Have you seen these thermostats for boiler/furnace/heating systems?

[Gasifier]

I read a different article on this new thermostat a couple of days ago, but can not seem to find it. But I found this one. Looks interesting. Some of you have probably seen it already. If it has been posted before, sorry. I am hoping it can stay on in the boiler room for a little while anyway so most of the boiler/furnace people can get a look at it. Pricey little ..... I am not going to buy one. But something for others to consider. It would probably work better with some boilers. And probably better with oil/gas boiler/furnaces. What do you guys think?

(broken link removed to http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/10/nest_thermostat/)

 

[nate379]

$250 for a thermostat, yeah no thanks!

The $30 ones I have work just fine.

 

[Gasifier]

$250 for a thermostat, yeah no thanks!
The $30 ones I have work just fine.

Oh, I know. I hear you Nate. I have five thermostats in my monstrousity of a house. So I will not be buying one anytime soon. But, like with all new gadgets, the price will come down eventually. If a person had two thermostats in their house and bought two of them, at $250 a piece, maybe in two different years, then they paid for themselves in two years through efficiency savings. They could potentially save you a lot of money over the next 30 years. That is what I had to think of with my boiler system investment. $13000.???? But if I save $3000/year over 20 years. Now I have saved $60,000 - $13,000 for initial investment. $47,000 is a lot of money. And what will happen to the price of oil over the next 20 years. Will it be going down? So that is probably a conservative savings.

 

[nate379]

I don't really see how a T Stat could make that much difference. Too cold, says hey boiler turn on. Warm enough... hey boiler turn off.

Simple enough to me.

 

[ewdudley]

$250 for a thermostat, yeah no thanks!

The $30 ones I have work just fine.

Same here.

Worked a stint down the hall from a department that developed a lot of residential DDC stuff and took some units that looked interesting home to try out from time to time; wireless, programmable, internet accessible, and so forth.

When you get all said and done it's hard to beat walking up to a plain old thermostat and setting the needle on the temperature you want.

However I did leave a simple programmable unit in the bathroom, we like having it up to 80 degF before showers.

 

[dogwood]

Interesting article Gasifier. Thanks for posting it. I wonder when these things will show up at Lowes and Home Depot. I'd like to check them out.

Mike

 

[maple1]

$250 for a thermostat, yeah no thanks!

The $30 ones I have work just fine.

Same here.

Worked a stint down the hall from a department that developed a lot of residential DDC stuff and took some units that looked interesting home to try out from time to time; wireless, programmable, internet accessible, and so forth.

When you get all said and done it's hard to beat walking up to a plain old thermostat and setting the needle on the temperature you want.

However I did leave a simple programmable unit in the bathroom, we like having it up to 80 degF before showers.

Neat sounding little gadgets, but it read a bit like an investment prospectus. I think the bulk of the efficiency claims they're making are based on comparing the use of their gadget with someone who is too lazy to properly operate a 'conventional' one. I find it hard to believe that conventional programmable thermostats are wasting energy, unless it is from errant programming.

 

[Gasifier]

$250 for a thermostat, yeah no thanks!
The $30 ones I have work just fine.

Same here.
Worked a stint down the hall from a department that developed a lot of residential DDC stuff and took some units that looked interesting home to try out from time to time; wireless, programmable, internet accessible, and so forth.
When you get all said and done it's hard to beat walking up to a plain old thermostat and setting the needle on the temperature you want.
However I did leave a simple programmable unit in the bathroom, we like having it up to 80 degF before showers.

I have to admit that I have two programmable thermostats. I have not programmed them yet. :lol: I ended up locking them on the temperature I wanted them at. And I never change them. That is what I found interesting though. I thought it was interesting that these can learn your heating and cooling habits, detect if no one is in the house, etc., and more efficiently heat/cool the place by doing so. Or so they claim anyway. Seems hard to believe that all those smart people could not figure out that the thermostats would not save enough money to be worth buying. But, I suppose, if they want you to buy it........

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

$250 for a thermostat, yeah no thanks!
The $30 ones I have work just fine.

Same here.
Worked a stint down the hall from a department that developed a lot of residential DDC stuff and took some units that looked interesting home to try out from time to time; wireless, programmable, internet accessible, and so forth.
When you get all said and done it's hard to beat walking up to a plain old thermostat and setting the needle on the temperature you want.
However I did leave a simple programmable unit in the bathroom, we like having it up to 80 degF before showers.

