(Part 3) Reddit mentions: The best home thermostats & accessories

well there is this one:

http://www.amazon.com/VENSTAR-P474-1100RF-WIRELESS-PROGRAMMABLE-THERMOSTAT/dp/B004F1DKSO/ref=pd_cp_hi_1

the piece there with the buttons and screen is the "sender". thats the piece you would move around the house. further down the screen is something that says "Customers buy this item with Residential Receiver by Venstar". You need both units. The receiver hooks up to where your current t-stat is. Venstar is the same as Totaline. Totaline is where we get Carrier brand authorized parts, it's a supply house for HVAC tradesmen. I've put a lot of these in and haven't had any problems. I would search around the internet to try and find the best deal.

Regarding the 2 zones, 2 zones does not mean two units. An HVAC contractor hooks up electronic controls and dampers into your system. Let's say zone 1 (we'll make that your first floor) calls for heat. The system will turn on and open the damper for the first floor but will close the damper for the second floor. So all the hot air is pushed through the ducts that go to the first floor only. Same vice versa. If the second floor calls for heat only that damper will open forcing all the hot air to the second floor and zero to the first. If both t-stats call for heat, both dampers will open and send heat to the whole house. I know my HVAC company gives free quotes so I would call around and have a few companies that give free quotes come and check it out. It may be more economical. But like you said, that'll depend on the length of time you're willing to stay there. Hell, if it's free, you've got nothing to lose. Also, I'm not sure on prices for your area. I work mainly in Fairfield County, CT and Westchester County, NY, both very affluent areas so our prices are steeper than most. Best of luck! Feel free to ask me anymore questions!

I bought this back in 2008. LuxPro LV3 Line Voltage Thermostat, Cool Only https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E7BTFO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_F.jPybZVXGA8P

Back then it did have numerical temperature increments on it. Now it seems that it's cool to warmer. I ended up leaving it on the warmest setting most of the time anyway or it would run all of the time, but my closet was on the main floor and was more prone to the effects of the weather. Odds are your going to benefit from the natural cooling and more constant temperatures of the ground. Since you're in the basement don't forget a good dehumidifier! Good luck!

Looks like you have what the Nest requires based on their information. Y1, Rc, and W1 are all there. https://nest.com/support/article/Power-Specifications-for-the-Nest-Learning-Thermostat#!

However, like Bluejuju543 I have a honeywell that has served me very well for a simple time based schedule - https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-TB7100A1000-Multipurpose-Programmable-Non-Programmable/dp/B008HP2UBM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487099661&sr=8-1&keywords=honeywell+multipro

Costs USD 100 less than the Nest, runs on backup batteries (or on your power source as you have) and is very very reliable.

So the question really comes down to - How fancy do you want to get vs. need to get? What's your budget? Good luck! It's a great DIY project and very straight forward.

I am not sure how much "under the hood" work you want to do, but Insteon makes a thermostat compatible with heat pumps, and its significantly cheaper than ecobee, albeit with less features.

I just started putting together a custom sensor/insteon system with their hub and OpenHab, and so far everything works wonderfully. My theromstat comes next Tuesday, so I cannot speak to how well they work personally. I have found in my research that there is always someone who has a bad experience with any home automation product.

What I like about Insteon is not only how well it integrates with OpenHAB through the hub, but they have extensive documentation about how to send devices direct commands to the hub via IP. I have set up individual light dimmers and scenes with tasker (android), and can even activate them on my watch. When I am connected to my home network, there is little to no latency.

I can give you more details on my setup if you like. My next project is to create a series of temperature sensors using Arduino Micros, akin to Ecobee's room sensors, for my own setup.

EDIT: sorry, I re-read your post and noticed you're on the fence for ecobee vs. zwave. Both are great and I didn't mean to intentionally throw a 3rd option in! I just hope this is informative in some way.

Hi, your gh is just like one of my first. Here is what worked for me and is still working but slightly modified with my 16 foot gh.

Considering where you are, passive solar heating is a must for pots that will be on the ground. Easy to make .. just take 2 ltr bottles, paint matte black and fill with water. Lay them on their sides and put pots on top of them.

