Author Topic: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring  (Read 3162 times)

bandito

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locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« on: January 05, 2020, 09:21:45 AM »
Hi,

So I am looking to make my thermostat wireless, not as in wireless it uses wifi or bluetooth but as in its not hard wired. Purpose? Well I would like to be able to locate a thermostat anywhere in a room or the house without having to run wires, drilling holes, opening walls etc.

I have come up with this idea so far. 24v transmitter connected to battery powered thermostat and 24v receiver connected to 24v the furnace. There are many transmitter & receiver combos under $10 price range but I am having a hard time finding ones that operate at 24v.

I had few other ideas but this seams to be the best.

There are dedicated thermostats for this purpose but the few I have found are pricey.

Is there anyone who can help with this?

BudgetSlasher

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2020, 07:13:22 PM »
Do you want to locate the thermostat for ease of access or for temperature sensing location? There may be solutions that readily available that meet your needs without having to make the thermostat wireless.

Also, what is the worst case if your system fails? Where I live a failure (of inexpensive equipment, batteries or range) could mean burst pipes and extensive water damage.

And what are the dedicated thermostats and their prices that are too much?

Villanelle

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2020, 07:19:09 PM »
Seems like you could just set up an Alexa Dot (fairly cheap, especially used) or other Alexa device and put in an Alexa-compatible thermostat wherever your current thermostat is located.  Then, if you are in the bedroom, you can just say, "Alexa, change thermostat to 66*."

You could also then control the thermostat with your phone, even if you are away from the house. 

Probably cheaper and easier, and you don't need to reinvent the wheel.   And no drilling or wiring, or anything else.  Just a plug for the Alexa device, and your home's wifi. 

I'm sure there are Google systems similar, if you prefer that to Alexa/Amazon.

JLee

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2020, 08:18:20 PM »
You can accomplish something similar with a smart thermostat such as the Nest or Ecobee, coupled with a room sensor.

BudgetSlasher

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2020, 05:42:08 AM »
You can accomplish something similar with a smart thermostat such as the Nest or Ecobee, coupled with a room sensor.

I agree, I have an Ecobee with room sensors in a couple key places. I can select which sensors for temperature to use during which scheduled times or let it auto detect occupancy.

And I can control the thermostat from a phone our web browser anywhere I have a connect.

I was hoping TS would tell us why he wanted to make it mobile in case he had some odd edge case that a smart thermostat wouldn't work with.

bandito

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2020, 07:39:16 PM »
You can accomplish something similar with a smart thermostat such as the Nest or Ecobee, coupled with a room sensor.

I agree, I have an Ecobee with room sensors in a couple key places. I can select which sensors for temperature to use during which scheduled times or let it auto detect occupancy.

And I can control the thermostat from a phone our web browser anywhere I have a connect.

I was hoping TS would tell us why he wanted to make it mobile in case he had some odd edge case that a smart thermostat wouldn't work with.

I guess a better explanation would have helped. So this is for a 2 zone hydroponic floor heating (with a thermostat for each zone since they are controlled independently). The reason I want to make the one thermostat mobile is because at the moment its located near the heat exchanger and manifold which generates a lot of heat so the reading isn't correct for the room temperature.  If I relocate it to the other side of the room I would have to run the wire either on the surface of the walls and ceiling or bust up the drywall and then patch. To make things easier I was thinking of adding adding a rf transmitter to the thermostat and a rf receiver to the control panel that manages the zones. Anyhow the smart thermostats won't work in this scenario as they don't run zones independently. When one sensor calls for heat all zones get heated. It would require a smart thermostat contacted to the control panel and an additional sensors tell the thermostat to turn on or off is expensive. Anyhow after more research there are lots of thermostats including smart ones available from china made specially for Europe that do this sort of this but finding one that runs on 110v is the challenge.

JLee

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2020, 09:15:16 PM »
You can accomplish something similar with a smart thermostat such as the Nest or Ecobee, coupled with a room sensor.

I agree, I have an Ecobee with room sensors in a couple key places. I can select which sensors for temperature to use during which scheduled times or let it auto detect occupancy.

And I can control the thermostat from a phone our web browser anywhere I have a connect.

