WiFi controlled electric garage heater?

[The_Auto_Tech]

Has anyone figure out a way to do this? I'm guessing it may not work well since a lot of people say the digital thermostats have any issue with extreme cold. Also, as far as I can tell I'd need to be able to do a 240v thermostat instead of the usual low voltage setup.

 

[pgray007]

Not sure what kind of heater you have, but if it has its own thermostat you could just get a WiFi controlled 220V switch. Look for “appliance module” or “contractor” on amazon to see options. If you have some more details on what you’re trying to control I’ll see if I can help a bit more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CoogarXR]

I just made a thread about how I did something similar:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=372238

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Not sure what kind of heater you have, but if it has its own thermostat you could just get a WiFi controlled 220V switch. Look for “appliance module” or “contractor” on amazon to see options. If you have some more details on what you’re trying to control I’ll see if I can help a bit more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The heater just has the normal knob that adjusts the temperature and a switch that changes the heat settings. It does have the ability to run an external thermostat.

I just made a thread about how I did something similar:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=372238

I'll look into that!

 

[bochnak]

I use a wifi plug for my old NG heater:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0178IC734/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I simply turn it on from my smartphone and let it run for an hour to warm it up a bit.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

I use a wifi plug for my old NG heater:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0178IC734/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I simply turn it on from my smartphone and let it run for an hour to warm it up a bit.

That would work if I was using 110 but my heater is 220.

 

[bochnak]

That would work if I was using 110 but my heater is 220.

Gotcha. Maybe look into a wifi relay?

Looks like cheapest wifi thermostat is $80, would that work for you?

 

[dirtrunner0519]

Something like this may work. Not sure if you have the ability to control the system or not. Insteon is an awesome plug and play system.

https://www.smarthome.com/220v-240v...uWqbcXwmSIQOMmzuaUmmQig5Z-loHsshoCxGAQAvD_BwE

 

[bochnak]

Something like this may work. Not sure if you have the ability to control the system or not. Insteon is an awesome plug and play system.

https://www.smarthome.com/220v-240v...uWqbcXwmSIQOMmzuaUmmQig5Z-loHsshoCxGAQAvD_BwE

Don't forget to add the cost of hub for this concept.

 

[n20junkie]

I have an electric heater in my garage.

I also have smart home switches.

I took a plug in smart outlet controller, that I plugged in a 110v control voltage relay into, and that switchs the heaters control voltage on and off.

Thermostat duties are controlled by the simple factory thermostat. But if I wanted to get tricky, I could use a 24vac control side relay hooked to a standard house thermostat to control it as well, and could even go as far to get a WIFI thermostat to donthe switching duties.

I love me some electrics.

Ps, the same idea for a smart home switch was used to turn my gas fire place on. They use micro volts off the thermocouple to turn the main gas valve on. A relay hooked to a smart wall switch means cuddle time without getting off the couch. P I M P

 

[dogdog]

OP you can use this diagram if you decided do it, just needed to spec the correct relay for your application....24Vac coil. depdendents on how many amp your heater is, I would think twice on those wifi switches with a tiny relay for switching bigger amp stuff... besides that I rather run a low voltage thermostat than high volt thermostat.


This one I was wiring for a friend who have a smaller 24V transformer on his zone controller, an external transformer was needed to power the new thermostat he wanted.
anyways concept is the same, the wiring contacts is the same. just change the proper sized relay.

https://support.ecobee.com/hc/en-us/articles/227874527-ecobee3-with-add-in-Isolation-relay

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

I'll do some looking into this more tonight. Thanks guys!

 

[Bolson32]

I plan on using this with a regular thermostat, could easily use a wifi thermostat.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037MXM1C/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Wiring it up Saturday, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

I plan on using this with a regular thermostat, could easily use a wifi thermostat.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037MXM1C/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Wiring it up Saturday, I'll let you know how it goes.

Let me know how that works for you. It seems like that would be the best option to try and step the 240v down to 24v to be able to use a normal low voltage thermostat. Line voltage thermostats are expensive, and I don't like the idea of the thermostat switching the load but rather a relay handling the load and the thermostat controlling the relay the same way it does in automotive setups. You'll have to let me know how you wired it up as well. The wiring instructions with the heater just show it using a line voltage thermostat from what it looks like.

 

[Cword]

Use any wifi thermostat (nest, Honeywell ...) with one of these "Aube 240V Relay With Built In 24V Transformer" to control your power and energize the thermostat

 

[Bolson32]

Line voltage thermostats are expensive, and I don't like the idea of the thermostat switching the load but rather a relay handling the load and the thermostat controlling the relay the same way it does in automotive setups.

https://inspectapedia.com/heat/Replace-Line-Voltage-Thermostat.php has a decent diagram, seems logical to me. We'll see if it actually works!

