Actions
Forum Thread Details
  • Replies 5 replies
  • Subscribers 31 subscribers
  • Views 489 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Related

Thermostat Ideas

Former Member

I thought about doing something similar with my  thermostat, but I want to just get rid of the old thermostat and use an  micro controller with a thermistor to control the furnace/ac, which  would leave room for time-based controls too.  I'm not sure what the voltage levels are on standard thermostat lines, but I'm sure it can be easily controlled with some transistors and/or relays.

I've had a few other ideas too, like having different temperature sensors for each room with servos controlling the vents, so that the room would only get heat/ac when it needed it, which means either more even heating/cooling or you could shut off the heat to rooms you aren't using.

I think it might be even  better to use some type of rfid system so it knows when you leave.

  • Ben lives in an apartment and wouldn't be able to remove it. My idea posted before this is to have an aligator clip to the terminals and just use a relay since I think its 24V.

  • in reply to Former Member

    The Honeywell thermostats just snap off their base, & the wires could easily be connected without modifying anything. All that would be needed hardware wise would be relays for the heat call, A/C call, and fan. T-stats run on 24VAC. Ben already has a temp sensor connected.

  • Perhaps make a unit that goes completely over the thermostat. Ben could create a cylinder that has teeth on the inside that will go over the thermostat wheel but also come through the box to allow for manual control.  I would also suggest that he can cover over the air vents that allow the thermostat to tell the temperature and use the temperature sensing module on his circuit to determine the temperature of the room.  Then program the microcontroller to turn the heat knob up to get the room up to temperature then turn it back down after it is at temperature.  Ben could even put a LCD on the front of the box and display the room temperature digitally.

  • what you could do is get one of the cheap digital thermostats and replace the old honeywell because hedg12 is right and they do just pop off the base and you could interface the webserver and micro controller to the digital one and adjust the temp by single digits or have the buttons to the preprogrammed temps like in the video.

  • Also if Ben was interested in making a new shop machine he could make a cheap vacuum former to take a mould of the thermostat wheel.  That away he could pour a identical wheel and the teeth would have lined up.