User login
Archives
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
GAIA Host Collective
What I'd really like to see is a next generation programable thermostat that has the capability to acquire wireless signals from indoor and outdoor remote digital thermometers, and maybe even forecast info from the weather service, and current rate data from the power utility. It would be able to not only tell you how much it is costing you real time and cumulative to run your heating & cooling, but could also run what-if scenarios for various time & temp settings. Or you could tell it: keep our interior temp at no more than 72F +/- 4 F unless the cost will exceed $X/hr, in which case go to +/- 6F.
You could also have wireless sensors embeded in doors and windows so that if a door or window is open for more than x seconds, the HVAC would shut down until the door or window was closed.
Such a technology could also give electric utilities the capability to initiate wireless remote overrides if they need to reduce loads.
That is asking an awful lot from a thermostat, but I would ask more. I have noticed that sometimes, when the weather changes, the temperature can drop outside faster than the HVAC can bring it down to the set temperature. In this case, it would be most economical to bring in air from outside instead of cooling the hot air that is currently inside.
The thermostat should detect this condition and exchange the air.
Also, sometimes it is very humid outside or inside and the set temperature, which is comfortable at 40% humidity is not comfortable at 90% humidity. The thermostat should use a temperature setting that is adjusted for relative humidity.
It would also be nice, especially in the fall or spring, if the thermostat could control the drapes, so that on cold days, the thermostat would open the drapes so that the sun could warm the house, and that on warm days, the drapes would be closed so that the house did not become too hot.
I expect that this would cause quite a few days when HVAC would otherwise be called for to be unnecessary.