Long distance heating

[Agnt42]

Ok. I am wondering how I would go about hooking up my phone line to my thermostat.

The goal is to be able to check and insure my home is above the min temp so my pipes dont freeze.

And to just call and get a ring or busy signal would achieve this nicely.

Maybe a new market for this for you creative ones.

[bkrahmer]

I'm not really into the whole house automation thing, so I don't know if there is already products to do what you want. The closest thing I can think of is to use a temperature sensor hooked up to a microcontroller hooked to the serial port of a PC. A service would check the temperature every so often and publish it to a web page or send a text message to your cell phone. The thing about a busy signal sounds kinda hokey. What about getting messages while you're away?

[Agnt42]

Thanks for the post and reply. Im not to sure about the pc idea though.

Sensors could work hooked up to an security system but it would really depend on where the sensors were placed.

And security systems are much mroe expensive than a simple phone to thermostat tap.

Why couldt the phone just run through the thermostat and if its ok or above 52 then ring and ring without taking messages?

If the temp drops below 52 then it would not connect and wouldnt you get a busy signal?

[Agnt42]

Well my primary residence is in Oklahoma but my other home is in Maine.
Thats the sticky here. Hiring a house checker is an option and maybe the only way....Just curious and trying to brainstorm.

[roger g]

House checkers Hmmmmmmm. I went to a house that had been repossesed by the bank. When I got there everything was covered in snow and we hadn't had snow for a few days. No foot prints plus we were in a cold snap of about minus 10-15F. When I got inside I found that the boiler had stopped and all the cast iron rads had burst as well as some pipes and toilets. The rads had burst with such velocity some bits of cast iron were imbedded in the wallls. What was lucky was that the water line into the house for some reason had frozen first so there was no flood.
Anyways the bank had been paying a company to check the house. The civil suit was still raging by the time I left the province.


roger

[rabadger]

http://customer.honeywell.com/Techlit/Pdf/50-0000s/50-8936.pdf

This is the info on the communicating thermostat.

[RonaldKlondike]

That's a handy product, especially for those of us who travel frequently.