I was hoping TS would tell us why he wanted to make it mobile in case he had some odd edge case that a smart thermostat wouldn't work with.

I guess a better explanation would have helped. So this is for a 2 zone hydroponic floor heating (with a thermostat for each zone since they are controlled independently). The reason I want to make the one thermostat mobile is because at the moment its located near the heat exchanger and manifold which generates a lot of heat so the reading isn't correct for the room temperature.  If I relocate it to the other side of the room I would have to run the wire either on the surface of the walls and ceiling or bust up the drywall and then patch. To make things easier I was thinking of adding adding a rf transmitter to the thermostat and a rf receiver to the control panel that manages the zones. Anyhow the smart thermostats won't work in this scenario as they don't run zones independently. When one sensor calls for heat all zones get heated. It would require a smart thermostat contacted to the control panel and an additional sensors tell the thermostat to turn on or off is expensive. Anyhow after more research there are lots of thermostats including smart ones available from china made specially for Europe that do this sort of this but finding one that runs on 110v is the challenge.

I am confused by your post. You would have to replace both of your thermostats with smart thermostats, and then you could tell them to use room sensors for monitoring temperature.

BudgetSlasher

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2020, 05:28:37 PM »
You can accomplish something similar with a smart thermostat such as the Nest or Ecobee, coupled with a room sensor.

I agree, I have an Ecobee with room sensors in a couple key places. I can select which sensors for temperature to use during which scheduled times or let it auto detect occupancy.

And I can control the thermostat from a phone our web browser anywhere I have a connect.

I was hoping TS would tell us why he wanted to make it mobile in case he had some odd edge case that a smart thermostat wouldn't work with.

I guess a better explanation would have helped. So this is for a 2 zone hydroponic floor heating (with a thermostat for each zone since they are controlled independently).

Ok I am with you so far, 2 independent zones each controlled by its own thermostat.


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The reason I want to make the one thermostat mobile is because at the moment its located near the heat exchanger and manifold which generates a lot of heat so the reading isn't correct for the room temperature.

Ok, I am still with you. One your two current thermostats was poorly placed in a hot spot.

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If I relocate it to the other side of the room I would have to run the wire either on the surface of the walls and ceiling or bust up the drywall and then patch.

How is your house built; basement, slab on grade, other? I have a basement and an attic and I've run low voltage wiring from the basement into first floor walls, un the chase for the return duct the the second floor, and from the basement to the attic and down a second floor wall; all without busting up drywall. A house without an attic or a basement would be difficult, but if it had either, it might be possible.


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To make things easier I was thinking of adding adding a rf transmitter to the thermostat and a rf receiver to the control panel that manages the zones.

Ok that seems like a reasonable path to start thinking about.


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Anyhow the smart thermostats won't work in this scenario as they don't run zones independently.

Now I have gotten lost. I think I understand that you currently have 2 thermostats connected to a control box at the heating system; when one thermostat calls for heat the control box turns on the heat to the zone associated with that thermostat.

Are you saying that installing any smart thermostat into the current system, will result in the smart thermostat overriding the other thermostat? If so is this a specific issue related to the control board you have? At least some smart thermostats, like ecobee (which I have in my one zone system) are "compatible with most zone board models, however, to ensure all features are supported with your zone board or zone controller, please contact ecobee Support."

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When one sensor calls for heat all zones get heated.

I think I have confused myself thinking about your system. To this point I have been thinking in terms of thermostats (and a smart thermostat would trigger all zones to heat).

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It would require a smart thermostat contacted to the control panel and an additional sensors tell the thermostat to turn on or off is expensive.

I do not know what budget you are looking to come in under Ecobee with one remote sensor runs about $228 on Amazon; which is not cheap, but as I said, in my climate the cost of a system failure can big. I know several people who have had failures either on vacation or on a really cold day that resulted in damage (including burst pipes) resulting in up to 11k of damages plus the hassle of dealing with it.

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Anyhow after more research there are lots of thermostats including smart ones available from china made specially for Europe that do this sort of this but finding one that runs on 110v is the challenge.

Do you have a link to the kind of product that you believe that will fit your needs?

