Control via SMS/GSM messaging?

[getwilde]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum. I'm hoping an expert on the site can help me out.

My family owns a cabin in the mountains. It's on the electrical grid and in a cellphone service area, but has no internet access. I'm looking for a solution that would allow me to send an SMS/text message to remotely turn up the thermostat, ahead of time, so that it's warm when we arrive. Ideally, I'd be able to purchase a Pay-as-you-Go SIM card through AT&T or T-Mobile or even Telestial or similar service. (I'd like to avoid any long-term mobile contract with $30 monthly charges, etc for something I'm going to use only a dozen times, 3 months out of the year). Then simply insert that SIM card into the controller (or thermostat itself) and plug it into the wall.

I've searched online, called all of my local home automation companies... I'm hitting dead ends. However, this type of device appears to be quite common in Europe from various companies ("GD-04 David GSM Communicator", "Celotron Home Controller", "OnTech GSM 9020", "Geocoop RGT-03", and more.) I'm assuming these European devices won't work in North America -- different GSM frequencies, perhaps -- or else I'd just import one.

Surely I'm not the only guy in North America who wants to do this?! Any ideas or pointers?

Thanks in advance.

 

[fwd03]

That is tough. You will need to pay some kind of internet service to be able to connect to. Even Ethernet over power line are not cheap. I know a guy also have a cabin in the mountains. He uses WebControl to turn on water heater before heading to the cabin, since he has Internet in there. What about ATT dsl? they once offered $9.99 a month low speed DSL without requiring phone service.

 

[potts.mike]

I know CQC has a driver for a gsm modem That sends and receives SMS messages but I have never used it myself.

http://www.charmedquark.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=612

 

[JimS]

A number of programs support control via email messages but not SMS. This allows sending SMS from a phone to an email address to control things but that requires internet. I am probably just repeating what is already obvious to you...

I suggest you look at gnokii or gammu. gnokii looks to do exactly what you want (but just the SMS portion). Originally just supported Nokia phones but has been extended to others. Here is link about it:

http://www.developershome.com/sms/smsLinux.asp

It does require a linux box. There are a number of low cost, low power routers that can run Linux and gnokii has been packaged for at least some variations. There are a number of ways to get the information from the router to the thermostat - depends on your budget, what other things you want to do, etc. Adding notification for other things such as loss of power would be fairly easy.

If you don't want to do this yourself I could put something together for you. Send me a PM with more details and your budget if you want to pursue that angle.

Jim

 

[getwilde]

Thanks for the quick responses. I was really hoping to pull this off without internet access. (There are no cable nor phone lines in the area, so I'd have to go with a 3G mobile internet solution.) I was also hoping to avoid running a unix/linux box.

potts.mike, thanks for the heads up the CQC GSM modem. I'll have to look into that (and do some searches on the term "GSM Modem"), then return and post what I find.

By the way, I did get responses from a couple of the european companies: GEOCOOP said that the RGT-03 will not work on North American networks, and they don't ship here. EOB.sk said that at least technically, their solution should work here but the price was really high, especially with the current weakness of the US dollar. I'm still waiting to hear back from others.

 

[Del91574]

Telguard makes lots of commercial solutions that are bidirectional and relatively economical for what they can do.

Depends on the host system you're connecting to, but in a few of our sites, we have the "blue phones" that are on large campuses for emergencies with the units installed and they send/receive SMS and voice.

 

[fwd03]

Thanks for the quick responses. I was really hoping to pull this off without internet access. (There are no cable nor phone lines in the area, so I'd have to go with a 3G mobile internet solution.) I was also hoping to avoid running a unix/linux box.

potts.mike, thanks for the heads up the CQC GSM modem. I'll have to look into that (and do some searches on the term "GSM Modem"), then return and post what I find.

By the way, I did get responses from a couple of the european companies: GEOCOOP said that the RGT-03 will not work on North American networks, and they don't ship here. EOB.sk said that at least technically, their solution should work here but the price was really high, especially with the current weakness of the US dollar. I'm still waiting to hear back from others.

If you could find a GSM modem that can receive message without paying monthly fee, only on usage basid, please do post here. I am interested in that also.

 

[getwilde]

If you could find a GSM modem that can receive message without paying monthly fee, only on usage basid, please do post here. I am interested in that also.

Definitely. I found a guy on eBay selling GSM Relay Controllers for around $150.

I also found a site talking about programmable thermostats which have inputs for an "external contact closure". Per his explanation, these contact closures force the thermostat to a preprogrammed "setback" temperature.

SO... it seems like if I were to combine these two devices, I might have a solution (ie, I text the controller to close the relay, which causes the thermostat to turn on to "x" degrees. Then when I arrive at the cabin, I text again to open the relay, at which point I can use the thermostat in normal operating mode).

Anyone know anything about these "external contact closures"? I've googled that term but no luck yet. Perhaps they're known by another name?

UPDATE: "External contact closures", "Contact closure port", and "Dry contact closure" seem to be interchangable terms. But not completely. Here's good info: http://www.control.com/1026171624/index_html

Thanks

 

[getwilde]

Telguard makes lots of commercial solutions that are bidirectional and relatively economical for what they can do.

Thanks DELInstallations. I looked into Telguard, but wasn't able to find a product that does what I'm looking for.

 

[getwilde]

I'm starting to make some progress on this. I'll post here if anyone else is interested.

So far, I've only found a couple of companies (in Europe) that actually sell all-in-one SMS-controlled thermostats. They have neat features like texting a reply with the current temp, etc. But they're pretty pricey ($300 and up). Some models only have labeling in a foreign language, and in at least one case, only show Celcius.


