Remote Control Heating / Thermostat

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DazzyWoo

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I have a 2004 Sealine S34, fitted with Webasto heater.

Arrived in Torquay last night at around 10:30pm; and decided what I wanted was a way of turning the heating on from a distance.

I've fooled it - but the solutions seem surprisingly expensive; and seem to be marketed towards motorhomes /cars - which makes me wonder whether there is a any reason they would not be suitable for boats.

Does anyone have firsthand experience of such a system? if so what is it, how much was it, and would you recommend it?

I appreciate I could probably do something similar with a electric radiator - but would prefer not to use up valuable living space with storing this on the boat.

thanks
DW
 
On my boat I use Energenies to turn heaters on and off by SMS. £120 a pop with a remotely programmable socket and remotely accessible thermometer with programmable auto switchon/offs, which allows you to do some useful stuff by text.. Thermotext IMHO is not as good (no programmable socket), but maybe worth a look up on today's Forum page for this recent thread: "Cheap heater and SMS controller", going for a fraction of the normal retail price.
 
Webasto Thermocall. Brilliant. Built for your heating system. I had it fitted when I bought Zen Dog a couple of years ago and it is now an essential part of making beds onboard guests comfortable. Any webasto dealer will fit it - about £400 fitted plus a 2G capable payg SIM. Download the Thermocall app to see the features.

Here’s a link to the product on Webasto’s site

https://www.webasto.com/gb/markets-products/car/retrofit-parking-heater/controls/thermo-call/
 
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If you just want to turn the heater on or off then get one of these.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RTU5024-GSM-Gate-Garage-Door-Barrier-Opener-Wireless-Remote-Control-Relay-Switch/263222839794?epid=2176439421&hash=item3d494dc9f2:g:03AAAOSwjIZZzbzA

And a pays as you go gsm sim

Can't vouch for webesto but on an eberspacher you just connect 12v + from the relay to the yellow wire from the eberspacher controller/thermostat.
Download the free app to your phone and you can turn the heater on or off at will.
 
Thanks fall or the replies - very helpful

Yes - it's a Hive for boats.

I've skimmed through, the various options and they seem to fall into broadly 2 categories

Webasto / Thermotext - I think these are more sophisticated devices, that monitor temperature, and can send warnings back to a mobile device, as well as allowing the heating to be turned on, and the thermostat to be adjusted. These are in the £300 - £400 category

Energenie - these seem to need to connect to a router£70.00 seems to need to be plugged into a router via Ethernet cable. I don't have a router on board - so unless I have misunderstood, I don't think this will work for me

Quark QK-W015 (£51.59) / RTU5024 Wireless Remote Control Relay Switch (£28.50) - these will allow things to be turned on/ off via a mobile phone. The more expensive one comes with 3 plugs that are connected wirelessly - so as well as controlling heating, it can be used to control 3 other devices. The cheaper one will just control the heating

I'm tempted by the low tech / low cost option - on the grounds that I can always upgrade later on if I feel it isn't quite working for me. The Quark seem interesting as it allows other devices to be controlled too (e.g. might be able to control a cool box, and get drinks chilled in advance.

Thanks for the ideas

DW
 
My Webasto Thermocall is just a dedicated heating on/off switch - I can switch the heating on for 50 mins but I can't control temperature etc - it just heats to the temperature last set on the boat's Webasto thermostat. I'm pretty sure it is version TC3. So, if the Quark does the same job for sub £100 and you can fit it yourself, that sounds a great deal.
 
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Yep, you totally misunderstood the Energenie info, I thought the info was clear enough, but maybe you confused it with one of the other options you're looking at? They do not connect to a router, you just put a SIMcard into them then everything is remotely controllable/programmable from your mobile phone by text. I found out today (by buying one recommended on another recent thread) that one of the Thermotext products is functionally identical and even has the same text command codes.
 
JerryC said:
Yep, you totally misunderstood the Energenie info.
Click to expand...
- I'm afraid I'm none the wiser tbh. If you were able to post a link to the particular product you are referring to it might help me understand, but appreciate that might not be top of your 'to do' list :) What benefits does this offer that you wouldn't get from say the remote control relay switch (which seems to do a similar thing) for less £££s?
 
Yep, not my top priority tonight but have a look at these links:

https://energenie4u.co.uk/catalogue/product/ENER022-M

https://www.measurementsystems.co.u...txt--temperature-amp-power-loss-alert-unit-uk

Bought 2 more thermotxts yesterday at a bargain price, hence my last comment regarding identical products. Link was right here on this forum!

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?493697-Cheap-heater-and-SMS-controller

As has been said many times on these forums, "Google is your friend", lol.
 
DazzyWoo said:
These are remote control plugs; I'm not sure how I would use those to control the Webasto heating. Are we talking at cross purposes?
Click to expand...

cross purposes indeed and I'm certain I've not helped..

I'm afraid I got the Quark device and KevB's suggested "ebay garage door opener via SIM" device muddled in an earlier reply. I misread and thought they were one and the same. KevB's device reads like it could do the job for a fraction of the price of my Webasto Thermocall system which, in terms of functionality, is just a glorified on/off switch. It really does work beautifully though and has no impact on the "on board" Webasto functionality.

The remote 13 amp plugs might be able to switch the Webasto kit using their accessory on/off function but it isn't their prime purpose - you'd have cables all round your cabin and you'd rely on having shore power. Why pay for 240v switching that you don't need?
 
If all you want to do is turn the heating on and or off the RTU5024 Wireless Remote Control Relay Switch is a very cheap, simple but perfect way to do it.
As mentioned above, when you activate the switch it turns the heating on, whatever temperature the thermostat was last set at is what it will rise to. If you turn the heater off using the RTU5024 the heater goes through it's normal shutdown procedure.
It's perfect for getting the boat warm before you arrive.

The only thing to be aware of is if the RTU5024 has been used to turn the heater on the normal heater off control won't work as the RTU5025 is still supplying 12v to the heater. You have to turn the heater off via the RTU5024 for normal use of the heater on/off switch to resume. I guess the easy way to look at it is the RTU5024 and the normal heater on/off switch are totally independent of each other.

I've been using it for a couple of season now and it's great. Make sure the SIM you use supports the old 2g network, ie vodafone.
 
Hi, thank you for this advice. I’ve fitted an Eberspacher D4 plus with an 801 controller. I’ve connected the yellow wire from the controller to the NO (GSM) and power to the input on the GSM with 12+ to the Com (GSM). Downloaded the app which tells me it’s switch on but the light doesn’t show on the 801. Therefore I assume it’s not switched it on. Have I connected that right? Should it be the yellow from the heater? Thank you in adavince. JS
 
I’m using the Quark elec G022 and it’s brilliant.

One output controls the Mikuni heating (eberspacher equivalent).

One output controls the generator auto start.

One output controls deck lights.

One alarm input connected to bilge pumps.

One alarm input monitoring the shore power supply.

I have the GPS version so I can also poll my boat for its position - not massively useful in a marina setting, it good to keep an eye on where the boat is if we step off at an anchorage.

Nothing better than returning to the boat on a cold winters night, moored away from base to have the deck lights on welcoming me onto a warm boat, with the gennie running and heating the water and charging the batteries. Worth every penny in my book!

I have also just partially installed another G022 in a friends boat - eberspacher connected and working, other wiring runs still to be completed for the other features.

Great bit of kit!
 
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