There's multiple downsides to line voltage thermostats, most of them don't handle more than ~20amps, would be undersized for most forced air garage heaters, and they're very inaccurate as well. You can typically set a typical thermostat that is accurate to .1 degrees and is much better at controlling them. This Aube is also only rated at 24 amps so that limits me to the 5000 watt profusion, but that should be fine for my ~330sq ft.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

https://inspectapedia.com/heat/Replace-Line-Voltage-Thermostat.php has a decent diagram, seems logical to me. We'll see if it actually works!

There's multiple downsides to line voltage thermostats, most of them don't handle more than ~20amps, would be undersized for most forced air garage heaters, and they're very inaccurate as well. You can typically set a typical thermostat that is accurate to .1 degrees and is much better at controlling them. This Aube is also only rated at 24 amps so that limits me to the 5000 watt profusion, but that should be fine for my ~330sq ft.

I think the Profusion 7500 watt runs 31.3 amps max. Most likely that's in the worst possible conditions, so I'm guessing a 30 amp controller would be fine. 24 is probably on the low side though. 5000 watt should be fine for 330sq ft. I just oversized for my 440sq ft. since it was a negligible price difference.

 

[Bolson32]

Yea I'd like to do the same but I'm having a hard time finding a 30amp heat relay. These you can get on Amazon so for simplicity sake I'll probably just rock the 5000watt.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Yea I'd like to do the same but I'm having a hard time finding a 30amp heat relay. These you can get on Amazon so for simplicity sake I'll probably just rock the 5000watt.

Let me know how it works! Until then I'll just keep adjusting the knob on the heater. Haha

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Plan on doing some more digging into this Sunday. Tomorrow is finish garage door and install tire rack day.

 

[larry4406]

Many of these shop electric heaters run the fan after the resistance heat is shut down to cool the elements.

Make sure that you just don't kill power to the unit as a method of control and inadvertently defeat the fan cool down cycle.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Many of these shop electric heaters run the fan after the resistance heat is shut down to cool the elements.

Make sure that you just don't kill power to the unit as a method of control and inadvertently defeat the fan cool down cycle.

Yep, I'm aware of that. I always let the heater finish it's cycle before shutting it off.

 

[Bolson32]

Yep, I'm aware of that. I always let the heater finish it's cycle before shutting it off.

Auto Tech,

To answer a couple of your questions, the Aube works like a dream. I wired it to a garage/mechanical thermostat on the other side of my garage and works as you would expect it. It's a little clunky to mount as it screws into a j box but then the thermostat wire is exposed. I just looped it back into the J box and ran it through the conduit over to where I mounted the thermostat.

I *think* it lets the fan run afterwards, but I'm not 100% sure and I'm at work so I can't really test it.

 

[Ultra]

I have 6000w heater DR966, so I cannot use stock WiFi baseboard thermostat (because they are limited to 5000w). I build my own setup under 100$ to control the heater. I used 250V 30Amp contactor ( 110V control coil)- Packard C230B 2 Pole 30 Amp,
wireless switch and temperature sensor from amazon -
Sonoff TH10 . Super cheap and reliable. I used 8/3
wire to bring neutral wire for control circuit and everything build in standard electrical box 6x6x4, control power tapped from one hot legs to the heater and fused with 5A glass fuse. Works with Google Home ( only for on/off functions)and Aleksa. But via app it works like WiFi thermostat. Also I installed manual turn on switch just incase if I don't have my phone with me. But later I realized Sonoff has manuall override as well.

 

[Dave Suess]

I have successfully modified a ProFusion Garage heater to be controlled by Alexa, Google Home or just your cell phone via this link

https://angelsofdata.com/funstuff/ProFusionHeater

Does anyone know how to get a thermostat to to control a WiFi smartplug?

 

[jlv03]

I have successfully modified a ProFusion Garage heater to be controlled by Alexa, Google Home or just your cell phone via this link

angelsofdata.com/funstuff/ProFusionHeater

Does anyone know how to get a thermostat to to control a WiFi smartplug?

Don't run a neutral off of the ground in the heater!

You can use a variety of home automation services to have a thermostat indirectly drive a WiFi plug. For instance have Alexa turn on the plug when the thermostat reaches a certain threshold and off when it reaches another set point.

 

[nadogail]

Okay, I am parsimonious, I put a 5 KW electric heater in the garage for my wife's comfort because we have a freezer, extra refrigerator, and a sink for her potting and flower preparation.

Because she often forgets to turn things off that she was using when she leaves a room I installed a 30 minute spring powered twist timer that controls a 40 amp contacter in the 30 Amp circuit that feeds the heater. All she has to do is twist the knob of heat and she can crank in some more time if she desires, but if she forgets to turn off the heat when she leaves the garage the timer will take care of it.

The timer and the 24 Volt power supply came from my "Junk Box", the contacter and enclosure from Automation Direct.