Remote switch for shop furnace or block heater

[mikester]

Any suggestions as to what works through my own wifi?

Avoid the Leviton brand they only work if you have an active internet connection. Zero tech support from the manufacturer.

Lutron may work but I havent verified it yet. You have to buy a home hub. Its unclear if it works without a live internet connection.

My experience so far is its next to impossible to determine from vendor sales brochures if their devices will work without an active internet connection. Its buy it, try it, then return it when you discover it wont work offline.

 

[countrybumpkin]

This is a follow up to my LED light on my garage indicating my furnace is on. I also have another garage and I can't see the door from the house to see whether it's closed or not. I used a regular magnetic contact door switch on the garage door and wired it to a low voltage 12v LED light and mounted the light on a tree I can see from my house. Works great. I realize there are garage door monitors on the market but they don't have the range or a bright enough light for my purpose.
Al

Humm, this gives me a good idea, I have 3 over heads that are not visible from the house. We don’t have WiFi or internet service for that matter, I may install something along these lines to be on when the doors are open.

 

[dnw64]

Pretty sure the TP-Link devices don't need internet to control locally. And I know that you don't need any network connectivity to continue already programmed schedules or timers - those are stored on the device.

I just confirmed that TP-Link does not require internet connectivity for devices connected to the LAN. I unplugged the WAN ethernet cable from our router, and the local switches still worked. I verified not just by seeing the indicator on the app, but by watching the light turn off and on.

 

[coldsteelva]

I do my best not to use any 'smart' devices and I'm a network engineer for my real job. Some people do get confused between local network connections (LAN/home network) and Internet connections.

For example, I can have a bunch of devices connected to a given network; they can all communicate with each other but none of them can reach the internet (that network has no internet access). I'm sure some things REQUIRE an internet connection (because the mfr wants to monitor you), but most can be networked without internet.

 

[dnw64]

I do my best not to use any 'smart' devices and I'm a network engineer for my real job.

You call that a real job? :laughing: Sorry - you left yourself wide open for that one!

Just curious what your aversion is to "smart" devices?

I have a few applications where there are no other options, other than to just not be able to control something (i.e. when the device is miles away).

Actually, I just remembered an old system that could work, but it would be fairly expensive and complicated to set up. We used to have a switched phone system that had an option where you could assign an extension to a doorphone (I believe it could have up to 4 such devices). It was designed to allow someone in the building to unlock a door remotely, but I realized that it didn't matter where the call originated, so I set it up to trigger an OHD opener so I could call from my cell to open the door when I got there so I wouldn't have to get out, unlock the man door and manually open it... In fact I still have the system packed away in the back room if someone is interested.

 

[Diggin It]

Just curious what your aversion is to "smart" devices?

ALL of that information is tracked, gathered, stored and sold regardless of disclaimers or published policies to the contrary:

Lawsuit: Weather Channel illegally shared user location data with advertisers | Ars Technica

Goog and AMZ are primarily in the information gathering and selling business. It's what they do. Data is how they make the bulk of their money. The other more public functions like selling things is fluff.

 

[pmsmechanic]

There used to be an intercom system that used 120 volt lines for communication. You would plug in one unit in the house for example and another in the shop. If you got a phone call the person in the house could let the person in the shop that they needed to respond to that call. Obviously before cell phones!

What I'm wondering is if something similar exists to turn my block heater on in the morning. I could look at the temperature and decide if I need to use the block heater and turn it on if I desire. The car would need to be plugged in and the "unit" would energize the cord if desired.

 

[Diggin It]

I could look at the temperature and decide if I need to use the block heater and turn it on if I desire. The car would need to be plugged in and the "unit" would energize the cord if desired.

Why not just use a thermostat controlled switch?

 

[pmsmechanic]

Why not just use a thermostat controlled switch?

Because it's a VW with an oil pan heater. No block heater. And besides I'm frugal. I don't want to run the heater if I don't need to. I get up early anyways so it's not a big deal to check. I just don't want to run out to the shop to plug the car in when it's cold outside.

I would like to be able to turn the heater on while in the house and not be connected to the internet to do it.

 

[Diggin It]

Do you have 'network' cable out there? Something you connect to by computer?