Supertramp Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I can see it may be of use to a select few but as I said before, if I turn on my heating when I walk in the house the house is warm in around 20 minutes, if I were to turn the heating on remotely then it would be on about 20 minutes earlier, where's the saving in that? As for the GPS switching it on I often pass by my house when I am travelling from one job to another I also have to call home sometimes for tools or ladders etc, do I want my C/H to turn on every tiime I'm near? Well that's you, most people, or people that I know anyway, programme their heating to come on half an hour before they go home and I'me sure the GPS function will be more complex than that. You don't find it useful but that doesn't mean others won't and it won't be a select few either. I think the Zoning system Honeywell are making will be much better although quite expensive as I only use a few rooms in my house but the control valves on radiators aren't great for controlling. I don't want them to be freezing but they don't need to be warm either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Well you wouldn't need the Arduino board and the cheaper Raspberry Pi model would do the job. You could get all the bits, including a power supply for the Pi, for £50. The real problem, as Supertramp hinted at, is knowing what to do. How would you connect the pi to your heating system without the Arduino board without spending any more money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altus Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 How would you connect the pi to your heating system without the Arduino board without spending any more money? I didn't say anything about not spending more money - I said you could get all the bits for £50. Both the Arduino and Pi are likely to need some sort of interfacing circuit to the central heating system and both could drive this from their I/O pins. Even if the Arduino could do it directly and the Pi couldn't, building the circuits for the Pi would cost less than the cheapest Arduino you can get let alone an £80 starter kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertramp Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I didn't say anything about not spending more money - I said you could get all the bits for £50. Both the Arduino and Pi are likely to need some sort of interfacing circuit to the central heating system and both could drive this from their I/O pins. Even if the Arduino could do it directly and the Pi couldn't, building the circuits for the Pi would cost less than the cheapest Arduino you can get let alone an £80 starter kit. make me one and I'll give you £60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 My initial response would be the same if I had a mobilesmart phone However. I haven't seen the advert either, and OP said... What is the value of this fortune? If it's 99p all in, I'd get it if I had the phone... for the reasons that Hans posted. If it's 99p/per day, then it's a different story. I'm not prepared to watch the ad to find out though. It's neither a standing charge, nor a trivial amount, presumably you need a wifi enabled thermostat to replace your existing one, and after that it's free. ---------- Post added 24-01-2014 at 13:49 ---------- Well to start with there will be the cost of a new controller for the C/H that can be accessed via the mobile phone system for which I bet there will be no change out of £200 or even more, plus the cost of having it fitted. Then If you want to control individual rooms you will need a new valve fitted to every radiator in the house, this would involve the draining of the full system. All this to save about 20 minutes which is about the length of time it takes for my C/H to warm up from cold. If you were building from scratch though, why not have this functionality built in. ---------- Post added 24-01-2014 at 13:50 ---------- Its all part of the automation and control from anywhere technology that is starting to appear. Hue bulbs look pretty good too http://www.meethue.com/en-GB I looked at these a few times, but they're massively over priced for the functionality they deliver. ---------- Post added 24-01-2014 at 13:51 ---------- But would you leave the power on to your holiday cottage when you left it for months? You certainly don't want burst pipes, so I'd expect that the heating would currently be left to come on a few times a day. ---------- Post added 24-01-2014 at 13:52 ---------- It's a good idea and it will get better (not sure if it already does ) but based on your phone's GPS it could know when you are coming home so it could automatically switch the heating on, knows when you have gone out so switches it off in case you forgot, can take into account the external weather. All sorts of other clever stuff. Who leaves GPS turned on all the time ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertramp Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Who leaves GPS turned on all the time ? Doesn't have to be GPS, could be by wi-fi or by cellular location. But yeah I do leave it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I looked at these a few times, but they're massively over priced for the functionality they deliver. Its not that expensive. A starter kit is £179.95 and you get Three Hue Light Bulbs and a Hue Bridge. http://store.apple.com/uk/product/HA779B/A/philips-hue-connected-bulb-starter-pack Who leaves GPS turned on all the time ? Wifi and standard GPRS will give enough data to determine where you are. ---------- Post added 24-01-2014 at 13:58 ---------- Doesn't have to be GPS, could be by wi-fi or by cellular location. But yeah I do leave it on. Modern phones will only turn on the GPS when its needed, such as the Passbook app on the iphone that checks to see if you are close to any shop you might have a voucher for etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Doesn't have to be GPS, could be by wi-fi or by cellular location. But yeah I do leave it on. You must have to charge your phone every 12 hours! Wifi is another waste of battery power. You should investigate the app 'llama' (if you're on android). ---------- Post added 24-01-2014 at 14:48 ---------- Its not that expensive. A starter kit is £179.95 and you get Three Hue Light Bulbs and a Hue Bridge. http://store.apple.com/uk/product/HA779B/A/philips-hue-connected-bulb-starter-pack I think you prove my point. £180 for 3 colour changing light bulbs is massively over priced. I might consider paying £60 for that pack, and I like gadgets and have plenty of spare cash. If I really wanted to be able to colour change my lights I think these would be a better investment at the moment. http://www.ledlightszone.co.uk/gu10/88-gu10-3w-led-16-colour-changing-light-bulb-with-remote-controller.html £13 a bulb (less if you shop around). Sure, they're not connected to my wifi, but do I need to use my phone to change the colour instead of picking up a remote and doing it? How often will I actually need purple lighting instead of just white? (Probably just for parties is the answer). Do I really want my lights to flash because I got an email (No, not really). Would being able to turn them on an off remotely be useful (more of a gimmick really). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altus Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 make me one and I'll give you £60 That's the likely cost of the bits - I'd need to know what needs to be done to interface it with your boiler and the software to control it all would be considerably extra. Besides which, I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to designing electronics - I wouldn't attempt this with my central heating. My advice is remember to switch your heating off when you leave the house and wear a jumper until you house is warm enough after you come in . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertramp Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 That's the likely cost of the bits - I'd need to know what needs to be done to interface it with your boiler and the software to control it all would be considerably extra. Besides which, I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to designing electronics - I wouldn't attempt this with my central heating. My advice is remember to switch your heating off when you leave the house and wear a jumper until you house is warm enough after you come in . I'd need a balaclava in my house. FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZING. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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