Free Climote heating / hot water control

Access

Chet T16 wrote: »

I didn't realise you could keep a sim active so cheaply, I had assumed I was looking at 60ish a year. I'll have to look into a GSM unit of some description

Yep, it depends on the network too... vodafone sims need a fair bit of credit to keep them active yearly, O2 and tesco mobile are the cheapest to keep going. (prob others too with 48 network now - but i have not looked into this in a while, so im fine with a tenner a year)

There was a thread a way back about what network had the cheapest activated sim yearly for people/businesses who owned electric gate GSM units that you phone the gates/barrier to open. cant find it now (maybe it was another forum? )

But a gsm unit is a gsm unit, be it activating a relay for a gate to open or a relay to turn on heating.

Chet T16

Myself and the wife are on O2 so that's promising. I'd be looking at something that I can interface with my own hardware if/when I decide what I want to do.

To the eBay...

Access

Chet T16 wrote: »

Myself and the wife are on O2 so that's promising. I'd be looking at something that I can interface with my own hardware if/when I decide what I want to do.

To the eBay...

I just double checked... its a tesco mobile sim i have in the homeeasy base unit, not an O2... but i think they have roughly the same yearly cost to keep active.

Looked at your tablet heating/keep an eye on the kids setup... very cool and has given me ideas! Fair dues.

romperstomper

hi lads,

I hear people mention GSM and possible cost per year, so I just thought that i'd point out the completely cost free version:

my setup uses an arduino which is connected to my network. therefore with port forwarding enabled you can control your heating/whatever from your phone while you are out. i'll add it to the blog post that I promised to make but its really very straight forward.

rovoagho

romperstomper wrote: »

my setup uses an arduino which is connected to my network. therefore with port forwarding enabled you can control your heating/whatever from your phone while you are out. i'll add it to the blog post that I promised to make but its really very straight forward.

According to some, no-one would be able to figure out De Hard Networking. Presumably that's grouping arduino hackers and heating installers into one big Thick category.

romperstomper

rovoagho wrote: »

According to some, no-one would be able to figure out De Hard Networking. Presumably that's grouping arduino hackers and heating installers into one big Thick category.

port forwarding is a fancy way of saying "pick a number greater than 1000 and less 65000 and enter it into the same webpage that you set your wireless home password".

of all the steps in home automation this one has to have the most howtos on the net. not to mention its far easier and cheaper than buying (and running) a separate sim card. otherwise the the logic is "install (and pay the running costs) of a GSM solution versus a 10second update to a webpage"

nuts!

Access

romperstomper wrote: »

port forwarding is a fancy way of saying "pick a number greater than 1000 and less 65000 and enter it into the same webpage that you set your wireless home password".

of all the steps in home automation this one has to have the most howtos on the net. not to mention its far easier and cheaper than buying (and running) a separate sim card. otherwise the the logic is "install (and pay the running costs) of a GSM solution versus a 10second update to a webpage"

nuts!

Thats fine and i agree with you to a point, but sometimes it is just easier to bang off a text/resend a pre-defined text in a few seconds then to open a web page on your phone (if you can get a data signal on the mobile network where you are) and enter input into said webpage.

Just my two cents.

romperstomper

Access wrote: »

Thats fine and i agree with you to a point, but sometimes it is just easier to bang off a text/resend a pre-defined text in a few seconds then to open a web page on your phone (if you can get a data signal on the mobile network where you are) and enter input into said webpage.

Just my two cents.

ah indeed. you dont open a page on your phone (though you will need some data connrctivity). its a saved ssh command thats get run on your phone (simplest).

slightly more work is set up an app engine page or similar. prettier but completly un-necessary. i have a shortcut to my ssh command on my home screen. its as simple as hit once for on, hit again for off.

however a purely text based solution (for when wifi is down at home) would make a great backup system.

