Simple remote-controlled heating

[kiloran]

Mum is 97 and lives alone in a 2-storey house. Potterton Combi boiler, and a simple thermostat like this https://www.heatingcontrolsonline.co.uk/image/cache/data/Drayton/RTS1_24001_Angled-B_0-1000x1000.gif halfway up the stairs.
She has never really understand thermostats... if she is cold, she turns the thermostat right up, if she is too warm she turns it right down. The electromechanical timer on the boiler is set to be off during the night.

That's been OK for the past 10-20 years, but now mum is immobile. She cannot stand or walk, and is permanently in the living room, either in bed or sitting in a chair. So she cannot operate the heating. Not a problem at the moment during the summer, but I need to plan for cooler times.

The thermostat never worked very well, a big dead band (hysteresis) so temperature control was never great. Not a problem in the past since mum just used it like an on-off switch. I could get a fancy new thermostat installed in her living room, but she will just complain that she can't control it, to turn it on or off if she is too cold or too hot. What I really need is a very simple remote control by mum so that she can either turn the heating on or turn it off. Any thoughts on pieces of kit to achieve that? No internet or wifi, needs to be stand-alone.

--kiloran

 

[Last Plumber]

You can buy simple RF room stats like this?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

An Alexa controller thermostat?

 

[PETE 123]

Fit a basic digital one they have a differential of 1/2 degree that one you have may have 3 to 5 degrees so you notice more temp rise and fall.

 

[kiloran]

Fit a basic digital one they have a differential of 1/2 degree that one you have may have 3 to 5 degrees so you notice more temp rise and fall.

Thanks. I'm aware of that, but mum will still want to override it, hence the need for remote control

 

[kiloran]

You can buy simple RF room stats like this?
View attachment 62164

That looks like a good option. I'll investigate

 

[cjg]

esi stat, set to manual = + turns it up - = turns it down, all the old girls i do just love them.

 

[DevsAd]

Hi Kiloran.

One of the easiest to use Programmable Thermostats I've seen is the Hive. It has a single knob in the middle that you turn up or down to adjust (override) the set temp; the display lights up and shows the 'actual' room temp and the 'target' temp. Even if she ignores the display, it'll still do the essential job of turning the heating up and down as she wants, with one twiddle.

The main benefit of a Programmable type of stat is that you can set the baseline temps for her to ensure she should never get cold. If she overrides them for any reason (she finds it too warm or too chilly), then they'll revert to the 'baseline' temps the next day. These temps could be as simple as, say, 21oC for all day and eve, and 18oC for overnight (Adjust these if necessary. If, when you next visit, she says "It's a bit warm during the day..." then you could tweak it down to - ooh - 20oC until 5pm, and then 21oC for the evening. Ditto if the feedback is "It's a bit chilly at night when I get up for a wee...", then, well, you know what to do!)

Two other big bonuses of the Hive; because it's wireless, it can be fitted anywhere - and her main living area would be a much better place than on the stairs (how well does she manage these?). And the other big plus is that it can even be sat in a stand and placed within easy reach on that lovely coffee table in front of her telly (I'm looking in the window as I type). (The set temps may need to be adjusted for this, as 21oC at coffee-table height will be a noticeably warmer room temp than 21oC at the usual 1.5m wall-stat height.)

Oh, and all this wonderfulness is only £100 - in fact Hive themselves are selling it for only £90 at the moment (stand extra).

See if you can have a look at one somewhere and check it out - I find it very intuitive, and so does 81-year old mil.

 

[Knappers]

I thought the same but had a customer last week that just had a mental block on any form of tech.
Despite the easy (I think) tutorial and setup they just refused to do it.
I've had a few to be honest which is frustrating as hive is my usual easy control for thechnofobes.
In theory nest should work well as it uses simple turn up and down control and sneaks in some automatic programs.
I gave up on one occasion and made a nice new boiler plus compliant system dumb again with an old school thermostat.

 

[Gasmk1]

Nest is problematic that it learns so even if you set it each time your mum turns it up it learns so that will eventually become the programme.

 

[cjg]

esi stat, set to manual = + turns it up - = turns it down, all the old girls i do just love them.