Next get a forced fan milkhouse heater, portable thermostat and either a small box fan or oscillating fan. Here is a link for the thermostat:

Portable Thermostat

Make sure you put the thermostat on the ground. I set mine to start the heater when the temperature got below 45°. The fan will circulate the air - keep the fan on 24-7.

Here is another link to the set up and also how I used the bottles for passive solar heating:

http://www.nerii.org/ghheat.jpg

Be advised that you are going to have an algae problem if you use the bubble wrap.

All the same heaters (except the one in the bathroom) and yea it works via water. My Heaters look quite exactly like this one: http://energie-strom.com/strom/stromspartipps/Images/heizung.jpg - except that the thermostat isn't angled. So these would fit perfectly: https://www.amazon.de/eqiva-Bluetooth-Smart-Heizk%C3%B6rperthermostat-141771A1A/dp/B014VHFR6Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1485976525&sr=8-2&keywords=eqiva+heizk%C3%B6rperthermostat - I could unmount my current thermostat and mount this new one and it should basically work, Bluetooth should be turned on then and I can receive the information needed via HA.

But well there might be a problem... what's with the battery?! Is it common that here is a sensor for the battery load? I don't want a huge suprise when I come home and it's hot as fk in my apartment, because the valve is fully opened.

But the "read-off thing" in the middle of the heater (on the picture is no such thing...): https://www.kesselheld.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/heizung-ablesen.jpg - this is electric here in my apartment.

I hope that it helps!

Yes, this is called ambient temperature keeping (also known as the "Terry Phillip method"). Plenty of people do it. Blood Pythons don't like it hot anyway so ambient keeping works perfect for them. It will work for all those species pretty much, 81/83f day temperature with a night drop to about 78/79 degrees is what most people do. An important thing to note if you keep like this is not to feed your animals huge meals (for obvious reasons).

Also, you need a thermostat for that heater (I assume it's an oil radiator?), the Herpstat HP is a good option. Note that the Herpstat HP doesn't work with heaters that have an electronic thermostat, it only works with analog ones. Since your entire collection is now relying on one heat source it's highly recommended you get a wifi thermometer so that you can monitor your room when you aren't there. A failure could possibly mean the death of your entire collection.

There's also products like this Inkbird C929 which is actually a wifi wall thermostat which you can control the heat source and monitor it from your phone, however I haven't really seen much mention of this product in the reptile circle so it has unproven reliability. If paired with the temp stick it could be an option worth trying.

Look on eBay. There are a lot of standard zwave thermostats that were originally installed with security systems. Mine is a Trane Z-wave thermostat. It has scheduling and all of the advanced features you would expect from a high end NON-learning or smart thermostat. Even humidity. If you are like me, you want the smarts in the ST Hub and just want a ST comparable Thermostat. I put mine into hold temp mode, which disregards it's internal schedule. Then I made ST routines to change temps based on time of day, followed up by making it turn that set point for the heater way low if we are all away from home. Great energy saver and I have full control of schedule in ST.

https://www.amazon.com/Trane-TZEMT400BB3NX-SL-Management-Intelligence/dp/B008DNAGBO

BTW in this field of thermostat, you will find many identical rebranded thermostats that are all the same. I finally settled on Trane because of user base.

You will find many on eBay for around $60, and usually in perfect condition.

Tidbit of knowledge for anyone looking to make one of these, retro refrigerators definitely look cool but will use way more electricity than a modern refrigerator modified in the same way. The difference will easily pay for the newer kijiji/craigslist fridge in a year or two due to the difference in the amount of insulation used.

The most efficient option would actually be a small-med size chest freezer that you use a custom temperature controller on (available at brewery stores for ~$50-$80 bucks) or if you have a little DIY electrical skill one of these http://www.amazon.ca/Electronic-Temperature-Controller-Controlling-Refrigerator/dp/B00BVYAXP6/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1405436445&sr=1-1&keywords=temperature+controller. The chest freezers have even more insulation and will use far less electricity.