Chet T16

Internet connection is far more preferable but GSM has its advantages in other applications. Also, the cost of adding GSM is less than wifi if you need it to be wireless, it's far more reliable too.

romperstomper

GSM is only cheaper than wireless IF wireless is not already in the house. I can't imagine the scenario in which someone was interested in setting up home automation but hadn't already installed wireless

rovoagho

If those O2 Golden SIMs are still available I'd probably tack on a GSM unit later, but only for failover, and only because I'm anal. WiFi is the patently obvious primary, I don't even understand why anyone would think GSM is a suitable primary, never mind promote it.

I'm a while off building mine yet, mind. Still playing with my N40L.

Chet T16

romperstomper wrote: »

GSM is only cheaper than wireless IF wireless is not already in the house. I can't imagine the scenario in which someone was interested in setting up home automation but hadn't already installed wireless

From a maker/hacker point of view it isn't. You can connect your arduino to an old fbus/mbus nokia phone for a far cheaper setup cost than adding wifi, plus it's completely wireless - not just wireless to your home network. I am looking at this from a general perspective, not just for heating. If i had thought keeping a sim active was cheap enough I would already have a tracker in my car, you can't do that with wifi. Or if your remote gates are out of wifi range etc etc. There are times when GSM is the only solution, when wifi/ethernet is available it's far better, I'm not disputing that.

ted1

romperstomper wrote: »

GSM is only cheaper than wireless IF wireless is not already in the house. I can't imagine the scenario in which someone was interested in setting up home automation but hadn't already installed wireless

It may be cheaper, however it's much more expensive to support. For a product that needs to be up and running 100% of the time. Stand alone system wins ever time, should climote be responsible for configuring other people's routers, what happens if the password changes? If a port gets blocked etc.
Its a nightmare, a stand alone GSM product is the only way to make it thoroughly plug and play

Access

I do have to say thst im impressed with the examples people have automated their heat control so far in this thread. And where i am biased on gsm over wifi or lan... I think its just cause i used to gsm and to be honest trying to setup a wifi solution seems like a scary daunting prospect to me!

Maybe its worth seeing a few more automated items.

Personnally, as stated earlier i think we would be lost without our heating automated... Its just so handy.

But to get back to the topic, i personnally think that anyone looking at this climote from electric ireland should just go and buy it themselves or a similar solution... Signing up for two years and paying them to use it is nuts to me.

romperstomper

Chet T16 wrote: »

From a maker/hacker point of view it isn't. You can connect your arduino to an old fbus/mbus nokia phone for a far cheaper setup cost than adding wifi, plus it's completely wireless - not just wireless to your home network. I am looking at this from a general perspective, not just for heating. If i had thought keeping a sim active was cheap enough I would already have a tracker in my car, you can't do that with wifi. Or if your remote gates are out of wifi range etc etc. There are times when GSM is the only solution, when wifi/ethernet is available it's far better, I'm not disputing that.

i will say that this thread is more interesting than some of the stuff in the actual makers forums

the arduino in this case is connected directly to the wifi router (running openwrt) via a usb A to B cable. therefore as the wifi network pre-dated the arduino heating controller, the costs were very cheap. 20e for arduino, 2e for servo.

the nokia phone hack is interesting and i'd love to see a detailed write up on it.

ted1

At the moment its free, there also the cheapest provider,( for me a way as my BG discount was up) and I would rather rot in hell than go with Airtricity,

The fee is optional and it's only 27 euro a year with either the first year it first two years being free.

So its a no brainer to get one. If you spend 80 quid building one yourself that the cost of 4 years with a climote.

At the end of the hour years of mid way you could also have fun trying to mid the free climate you got😁.

iPhone.

Chet T16 wrote: »

I also built my own heating controller. Mine syncs with my Google calendar

http://www.chet.ie/?p=178

Lovely neat looking set up, fair play, great info from all sides with the various things tried so far also.

Looking at your neat android screen got me thinking, I have an old Samsung Galaxy Europa phone stuck somewhere among my bits and pieces, crappy resistive screen aside could this be used for something similar to what you created do you think? I also got one of the arduino kits in the recent Borderless Electronics thread on boards.