Initially I thought I only wanted to be able to control a thermostat. But now that I've been researching for a while, I like the idea of a flexible solution that allows me build out the HVAC remote control for now (even though I may??? lose the feature of the thermostat texting me back), and then in the future add other controls like water heater, lights, alarms, etc.

Here's what I've come up with so far:
A controller like this:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/7-Switch-GSM-Remote-Control-Relay-Quad-Band-/200525147857?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item2eb03aeed1#ht_4358wt_1139

A thermostat like this:
http://www.hometech.com/hts/products/automation/hvac/ro-300202.html
... or maybe this:
http://www.amazon.com/Aube-Honeywell-TH141HC-28-B-Programmable-Thermostat/dp/B001QFZ3W8

It seems like with this setup, I could program the thermostat to confortable temperatures for day/night/weekday/weekend when I'm at the cabin, and also specify a "setback" temperature, of, say, 36 degrees. Then just use the controller (via SMS messages) to flip the thermostat's "setback" mode off or on, depending on whether I'm arriving or leaving.

I still need to do more research. I don't know yet if these thermostats are truly compatible with the controller. If so, I could implement this solution for around $200, plus the price of a SIM card and pre-paid text plan.
Of course, there might be other issues I'm not thinking of yet (ie batteries, running more wire, other???)

 

[tmbrown97]

If you think you might want more features, what about an Elk Ez8 with a GSM modem attached? I'm pretty sure you could write some rules to process an incoming text message and now you'd have HVAC, security, lighting, etc... All in one unit.

Would take some more feasibility research but it's less cobbled together. Might cost a little more up front but gives you more out of the box.

 

[getwilde]

If you think you might want more features, what about an Elk Ez8 with a GSM modem attached? I'm pretty sure you could write some rules to process an incoming text message and now you'd have HVAC, security, lighting, etc... All in one unit.

Would take some more feasibility research but it's less cobbled together. Might cost a little more up front but gives you more out of the box.

Thanks for the suggestion. If I went with that approach, would I still be able to use a simple Pay-As-You-Go credit with T-Mobile or similar, and then just use the Elk M1 Ez8 to send/receive texts? Or does the Ez8 expect a dial tone?

As for a compatible modem, from my reading today, it looks like I'd need to use an Uplink AnyNet or AES Intellinet, which require a monthly monitoring service fee? Now I understand fwd03's comment above:

If you could find a GSM modem that can receive message without paying monthly fee, only on usage basid, please do post here. I am interested in that also.

So, are there other GSM modems that have the correct interfaces for the M1, but can accept my own SIM card?

I'm kinda' leaning back towards these "GSM Remote Controller" devices that I'm finding in Europe but not here (yet). Here's an interesting (if somewhat limited) project/article from Futura Electronica in Italy: http://www.elettronicain.it/EI_OnLine/PDF/GSM_remote_control.pdf

Sorry for all the newbie questions. This seems so complex -- the more I read the deeper the rabbit hole gets! -- and I haven't found any single source for good DIY information yet...

 

[cneanna]

Hi,

I am Anna Wang from China, late comer but i think better than never.

i am a sales of Zhanjiang cne electricity corp which is just specilizing in home appliance controls, including the GSM phone control which i think just meet your requirment.

You just need buy a SIM card, any type by your real need, say Pay-as-you-Go type. Then you can use your daily cell phone to control any appliance connected to the controller by massenger.

If you are still interested in it, please send my email at [email protected], i will send you more info.

Hope this help you.

Regards

 

[znelbok]

I use a GSM modem (wavecom) with CQC and I can send commands to CQC from my phone and have CQC do "stuff". CQC can also send me alerts and messages to my phone via the GSM modem as well.

I have two GSM modems (Wavecom and Falcon), both are the same in concept. The modem has a slot for the sim card, a power connector, antenna connector and an RS232 interface. The CQC driver uses AT commands to send out SMS messages. You can achieve the same thing with an M1 etc just by formatting the AT string appropriately. Even hyperterminal on windows can do it. You can do voice as well - there is a microphone and line out pin availabe on the connector as well (wavecom unit).

Ebay has them going cheap
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GSM-Modem-Wavecom-Q2303A-Module-RS232-Commands-/400197191715?pt=AU_Modems&hash=item5d2d9c8823

I got lucky and I have a sim card (left over from an old service I had many years ago) that has no monthly costs associated to it, so I only pay for the SMS messages that are sent from the CQC system.

Currently I can do the following
Turn the electic fence on and off (so when I am in the paddock I can control the fence when I am working on it).
Turn the AC on before I get home to warm/cool the house.
Get an alert when the water pump has been running for too long and we are not home (alarm armed)
Get an alert when the alarm goes off.

Its really up to you and what you have integrated with the system as to what you can do.

Mick

 

[Smarty]

I use a GSM modem (wavecom) with CQC and I can send commands to CQC from my phone and have CQC do "stuff". CQC can also send me alerts and messages to my phone via the GSM modem as well.

I have two GSM modems (Wavecom and Falcon), both are the same in concept. The modem has a slot for the sim card, a power connector, antenna connector and an RS232 interface. The CQC driver uses AT commands to send out SMS messages. You can achieve the same thing with an M1 etc just by formatting the AT string appropriately. Even hyperterminal on windows can do it. You can do voice as well - there is a microphone and line out pin availabe on the connector as well (wavecom unit).....

This topic is interesting to me.....any chance you could list of few of your AT command sequences (like you would use in the M1 or hyperterminal) so the format could be better understood?