I’m looking for a robust solution to remotely switch on and off a boiler. I’m going to leave the existing programmable thermostats in place and wire a relay in series with them.
The only internet connection is via a wireless ‘mifi’ device on a 4G network so as far as I can work out I can’t use port forwarding and a web server - but some kind of cloud-based service should work. There is Adafruit’s IO (in closed beta) but the Particle one looks particularly strong.
I’ll take the silence as a ‘no’ then. I’ve ordered one to play with. I’m interested in the OTA updates and the fact that if Particle goes bust I can host my own version of their cloud (I think…) Also pre-ordered a couple of Oaks which are ESP8266 based and will work with the Particle cloud.
In the mean time I’ve got a system working to switch relays using aNodeMCU DevKit that I had hanging around. About £4 from AliExpress, it seems to be a reasonably easy way to get into ESP8266. I have it talking to DIoTY via MQTT. They have an Android and IoS app that allows you to publish and subscribe to the MQTT feed and customise buttons that switch things on and off.
Still slightly struggling to get 2 one-wire thermometers working at the same time.
I haven’t used it, the students have, they got given them at a conference they went to last year… They liked the Wi-Fi Uploading once they got it working with our network here…
The NodeMCU board switches relays that are in series with the programmable controllers - so at the moment I’m just getting ‘on’ and ‘off’ control via my smartphone.
What thus does mean is that the relays are continuously energised when the heating/hot water is on. Is this a problem? Should I worry about them sticking on?
No, only if you get arcing when the power is on and off will you weld them closed maybe… The alternative would be an SSR. Speak to Joe about that thought.
For what its worth, Hive and Nest have got the problem wrong, at least as I see it. I don’t need a clever-er central thermostat, I need distributed thermostats: in practice, radiators that know when they need to be hot, and can call for that heat.
To link to what I said the other night, I have eTRVs that are networked so I can program them with a 24/7 schedule using a proper UI on my computer. But right now I can’t call for heat: the software and Arduino is there, but nicely retrofitting the Vaillant mechanical timer unit has fallen foul of my hubris… but that’s another story, for when I’ve got it back together
I agree about Hive and Nest, but I suppose they are just making a product that’s easy to retrofit into the majority of existing systems in this country.
Given the lack of understanding amongst the general public about what a thermostat actually does it’s not surprising the state of heating technology in this country is so poor…
Individually controllable radiators would be nice. My antivirus software objects to those links you included, but I’ve seen the 3 Max system before and it looks reasonably priced. I’ve also heard that the actuators for underfloor heating can be screwed onto the valves instead of a TRV if you don’t mind a wired system.