Phone has android, can use a sim if needed, has bluetooth, wifi, gps, camera etc.... all the electronics side of things is totally new to me with regard to construction but your posts here got me thinking, would be really interested in any feedback with ideas to put this phone and an arduino to use, keeping in mind I am totally new to this lads?

SteM

Access wrote: »

I have GSM heating control and lighting for the past two years so i have some experience of it, but the servo one posted earlier is very cool.

Its handy on a cold evening when you are out with the family and you have the ability to turn on the heating or hot water for kids baths before you even get home so the house is nice and toasty warm.

Its also handy if we are away in the in laws down the country and we can turn on the yard lights/landing/bedroom/sitting room lights to show some sort of occupancy while we are away from the house.

The system i have is the homeeasy range... which is end of line now as lan/wifi units become more available.

Check out the homeeasy HE101 SMS Base unit (which takes a PAYG simcard) and the HE105 heating controller (basically a relay unit that needs to be wired in parallel to your normal heating controller)

You would get the two for under €50 on ebay from the UK.

Ours has an O2 PAYG sim in it... as long as it sends a text every 6 months its active, and i reckon i put a fiver into it every 6 months so a tenner for the year is what it costs to keep it up and running.

Only downside is that the HE101 SMS base unit has to be sent to the manufacturer in the UK for programming when you buy it first for an irish sim card to work in it as it is set to seeing 0044 int codes from UK mobiles (or something like that), but this is a free service by Bryon UK on request and sent back free to you. Only costs your outgoing reg post charge to them.

System is good, i can text "heating on for 1 hour" or "heating on till 6pm" or "sittingroom corner light on for 4 hrs at 9pm" or whatever tag i have created for the individual light modules (which look like small grey plug in timers that you plug the light plug into and then plug them into the wall socket) and it sends back a text to you confirm it got your text (you can turn this confirm text back to you off too to stop needless wasting of bases sim credit if you wish). You set what mobile numbers it should respond to only so it stops unrecognised numbers from turning on your heating etc. too.

One downside of the gsm network way of things that i have experienced is that if it is a busy time like new years eve or christmas day... your text will be very delayed getting to the sms base to actually turn on/off whatever you wish and another is that mobile network time setting can be off sometimes, and the base gets its time setting from the mobile network so if you say "heat on at 6pm for two hours" it might not necessarily come on when you want it too. But these are small problems.

Other boardies on here are right... the climote from electric ireland is a good little gadget, but its a rip off from electric ireland as the sign up is long and the yearly running costs are way above what they would be if you supplied your own sim and credit.

This is fantastic info but it looks like the HE105 is discontinued which is a pity because I love the idea of using the same base unit to control lights (for security reasons) and heating remotely. It's something myself and my wife were only talking about last night because of a break in next door. Can't see anything on the home easy site that has replaced the HE105 thought but will keep looking.

Access

SteM wrote: »

This is fantastic info but it looks like the HE105 is discontinued which is a pity because I love the idea of using the same base unit to control lights (for security reasons) and heating remotely. It's something myself and my wife were only talking about last night because of a break in next door. Can't see anything on the home easy site that has replaced the HE105 thought but will keep looking.

Yep i noticed that when i checked the homeeasy website yesterday for the first time in a long time and couldnt spot the heating controller, but there are a few on ebay uk.

Those units were big big money a few years back... The sms base alone was retailing for £199 stg at the time. B&Q had them end of line here at the time and i spotted one of them for €16 at the time and the heating controller was €10. The other plug in modules were picked up on ebay for a few quid over time.

I didnt go mad on automation... Just a few lights here and there to turn on and off while away, a pir module that switches on the landing lights and off again after a set short time if the kids get up to go to the toilet, the heating, our wifi router in the attic to power cycle it if needed and ones for christmas lights and tree that are controlled by remote and not by sms base.

