Electricity Timer Controlled By Mobile?

[Ecurie Ecosse]

Hi Guys

Just out just now and am thinking how great it would be if the electric blanket was on so the bed was warm foe when I get in.

So - the question is - can you get electrical timers or some other systems that you can control from your phone?

It would be do good!

Cheers

[Russ35]

Possibly able to do it with X10 plugs and control units. There are several PC based software packages that can control the units. One that comes to mind is called Harmony.

http://www.uk-automation.co.uk/home-automation-sof...

[Maxf]

phone the mrs!

[Ecurie Ecosse]

Thanks guys.

Unfortunately the mrs was out too!

I shall investigate the harmony system.

[skwdenyer]

Ecurie Ecosse said:

Thanks guys.

Unfortunately the mrs was out too!

I shall investigate the harmony system.

I have run a business offering home automation solutions, and am still involved with a few projects.

As to your idea, really, don't do it! There are several reasons:

- Harmony is an awful piece of software IMHO;
- X10 is not a reliable way to turn on anything critical, lacking, as it does, any decent closed-loop feedback system (i.e. no way of knowing if the signal got through and the device turned itself on/off);
- telephone control with Harmony is not possible directly - you would have to install some other form of IVR software, and then write some sort of connector to Harmony using the Harmony API; alternatively you could knock up a web interface to Harmony which you could access using your phone's web browser (if yours has one);
- electric blankets are a very bad thing to have on in the house unattended due to the obvious fire risks.

If you really want to do this, however, I'd suggest that you need some sort of self-contained system, and not a piece of PC software coupled with an flakey protocol like X10.

I'd try, for instance, a WebBrick solution. Their stuff is tried and tested, low power consumption, firmware-based, and well supported. It may not be quite as cheap as running Harmony + some X10 modules, but it will be a lot more reliable or, at least, trustworthy. Again, you'd need to use a web interface on a phone to access it. However, if you want a telephone-based system (i.e. a "press 1 to turn on the electric blanket" type solution) then by all means drop me a line and I'll quote you for something suitable, but it won't be especially cheap.

NB if I were installing an electric blanket solution as a commercial, turn-key solution, I would install a control unit featuring a hardware timed-disconnect relay, so that all you could do with your telephone / web interface was to start a pre-defined heating cycle of, for instance, an hour, with a guarantee that it would cut off after that pre-set time, regardless of any failures of the home automation system. That timed-disconnect device alone would cost around £50, but would ensure that no hardware / software / firmware problem caused a "permanent on" condition to arise with your electric blanket.

[SBDJ]

I did some work with the guy who developed the WebBrick when it was in it's initial stages, and it was a very impressive system he had installed to demo it. It was also SMS capable but it's been more than a few years since I've seen them! Glad to see they are still in action - I'd completely forgotten about them, will have to say hello - thanks for the reminder