*Edit - and clean the coils on the back of your refrigerator (if they're accessible, some are buried behind sheet metal). It will allow the coils to transfer heat quicker and allow the motor to work less, increasing the life of your fridge.

I use a CT30 and it's been great. Same functionality as the CT100 (note that the programming gets disabled once you connect with Z-Wave.)

They can also be had for <$30 on eBay, just watch for ZigBee models. They are sold under many brands: Radio Thermostat, 2Gig, Vivint & Filtrete (for the WiFi model). Great products with great support.

Here's my take: I bought a Honeywell programmable thermostat and figured out the times that I was usually at home and usually at work/away. For the times that I'm home, I have it set the temp at what I feel is comfortable. When I'm away, I set the thermostat to raise (or in the winter, lower) the temp to a more affordable setting.

Having that kind of control--especially the micro-adjustments you can make, really help you squeeze more efficiency out of an old setup (as in, will you really notice if it's 78 at 3:30 am when you're asleep? You can keep the house 83 all day long when you're away and then set it to bring it back down to 76 or 77 an hour before you get home.)

You mentioned that you rent; I installed the thermostat myself by just looking at the chart that came with the box--I imagine you and your SO could do the same. Heck, even paying someone to come by and do it for you wouldn't be much expense or take too much time. When it comes time to move, you can simply replace the old one. Voila.

Also, if you wanted to invest in a cheap, small window unit for your bedroom, you could set the big system to turn way up at night (while you're in bed with the door closed, and the window unit cooling just that room) and then cool off in the morning when you're about to wake up--that way you're only cooling the bedroom at night.

You can use the one-room at night strategy in the winter, too. Just substitute the AC window unit with an efficient convection heater.

[edit: sorry for the wall of text]

Since you need to relocate the stat anyway, pulling new wire is your best bet. Standard 5-wire is ideal, even if you don't need all the conductors at the moment. You'll have them if you need them later.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the ecobee 3 for smart stats.

Based on your description, the thermostat is malfunctioning.

Realize all a t-stat does is close a switch in a 24vac circuit that tells the furnace to operate. Programmable t-stats just manage the switch to attain your programmed temps... but at the end of the day all it doing is opening and closing a switch (or switches if in the case of a/c).

Easily tested with a new thermostat. Buy and install a 'no-frills' t-stat. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-CT30A1005-Standard-Economy-Thermostat/dp/B000BQWADS/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1510432703&sr=1-6&keywords=thermostat

If the furnace now functions normally, then you've confirmed the the old t-stat was a POS and you can safely invest in a programmable or 'smart' one with some confidence it will work.

If the same problem occurs, then something else is happening and warrants a service call.

Yeah, that's probably worth looking into for my tropicals at least. It's certainly cheap enough to experiment with.

This seems like a roughly equivalent product, as does this.

I'd just need to get a heater that comes on automatically when it's powered up, which is an easy enough thing to do. The more I think about it, the more I want to try it out.

I'd still like to build the monitoring solution, but something like this should be much more precise and reliable than what I'm currently doing.

I still think if I want to keep my temperate trees at 0C+/-3 I'd probably need something more customized.

No doubt your remark was meant in jest, but to set the story straight, the ecobee3 got its name because it was the third hardware model of thermostat released by ecobee (the ecobee Smart Si and EMS Si were more or less identical, with one targeting home owners and the other targeting commercial establishments). Here's a complete list of their thermostats:

• ecobee Smart Thermostat
  
• ecobee Smart Si & ecobee EMS Si
  
• ecobee3
  
• ecobee3 2nd generation with HomeKit support
  
• ecobee3 lite
  
• ecobee4
  

Both the Hue deals and the Caseta deals are pretty good; I picked up a Caseta starter kit with two dimmers and two remotes, plus the hub for less than $90. The newest Ecobee smart thermostat (the best Homekit thermostat IMO) is also $50 off—with most local utility companies offering a $100 rebate, that's a steal.

