Re: Another newbie vacation home question

["Mark Thomas" <mrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I want to be able to lower/raise the temp at my
> vacation house either via phone or web - either is okay.
...
>  any of the controlled thermostats I see out
> there seem to need new wires run, or to be attached to the 110v.  I've
> also seen the ip-addressable thermostats but was disappointed to see
> that they don't have wireless capability (big market opportunity here).
>
> I only care about controlling one thermostat since the one I'm thinking
> of would cover the majority of the house.

OK, you'll need two things: a controller that you'll be able to dial
into, and a thermostat system supported by that controller, preferably
without having to run new wires.

I would recommend the Elk M1 Gold
(http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Security/ELK-Cross-Platform-Control/Item/ELK-M1GCB/),
which is a nice, relatively inexpensive controller with built-in voice
menus (it also does security and lighting too, but you can ignore those
features). The thermostat interface add-on supports a few thermostat
systems, but I would recommend the RCS TR16 or TR40
(http://www.resconsys.com/products/stats/serial.htm) because it can use
your existing wiring. The RCS thermostat is a two-piece set containing
the wall display unit which uses the existing thermostat wiring to
communicate to the control unit, which in turn is controlled by the
Elk.

There is a cheaper way: an X-10 telephone transponder + the X-10
version of the RCS thermostat, but it is not likely to be as reliable
so I wouldn't recommend it.

- Mark.