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shootnmiss09's avatar
shootnmiss09
Explorer
Feb 11, 2015

WiFi thermostat

Hey guys,

I was just thinking, I know they have WiFi thermostats for your home that you can control from your smart phone. Do they have something like this for a camper 12 volt system? I think it would be nice to turn air or heat on before getting to the campground.

27 Replies

  • Common folks you are missing the point of camping.... to paraphrase Tom Hanks "there's no remotes in camping"
  • elivi8 wrote:
    WiFi would also require wifi router which will suck your battery dry. It will pull around 2 amps per hour all day long.

    I wanted to do some more automated control but with the limited power budget it can't be done. Not without lots of solar or running a generator all the time.

    Ryan


    My educated guess would be 10 watts for the thermostat and the router combined, maximum, so 240 watts per day. The furnace motor and the gas solenoids in the furnace and fridge are bigger drains on the battery... but I guess every watt counts, especially if battery capacity is limited.

    A modest 50 watt panel should handle the load and recharge overnight usage.
  • WiFi would also require wifi router which will suck your battery dry. It will pull around 2 amps per hour all day long.

    I wanted to do some more automated control but with the limited power budget it can't be done. Not without lots of solar or running a generator all the time.

    Ryan
  • Are you willing to buy a hotspot for that thermostat, and leave it in the trailer all the time? Not that expensive actually - a Freedom Pop (sprint) wireless router includes 500mb/month of internet and costs like $50 refurbished. (one time purchase)

    Wifi thermostat requires an always on internet connection - it doesn't connect to your phone via wifi, it connects to a server somewhere on the internet, and so does the app for your phone.
  • Do these thermostats alert you if the temp changes beyond what it was set for, such as heat or A/C failure!
  • As far as I know they are interchangeable. I read on here about people putting residential digital thermostats in their RVs.
    I did it. It took about 2 minutes.
    It's not a smart thermostat, but I would expect it is the same.