Control Your Thermostat With Your Smartphone

Suppose you left home for a long trip. It’s midwinter. A few hours into your trip you suddenly remember – you forgot to turn your thermostat down. You are wasting valuable energy and money.

Not to worry. You just finished installing a programmable thermostat that you can control with your Smartphone. You grab your Smartphone and connect with your home automation Hub. You adjust your thermostat to an energy–saving temperature. Now you can enjoy your trip.

There are inexpensive reliable home automation products on the market today that have been designed and produced for easy installation -- and they can be controlled via the web.

Suppose you are a do-it-yourselfer and you would like to install the house automation system yourself.

Let’s say you already have high speed Internet service at home with a wireless router and modem. You need to purchase a programmable thermostat with a radio frequency module and a compatible gateway controller. Plug the controller into an existing wall outlet and connect it to your router.

You can also use this system to control lamps. You need several compatible home automation lamp modules. Plug them into wall outlets near the lamps you want to control.

The system is easy to install, simple to operate and not expensive. It is called INSTEON home networking technology.

This system is reliable because it combines powerline and wireless signals throughout your house. Powerline signals use your existing house wiring to communicate between modules, and wireless signals are is sent over designated radio frequencies. The combination of powerline and wireless technology makes your system more reliable and extends the range of tasks you may automate.

The controller and all the modules repeat signals both wirelessly and over your home’s powerline making the entire system more robust and more reliable.

• These home automation products are not expensive and you do not need to contract with a home automation installer.
• Your programmable thermostat will save energy and money by automatically reducing your night temperature to your programmed energy-saving setting while you sleep. Next morning it will turn the heat up to your comfort setting as you wake up.
• There is no added monthly fee for home remote temperature and lamp control. (You already have Internet service.)
• When you are away from home you can make sure your lights are turned off and your home heating and cooling system is set to energy-saving temperatures.

You want to get started, but you don’t want to jump in with both feet. Many people getting started in home automation begin with a Insteon Starter Kit -- light dimming starter home automation system for remote lamp control, and then add other tasks when they are ready, e.g., remote programmable thermostat control presented at the beginning of my hub.

If you have not automated some of the essential tasks you do on a daily basis, you’re missing out on the safety, convenience, and fun of home automation.