thermostat with motion-sensor timeout

[twd000]

We have a three-zone system on our propane furnace. Wood stove heats the top two floors, and we leave the basement un-heated unless someone is down there (kids playing or wife sewing). Problem is we forget to turn it off when we come upstairs. Is there a thermostat with a motion sensor that simply turns off after 15 minutes of inactivity? I don't need the fancy "learning" tstat that tries to learn your schedule, etc. I only want two modes, "Hold heat to 68" and "Off". No setback, no A/C mode, no daily or weekly schedule.

 

[Buzz Saw]

How about using your normal t stat and adding a rotary timer in line. So thermostat is always 68°. Wind the timer and heat comes on. Timer winds out, no more heat.

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[fbelec]

there is not cheap solution. any of those wind up timers or electronic are set up to switch 120 volts
they even make a motion detector but again line voltage switching. you could use the motion detector in a metal switchbox and off the top or bottom of the box put in a (rib relay) so the motion detector will switch it's line voltage and that will be the relay to switch the low voltage of the tstat. might run about $125.00 give or take for the stock.

 

[Buzz Saw]

there is not cheap solution. any of those wind up timers or electronic are set up to switch 120 volts
they even make a motion detector but again line voltage switching. you could use the motion detector in a metal switchbox and off the top or bottom of the box put in a (rib relay) so the motion detector will switch it's line voltage and that will be the relay to switch the low voltage of the tstat. might run about $125.00 give or take for the stock.

Why wouldn't a wind up switch work? They require no power to function. It's just a switch rated at 120/240v volts to handle so many amps.


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[fbelec]

it would work but it would only go for a hour depending on how cool it is before heat it would barely come up to temp

 

[xman23]

You can get a programable 7 day with 4 events a day. Set 4 times a day to go back to the lower temp. When you are there, manually raise the temp. When it hits the time t will reset the temp. I think they are $35 at HD.

I use this to let us manually set the house heat at 65 at night. At 7AM every day it goes to 45. Get up and get some wood on the stove.

 

[sportbikerider78]

The most difficult situation is the best one. Train your wife.

 

[lml999]

When my kids were young, I trained them to yell "toys on top" when we came home from a vacation, as I always would have a bike or three on the roof rack.

Worked pretty well, so I never needed to buy a rear view mirror hang tag that said the same thing. For a while, someone was selling a magnetic mount sign for the hood that would fold when underway and pop up when not moving or reversing.

Keep it simple...put a big sign on the basement door (or elsewhere) that you see when you're coming up the stairs.

Or...set up a "whoops" jar and if someone forgets, they have to toss $10 (or whatever) in the jar. That should adjust behavior pretty quickly...or at least pay for the extra heat.

 

[fbelec]

When my kids were young, I trained them to yell "toys on top" when we came home from a vacation, as I always would have a bike or three on the roof rack.

Worked pretty well, so I never needed to buy a rear view mirror hang tag that said the same thing. For a while, someone was selling a magnetic mount sign for the hood that would fold when underway and pop up when not moving or reversing.

Keep it simple...put a big sign on the basement door (or elsewhere) that you see when you're coming up the stairs.

Or...set up a "whoops" jar and if someone forgets, they have to toss $10 (or whatever) in the jar. That should adjust behavior pretty quickly...or at least pay for the extra heat.

LOL that's funny and smart LOL