I decided to buy a space heater but I am yet to find a good way to go.
So far the best/easiest solution I can find is Govee heaters with HomeBridge but still have some caveats.
Could anyone shed some light and share your successful projects? Thanks!
Here is a list of options considered:
Option 1: Dumb heater with smart plug
Cheap
Safety concern
No advanced settings (e.g. speed, oscillation)
Option 2: Dumb heater with IR remote + Broadlink IR Universal Remote
Local
Cannot query device state
(Not sure) May not be able to decode advanced settings
Option 3: Govee heaters + Bluetooth
Local
May need extra hardware if far from Raspberry Pi
(Not sure) Require low-level coding
(Not sure) May not be able to decode advanced settings
I’m not quite sure how much useful info you can get from a space heater. I would think that the best information available would be the power draw of the heater, and the temperature of the room. The power draw can be easily had from the plug adapter, and the temperature should be collected from a distance.
As far as safety, several units have “over heat protection” as well as “tip over protection”.
I came across this post hoping to find someone who found a good space heater that works well with a smart plug. I want to be able to set the space heater to 70F but have that setting retained between smart plug power cycles. I currently have a space heater with a thermostat, but it is a twisty knob with no numbers that is not very consistent.
Initially I was similarly concerned with the safety of option 1. So I am using a power monitoring smart plug with a cheap little space heater with basic tip safety switch. Not sure what other safety features it might have, if any. Heater plugged into smart plug plugged into wall outlet.
I have the plug set up so if the power draw is over 9 amps then it shuts off the power to the heater. The plug can handle 15A and I never use more than 7.5.
Obviously, don’t do something you think may be unsafe. But in my case, I’m staying below 75% of the plug’s capacity so I’m comfortable with it.
Although, that doesn’t help much with desired temp or any controls other than on or off…
Yeah I liked the thing. I’m in the same boat. If you find anything that works as well, (minus the burning your house down bit) please drop a post. I will do the same.
After the Govee recall, I got a Dreo heater. So far I’m fairly happy with the scheduling capabilities, but am considering using the technique this guy mentions at the 32-minute mark of hooking up a smart infrared blaster to be able to control it from Home Assistant.
This topic is a bit old, but I thought I would throw in my own thoughts and experience on this topic as a lot of people like the idea of climate control in Home Assistant, but many overthink it and make it way too complicated for something that only really needs to be simple.
A space heater can mean many things. A space heater up to 2000Watt will run happily in a
16A smart switch. Up to 1800Watt will run happily in a 10Amp smart switch. (in 230/240V countries. 120V countries will need to down rate using the Voltage times Current equals Watts formula)
Space heaters are purely resistive loads in their dumb, non electronic versions. Power Factor of 1. Unless you are in the UK on a Ring Final with up to 32Amp capability, 99% of plug in space heaters will be happy on the correctly rated smart switch. A hardwired space heater in a 32Amp circuit - then you go for a 40Amp heavy duty switch, like the z-wave one Aeotec make. I use that for my immersion heater which is 3400Watt . Worked well for several years with no sign of burning.
With a space heater, questions arise.
Do you need it to oscillate? It’s going to heat the entire room whether it oscillates or not. Oscillation just means it sometimes points at you and sometimes doesn’t It really doesn’t make any difference to heating a room.
Advanced features? Such as? A space-heater, will be either on or off. Sure, you can get “inverter” style space heaters that reduce the power when they get close to the set temperature. In reality with space-heaters they make no difference to energy usage and are just marketing wank.
You really only want a temperature sensor, an on/off and the generic thermostat in Home Assistant. You can create scheduling in Home Assistant, create home /away/eco modes whatever you may want.
I am in Australia. We have a 230/240V system. I have a 2000Watt (2KW) fan assisted space heater in the bathroom running off a 16A Zigbee smart plug. I check it regularly admittedly, but in over 2 years, the smart outlet has not reached above 35 Celsius
I have a 1500Watt convection panel heater in the bedroom on a 10Amp Smart Switch (10Amp at 240V is 2400 Watt btw, simple formula - voltage times current equals watts)
It barely gets above 40 degrees after 2 or 3 hours on.
You get a cheap nasty smart outlet, you will have issues. Get a decent quality one and you will have years of trouble free service. Just do your maths and make sure you severely under rate it. If you plan a 1.5KW heater, get a smart switch that can do 2.4KW
Anyone has a plug heater with ceramic that is smart home integrateable?
I have a tiny room for growing veggies that I want to keep warm and pre-heat with solar power before the night (if there is overhead) - so just setting temps on those wont suffice. Also they need to be shut of gracefully.
Cheap
Safety concern