I feel like there must be a simpler way to accomplish what you want, though I do not doubt it can be accomplished via your line of thinking.

Sibley

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2020, 08:54:32 AM »
You can accomplish something similar with a smart thermostat such as the Nest or Ecobee, coupled with a room sensor.

I agree, I have an Ecobee with room sensors in a couple key places. I can select which sensors for temperature to use during which scheduled times or let it auto detect occupancy.

And I can control the thermostat from a phone our web browser anywhere I have a connect.

I was hoping TS would tell us why he wanted to make it mobile in case he had some odd edge case that a smart thermostat wouldn't work with.

I guess a better explanation would have helped. So this is for a 2 zone hydroponic floor heating (with a thermostat for each zone since they are controlled independently). The reason I want to make the one thermostat mobile is because at the moment its located near the heat exchanger and manifold which generates a lot of heat so the reading isn't correct for the room temperature.  If I relocate it to the other side of the room I would have to run the wire either on the surface of the walls and ceiling or bust up the drywall and then patch. To make things easier I was thinking of adding adding a rf transmitter to the thermostat and a rf receiver to the control panel that manages the zones. Anyhow the smart thermostats won't work in this scenario as they don't run zones independently. When one sensor calls for heat all zones get heated. It would require a smart thermostat contacted to the control panel and an additional sensors tell the thermostat to turn on or off is expensive. Anyhow after more research there are lots of thermostats including smart ones available from china made specially for Europe that do this sort of this but finding one that runs on 110v is the challenge.

I'm not an HVAC expert, but I have to think you're doing something wrong. The whole point of zones is to be able to separately control them. So, either you're misunderstanding how it would work, you're setting it up wrong, or you're selecting the wrong product for your situation.

spacklebum

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2020, 11:36:09 AM »
I believe some Honeywell Redlink systems have multizone support, along with multiple wireless sensor support. I have a simple wireless, non-smart model of theirs and it works well.

StashingAway

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2020, 08:32:05 AM »
I am also on the smart thermostat with multiple sensors train of thought.

I don't see why this wouldn't work

nereo

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2020, 08:56:36 AM »
PTF - I have a similar conundrum to the OP - old house with an addition, four-zone heating.  Problem is that the furthest bedroom is controlled by a thermostat that’s quite a ways from the bedroom, and no easy way to run wires / relocate.  Bedroom is also out of range of the WiFi, making Alexa Dot a problem (

I also live in a rural, conservative (in all aspects of the word) area with a large elderly population and the heating company that did the install and another one I talked to absolutely refused to put in programmable or wireless thermostats - explanation was that they cause too many problems for them (service calls) and “no one knows how to use them” (?!?!).  So it’s all self-learning and replacing the existing, non-digital thermostats myself (which I know is not hard, but just want to spend the least $ with an acceptable outcome).

Question:  If you have one zone with the thermostat but multiple sensors (did not know that was a thing until just now)... what happens when one room in a zone is comfortable but another zone is way too cold?

JLee

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Re: locating your thermostat anywhere without hard wiring
« Reply #12 on: January 30, 2020, 01:53:36 PM »
PTF - I have a similar conundrum to the OP - old house with an addition, four-zone heating.  Problem is that the furthest bedroom is controlled by a thermostat that’s quite a ways from the bedroom, and no easy way to run wires / relocate.  Bedroom is also out of range of the WiFi, making Alexa Dot a problem (

I also live in a rural, conservative (in all aspects of the word) area with a large elderly population and the heating company that did the install and another one I talked to absolutely refused to put in programmable or wireless thermostats - explanation was that they cause too many problems for them (service calls) and “no one knows how to use them” (?!?!).  So it’s all self-learning and replacing the existing, non-digital thermostats myself (which I know is not hard, but just want to spend the least $ with an acceptable outcome).

Question:  If you have one zone with the thermostat but multiple sensors (did not know that was a thing until just now)... what happens when one room in a zone is comfortable but another zone is way too cold?

It depends on how you have your thermostat configured - if I recall correctly, my Ecobee 4 can use the sensor integrated in the thermostat or a room sensor to set the temperature target based on one room, or you can blend any selection of sensors to target an average temperature across them.