Thermosmart: Arduino thermostat

posted Mar 12th 2009 11:41am by
filed under: arduino hacks, classic hacks, home hacks

smartstat

[Chris] sent in the Thermosmart. It is an Arduino controlled thermostat. It has a web interface which allows him to see the current temperature and make adjustments from remote locations. He can set heating or cooling to on, off, or auto and adjust the ranges as well. We’ve seen similar done with an Arduino before, even one with a nice LCD interface. This could possibly be useful for remote plant monitoring as well.



25 Responses to Thermosmart: Arduino thermostat

  • yoss says:
    March 12, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    remote plan monitoring? Is that the new euphemism used for growing illegal substances now?

    Reply Report comment
  • goldscott says:
    March 12, 2009 at 12:33 pm

    I’ve been thinking of making a networked thermostat/temperature logger using Microchip parts. Guess I should get that started…

    Reply Report comment
  • Del says:
    March 12, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    cool, but does it twitter when the “remote plants” are ready for harvest?

    *ducks*

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  • dan says:
    March 12, 2009 at 2:30 pm

    pretty cool idea, but to be honest… why do you need to know the temperature of your house when you are not at home? just turn the heating off!

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  • smartchild says:
    March 12, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    weed factory anyone

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  • Adam Ziegler says:
    March 12, 2009 at 4:34 pm

    kegerator

    Reply Report comment
  • alu says:
    March 12, 2009 at 4:44 pm

    @dan i’ll keep my house at a nice 74 degrees 24/7 thnakyouverymuch

    Reply Report comment
  • Jodi Silva says:
    March 12, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    My housemate had this idea about 3 years ago.
    We now want to buy one.
    How much will you sell us ne for?

    Reply Report comment
  • Jodi Silva says:
    March 12, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    Followup to last ?
    Me wanted it to connect to our wireless network.
    G,N or B.
    Can he still get the patent for that?
    Thanks.

    Reply Report comment
  • Kyle McDonald says:
    March 12, 2009 at 7:20 pm

    rubberbands++

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  • Sam says:
    March 13, 2009 at 7:33 am

    Does anyone else find it a little bit funny that at the end of the project he puts it into a closet (which insulates the thermostat from air in circulation) with electronics (which give off heat)?

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  • John deVries says:
    March 13, 2009 at 9:17 am

    Praytell, isn’t this a little bit like using an elephant rifle to shoot a mosquito? Not that it isn’t cool, but Honeywell was making perfectly adequate set-back thermostats umpty-ump years ago.

    Still, I wish I had this gentleman’s abilities.

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  • supershwa says:
    March 13, 2009 at 3:01 pm

    another one from caleb — at least it’s better than his shoe phone post

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  • justgosh says:
    March 13, 2009 at 4:41 pm

    To the naysayers… think bigger… think home automation…
    If you still don’t get it, one of these from HAI is over $100 and you need their central CPU and remote software to view it from anywhere in the world (Omg, I’m at the airport and I forgot to arm the alarm and turn off the AC).
    This is less than $100, customizable, and internet addressable. Nicely done sir or ma’am.

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  • Chris Mavrakis says:
    March 13, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    “pretty cool idea, but to be honest… why do you need to know the temperature of your house when you are not at home? just turn the heating off!”

    @dan
    One may need it for a remote house, used only a few days a year. (vacation house)

    The problem is that it needs too much time to heat up (2-3 days) so if you start the heating when you arrive for the weekend, you’ll live in a cold house and leave right when it starts warming up!

    Another purpose of going digital is to make a smarter algorithm that will improve economy.

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  • Chris Mavrakis says:
    March 13, 2009 at 5:28 pm

    @Jodi Silva
    Please email me at
    cmavr8 a-t gmail d-o-t com

    I AM using a linksys wireless router to get it connected to my wifi! It can be easily done but costs another $50 or so..

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  • Chris Mavrakis says:
    March 13, 2009 at 5:31 pm

    “Does anyone else find it a little bit funny that at the end of the project he puts it into a closet (which insulates the thermostat from air in circulation) with electronics (which give off heat)?”

    @sam
    In the utp cable, along with the relay’s control, I have three wires for the temperature sensor too, so that it’s just next to the original thermostat, and not next to the arduino.

    The third picture in my blog shows that. (the LM-35 sensor is like a transistor)

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  • Chris Mavrakis says:
    March 13, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    @justgosh
    Thanks!
    You got the point. It’s expandable. This is just the hardware with basic programming.

    As I explained before, advanced heat profiles can be set, so that temperature is more “smartly” controlled through-out the day/week/month/year.

    Copying from the end of the original post:
    “To get the heating even smarter one could use motion sensors, bluetooth of phones, or even a gps enabled Android phone to determine if heating is needed or not.”

    Reply Report comment
  • billige flyrejser says:
    March 17, 2009 at 11:36 am

    I really liked the way they came off

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  • chatturux says:
    March 20, 2009 at 7:50 am

    Create an iPhone app to this and you’ve got quite a nice set-up. Impressive.

    Reply Report comment
  • flyrejser says:
    March 20, 2009 at 12:39 pm

    Is there a way to locate someone locally to try this?

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  • cmavr8 says:
    March 22, 2009 at 9:13 am

    flyrejser, where do you live?
    I don’t think statistics are on our side..

    Reply Report comment
  • Lizzy says:
    April 13, 2010 at 8:34 am

    Spring is not just for cleaning, but also for fixing your house heat and cool system. My roommates and I check the furnace filter, make sure the fan is running properly, and sometimes replace the thermostat controller. We like to use our furnace to circulate and clean the air to remove all of the pollen that is in the air. Honeywell makes some nice controlls and I’ve also found a brand called PECO that uses a custom algorithm to run the fan during the spring time. The only site I’ve been able to buy them at is thermostatlinevoltage.com there may be other sources out there though. Just some thoughts.

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  • Haley says:
    April 13, 2010 at 9:43 am

    Spring is not just for washing, but also for repairing your house heat and cool system. My family and I check the furnace filter, make sure the fan is running properly, and sometimes replace the thermostat. We like to use our furnace to circulate and clean the air to remove all of the pollen that is in the air. Honeywell makes some nice controlls and I’ve also found a brand called PECO that uses a custom algorithm to run the system fan during the spring time. The only site I’ve been able to buy them at is thermostatlinevoltage.com there may be other sources out there though. Just some thoughts.

    Reply Report comment

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