Access

SteM wrote: »

This is fantastic info but it looks like the HE105 is discontinued which is a pity because I love the idea of using the same base unit to control lights (for security reasons) and heating remotely. It's something myself and my wife were only talking about last night because of a break in next door. Can't see anything on the home easy site that has replaced the HE105 thought but will keep looking.

Yep i noticed that when i checked the homeeasy website yesterday for the first time in a long time and couldnt spot the heating controller, but there are a few on ebay uk.

Those units were big big money a few years back... The sms base alone was retailing for £199 stg at the time. B&Q had them end of line here at the time and i spotted one of them for €16 at the time and the heating controller was €10. The other plug in modules were picked up on ebay for a few quid over time.

I didnt go mad on automation... Just a few lights here and there to turn on and off while away, a pir module that switches on the landing lights and off again after a set short time if the kids get up to go to the toilet, the heating, our wifi router in the attic to power cycle it if needed and ones for christmas lights and tree that are controlled by remote and not by sms base.

randombar

Got in touch with Electric Ireland to ask if you could sign up to that deal without attending the exhibition and was told no.

What a load of !@£;!@£;

webels

Talking of gsm control for heating, this looks fairly straightforward for the guts of €60. Wonder what elcrows are like to deal with.

http://m.instructables.com/id/Control-the-relays-via-GPRS-SMS/?ALLSTEPS

clancger

After looking at Climote, and a much more expensive alternative I got a wifi system from Owl Energy last week. It has separate heating zones for upstairs + downstairs, also separate hot water, and an electricity monitor mapping usage.
I used the occasion as the topic for the first post in my new blog gerclancy.wordpress.com for anyone interested in having a look.

I'm well impressed by the €22 solution,, but I think I'd be shot if I put that in the hall or utility. While mine cost a good bit more than Climote, it does a lot more too.

Before anyone asks I'm not affiliated in any way with Owl.

DieselPowered

This is a great thread, is it ok to keep it going in Bargain alerts or should it be moved to a different forum?

DIF

Has anybody tried the Texton SMS Heating Controls? http://texton.ie

For €150 it's way cheaper than the Electic Ireland controller and no annual fee.

I want to buy it but would like some feedback from people that are using it already.

DieselPowered

donjfarrell wrote: »

Has anybody tried the Texton SMS Heating Controls? http://texton.ie

For €150 it's way cheaper than the Electic Ireland controller and no annual fee.

I want to buy it but would like some feedback from people that are using it already.

That looks very interesting indeed, just not sure if you have to install it yourself, or they will do it?

paddyp

another alternative: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-S140-GSM-SMS-Remote-Controller-SMS-Relay-Switch-supports-Android-ios-APP-/251344113697?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a8546d021

ted1

This would be better http://www.heatmisershop.co.uk/thermostats-c1/wifi-thermostats-c12/230v-or-volt-free-switching-models-c32/heatmiser-prt-ts-wifi-wifi-enabled-programmable-thermostat-p96

The only draw back is requiring a static ip or having to use dyndns. It really bugs me when companies drop the ball on functionality, all they had to do was set up a server the units polls looking for commands, eliminates the need for fixed IP and dyndns

Chet T16

ted1 wrote: »

This would be better http://www.heatmisershop.co.uk/thermostats-c1/wifi-thermostats-c12/230v-or-volt-free-switching-models-c32/heatmiser-prt-ts-wifi-wifi-enabled-programmable-thermostat-p96

The only draw back is requiring a static ip or having to use dyndns. It really bugs me when companies drop the ball on functionality, all they had to do was set up a server the units polls looking for commands, eliminates the need for fixed IP and dyndns

But as i said earlier in the thread, once they decide not to operate the server anymore you're screwed.

Delboy5

DieselPowered wrote: »

That looks very interesting indeed, just not sure if you have to install it yourself, or they will do it?

Id be interested in this texton solution, anyone using it?