since it's just below set point. Heats house to 63-66 deg. Cost savings can be realized here as well.

Granted, this would require a decent amount of tweaking to get to your desired level of comfort at the particular timing, but all this is using a normal programmable t-stat, nothing fancy. The biggest benefit a smart thermostat might provide here is the automatic tweaking once it learns your patterns.

deekster_caddy > horspowr1001
02/25/2014 at 12:57

The problem is that in order for the steam system to start to increase the temp at all, the boiler has to heat up the cast iron heat exchanger, boil the cold water and push steam all the way to the radiators. From overnight cold that takes about 45 minutes. Then it doesn't matter if your setpoint was 1 degree higher or 5 degrees higher, the radiators get the same hot and the boiler runs for either 45 minutes to reach 1 degree higher or 55 minutes to reach 5 degrees higher... Then no matter what your setpoint was the house gets about 6-8 degrees past that.

Basically we have the program approximately like this: nighttime 10:30PM-5:15AM at 63, morning 5:15-7:30 at 68, daytime 7:30-4:00 64 (I don't think the boiler actually runs at all most days, unless it's less than about 10 degrees outside. The sun keeps the house pretty warm), 4:00-10:30 67. I don't know that we can balance comfort and cost much better than that. In the evenings the house could be anywhere from 65 as a low to 73-74 if the heat was on recently. The boiler only cycles on every few hours, for the most part. House is reasonably well insulated (better than most 100+ y.o. houses) and new windows, etc. Without wearing coats I don't see many ways to save more, but damn does this house use a lot of gas.

Our gas bill is pretty damn high, but then we have the big gas steam boiler, gas hot water heater, gas clothes dryer, gas stove and my garage heater is gas too!

deekster_caddy > msaleem
02/25/2014 at 13:03

Thanks for the recommendation. I don't think a smart thermostat will work in this application though. It's a detached garage that spends most of it's time unheated. I just need to turn the heat on an hour before I get there, which is sporadic. There is no pattern to learn, or minimum temp to keep. All I need is remote enable and maybe remote temp set.

msaleem > deekster_caddy
02/26/2014 at 12:26

Thank you for writing back. You can always call our tech support even for general questions. Doesn't have to be ecobee-related :)

Best of luck!