I have to admit that I have two programmable thermostats. I have not programmed them yet. :lol: I ended up locking them on the temperature I wanted them at. And I never change them. That is what I found interesting though. I thought it was interesting that these can learn your heating and cooling habits, detect if no one is in the house, etc., and more efficiently heat/cool the place by doing so. Or so they claim anyway. Seems hard to believe that all those smart people could not figure out that the thermostats would not save enough money to be worth buying. But, I suppose, if they want you to buy it........

Same here.
5 programmable thermostats.
Have them on HOLD all the time

 

[mikefrommaine]

$250 for a thermostat, yeah no thanks!

The $30 ones I have work just fine.

Last spring the home depot put a bunch of thermostats on clearance. Picked up about 20 digital one sor 4.99 each. Should last me lifetime.

 

[Gasifier]

Interesting article Gasifier. Thanks for posting it. I wonder when these things will show up at Lowes and Home Depot. I’d like to check them out.
Mike

If I remember right the article said they will be available at Best Buy fairly soon. I am going to wait a few years until I see some reviews on them and see how they work. Then I will wait even longer until the price is down below 100 bucks. Then I might consider them.

Mikefrommaine. 20 thermostats? Wow. That should last you three life times. Sounds like a good deal though.

A friend of mine, who is an older gentlemen that I respect very much, told me this one time when we were talking about heating a house.
You are better off leaving your thermostat at the same temperature all the time. If you usually heat your house to 70 or 72 and you want to save some money, turn it down to 67 or 69, which is plenty comfy enough. Wear a little warmer clothes if you have to. And leave the thermostat set at one temperature. You will use just as much energy heating the house back up if you are turning the stat down when you are away at work or sleeping as you would have just leaving it at the same temperature all the time.

Another friend of mine, who is in his late fourties, and is on a tight budget, just leaves his at the same temperature all the time. He keeps his apartment at about 60 degrees! I went into his place one day in the middle of the winter and said, "What the hell, isn't it a little cold in here for ya?" "No, not at all." "I have kept my apartments like this since I moved out of my parents house many years ago. It's all what you are use to." He walks around in a pair of sweat pants, slippers, and a t-shirt. If he gets a little cool, he throws a warmer shirt on.

A little to cool for me, but I bet he has saved some money over the last 25 years. :lol:

 

[HeatFarmer]

The Apple Fanboy techno-dude in me loves this thing.....adjust it from my iPhone, check on the system, etc....perhaps not the sort of info a gasser needs to be putting out, but it might have potential if they could develop one someday..... However, I just don't see how this thing fits into "our" world of boilers. This is made for the conventional oil or propane system...and ya, if your still struggling with those systems and jacking the temps around like they show in the video, your gonna need all the help you can to save any kind of money.

I might be bitching lately about how much my boiler system is costing me....but in terms of savings as fuel prices climb above reason....I think I'll be laughing in a few years...Now if I can just get those back ordered ball valves and manifold I'll be in business soon......

 

[Gasifier]

I hear you Heatfarmer. Like I said in my original post. I am not going to buy one. But something for others to consider. It would probably work better with some boilers. And probably better with oil/gas boiler/furnaces.

I hope you get that boiler on line soon. Good luck with finishing your install. And keep us up to date, with pics of course. You need to get that done so you can get back to those chores that you have to many of already. :lol: Later.

 

[nate379]

I dread the day that I can't heat with the wood stove. Got me spoiled for some good warmth!

Woke up this morning and I was thinking crap it's cold in here. Was 68* in the bedroom and 71* in the living room (where the stove is)... and I still put a load of wood in it. It's 75* right now and just about right.

 

[Gasifier]

Nate,

How cold was it there when you woke up this morning? It was about 18 °F here. Wood heat is awesome. I have our thermostat in the main floor set for 68, but the heat from the basement(boiler and pipes radiating heat) keeps it at about 72. I have the thermostats for the other floors set for 67 and they are kept there by the baseboard. The thermostat in the garage is kept at 45 and that is kept there by the in-floor radiant. (Man, is the that radiant in the concrete floor the cat's ass.)