Line-voltage baseboard heater thermostat

[CaSA]

Hello all,
This is a follow up conversation to this thread http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,9252.0.html which we've kinda hijacked, so here's a dedicated thread.

I won't repeat all that's been said previously, but the bottom line is this : the device does not exist. That state of nonexistence will be addressed very soon. Sorry I can't really say anything more, I've covered the red tape issue in the other discussion... Believe me, it's not as simple as you'd think !

That being said, an important question wreaked a little havoc in a meeting room this week and since a fair number of people here said they were interested, I figured I'd turn to this community first to find an answer.

So here goes : how much ?

How much would you be willing to part with to buy this device from a major retailer - or online - keeping in mind that we're talking about all the expected specs (in-line, 220V, 16A, 3500W, blablabla) and that you need more than one in a house to do a full retrofit. Be honest, we'll definitely consider your 2 cents while taking the decisions that lie before us...

Thanks y'all !

En fran?ais et en r?sum? : combien pensez-vous qu'un appareil comme celui-l? devrait co?ter ? On parle d'un ?quipement dont les performances sont "standard" soit en ligne, 220V, 16A, 3500W.  Rappellez-vous qu'il en faut un pour chaque pi?ce !
Merci !

[mitnick29]

Salut,
je vais m'adresser en francais, car c'est plus facile pour moi.

Moi comme j'ai dit dans ton premier topic, je suis int?ress? par ce thermostat. Je suis Technologue en g?nie ?lectrique de m?tier, je sais que concevoir cette appareil, test, approbation,etc, est tr?s compliqu?. Mais je trouve tr?s bien le vouloir de votre ?quipe de essayer de combler un type d'appareil plus sp?cifique.

Pour le prix, c'est sur que c'est compliqu? ? dire. Mais voil? environ 5 ans, j'ai install? 12 thermostats ?lectronique qui mon co?t? 45$ chacun. Ces thermostats n'ont rien de sp?cial, a part des "schedule" que l'on programme. Alors, je crois que si je peu avoir le m?me genre de thermostat avec le Z-wave, je serais pr?t ? payer le double. Environ 90-100$, c'est cher un peu, mais je crois que d?velopper le produit co?te cher, et si la demande est moins importante que le autre type de thermostat cela doit ?tre compens?.

Merci, Thanks!

[junglejay]

Salut T1000,

I think it would be useful for you to describe (en detail) the device you are talking about, especially since you started a new thread (where some folks will land without having read the earlier thread) and so that all of us are on the same page when considering pricing for the device.

Merci!
J.

[watou]

On the other thread you mentioned patents and thermostats, and I know that there has been a huge opportunity re-opened by the massive legal battles between Honeywell and Nest Labs, casting doubt on the stranglehold of previous patents on thermostat technology.  I hope you are able to thread this newly widened needle with some innovation to everyone's (including your own) benefit.

[CaSA]

@ mitnick29, merci de l'input. Ton raisonnement s'approche du notre, avec comme r?sultat des chiffres similaires...
@ junglejay, I agree, but I'm currently not at liberty to discuss some details, hence my intentionnaly being vague. I'm hoping to get an all clear in a matter of days, I'll give plenty of details then, but for all intents and purposes, let's talk about a device with the specs in the OP, since that's what on the shelves at major retailers. Imagine simply that you've added Z-Wave or Zigbee connectivity to it.
@ watou, thanks for noticing In fact, this whole IP thing has gotten so out of hands, that this project's first expense account is... legal. Yep, not R & D, not GUI or cloud or hardware or even salaries... Nope, it's legal. If you're American, start paying attention to the battle that's started because it won't end before Congress rethinks the IP laws. I happily blame Apple and Google for creating the climate we live in today, that allowed such abberations as Intellectual Ventures to exist...
So yeah, to answer your question, we're hoping that while these two go at it, we'll be able to perform a micro-progress in technology... but let's not get our hopes too high shall we ?

[pomartel]

I would be very interested in a basic non-programmable zwave thermostat (compatible with SmartThings). The goal would be to make it as cheap as possible, while being reliable. All the intelligence would be handled by the hub. I would be willing to pay between 50$ and 100$ for such a thermostat. You can contact me directly if this ever gets released.

[tmarks11]

Interested.  I have baseboard heat with 11 thermostats in my house, half of which I have replaced with programmable for $52 each.  I would be interested in a line voltage z-wave compatible thermostat in the $50-100 range.

[CaSA]

Interesting. Thanks for the input. It sounds like the 50 to 100$ range is where we should be. The 50$ mark is not realistic though, it's what the current technology sells for and I can already tell you there's no way we'll be able to reach it. The 100$ mark is more reasonable, although it still would be problematic for the retail environment, but that's our problem

I appreciate ideas being put forth here, keep them coming, we like to discuss everything brought to our attention. We may not keep it all, but at least we'll have considered it...

Cheers !

[EMFMD]

Anything new on Z-Wave control for a baseboard heater? 

[PromptCritical]

Not so elegant, but anyone try a 220V relay (contact or solid state) slaved to a low voltage Z-wave T-stat?

[CaSA]

@EMFMD, yes there's something new An official release should come in a few weeks, but I can tell you that something will be available come next cold season...
@PromptCritical, there are a number of hacks listed here to do what you suggest. It can be done fairly easily, even using some part from Aube or Honeywell. It's just not as elegant -as you put it - as a dedicated solution, nor is it as safe (to the extent that it's a hack) but mostly it's ridiculously expensive if you want to implement it in the whole house.

[nwikner]

Hello.  I would like to express my interest in this pending product.  I need 3 of them.

[MaverickYQB]

T1000 I cant wait to see your stuff, since its the only part I didnt switch to z-wave in my house

A price target arround 100 bucks sound pretty fair to me (leviton's dimmer sells arround 80$),  as long as we could be able to set parameter like: setpoint occupation and read temp to be able to use it in the GUI in my case running on a web server.

Keep going

[joetan]

I'm interested as well. Near $50 would be ideal, but < $100 would be fair. I've got multiple baseboard thermostats in my home, so keeping the costs down would be ideal.

thanks!

[yracine]

I'd be interested as well. Please let me know if I can be a beta tester.