We have Electric Baseboard heat and it works very well with a good digital thermostat like this one, you can find it on eBay for cheaper:

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Honeywell RLV4305A1000/E 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat for Electric Baseboard Heaters

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https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-RLV4305A1000-Programmable-Thermostat-Baseboard/dp/B008DF626K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537890358&sr=8-1&keywords=honeywell+rlv430&dpID=41FGJhIQGWL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

There are less expensive HomeKit thermostats.

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For example, the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat

Or the iDevices IDEV005AND5 Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat

Buy this transformer. I've used it for two Simplisafe doorbell cameras, works great.

24 Volt Transformer, C Wire... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MT5VWQN?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

May not be a standard 24vac controlled furnace so need to verify what you have - may not be a C connection handy. Depending on the furnace you could also add a simple relay or fan control center there.

One simple solution can be to add a transformer near the thermostat.

I've been perusing these DIY forums for months now cause I find it so interesting but never did I think I'd actually be able to help.

I wanted to mount our tv in the living room but the thermostat was in the way so wireless was the only way. Purchased a Wireless Honeywell unit popped off the current thermostat and took A LOT of pictures of the connections. Then I pushed the wires behind the wall and went into the basement to set of the transmitter on the furnace. It's essentially your thermostat from upstairs hooked up to your furnace that communicates with a wireless handheld unit anywhere in your house. We have our sitting on a shelf out of sunlight.

Honeywell YTH6320R1001 Wireless Focuspro Thermostat Kit, Programmable Redlink Enabled
http://amzn.com/B001O4F8Y4

Sorry I was up with a grumpy baby and missed the whole thing where you don't have a thermostat.

If the boiler can have a thermostat hooked up to it then there are things like the following that allow you to have a wire free installation. I would talk to your landlord and maybe offer to buy a unit if they install it. You really don't want to be liable for screwing up the boiler.

Honeywell YTH6320R1001 Wireless Focuspro Thermostat Kit, Programmable Redlink Enabled https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001O4F8Y4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_hlr4DbRSWHGDR

Good news is you have the wiring in place for pretty much and standard wifi thermostat. bad news is the new thermostat you have isn't "standard".

Sounds like you want the remote wifi capability since its for a rental (and the "smart" won;t come into play as much since there will be less of a set pattern?)? I might suggest this thermostate. Cheaper than the brand name "smart" thermostats, but still has all the programming and wifi capabilities. Would work with your wiring also.

I was actually trying to install a bunch of these which claim to support both: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008DF626K/. In general, thermostats for baseboard heaters seem terrible. But regardless, I didn't actually attempt to wire it up, I merely put back the existing thermostat after seeing it only had 2 wires to connect. It seems these thermostats support both single and double pole by making you combine wires.

I've seen this on Amazon, but I don't think it does what I'm looking for.

Get yourself one of these. I have one. It works:

https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-YTH6320R1001-Wireless-Thermostat-Programmable/dp/B001O4F8Y4

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O4F8Y4/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

This is the closest thing I can find while at work:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001O4F8Y4?vs=1
The base plate wires in to wherever your existing thermostat wires are, and the control unit is portable.

This one here?

Honeywell RLV4305A1000/E1 Rlv4305A1000/E 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat, 240 V, 1 Deg F, Whites https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DF626K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_QXGTDb46Z62V1

You should be compatible with this Sensi Thermostat with no c-wire (but not the touchscreen model). It runs on AA batteries, so no c-wire is required.. unless it's a heat or cool only system, but it doesn't look like it is.

I was looking at transformers. This one particularly: 24 Volt Transformer, C Wire Adapter Thermostats, Compatible with Ecobee

Until I came across a customer review with this picture and caption: This destroyed my Honeywell Lyric Thermostat

Would you be willing to share pictures of your ecobee setup with your transformers?

The thermostat in question is this guy:

http://amzn.com/B008DF626K

I'm not sure what a C wire is, but I'm going to guess no since it only has 2 wires for line voltage. The thermostat I'm trying to replace is similar to this:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Hha1OhAlsSA/hqdefault.jpg

It's just one of those dumb knobs, but 4 wires.