Can anyone help with pointers for automatable garage heaters? So far my searches aren’t finding anything. My requirements are:
- remotely preheat when I want to work out
- alert if it’s left on, or automatically turn off
I’m in the US, looking for 240v maybe 5,000w electric heater. The basic item is cheap and readily available at home centers or online. I even see variations with Bluetooth remote and/or controlled by app.
I’m looking for something locally automatable. Matter/Thread would be ideal but I’m fine with Zigbee or z-wave. But I’m not finding anything like that, and getting stuck on some vendors portal is not ok. Any leads?
Or something that can use an external thermostat - I actually have an extra Ecobee - that can be locally automatable. Any leads? Any search tips that might find such a thing?
I briefly thought of automating an outlet, however even if smart outlets are available for those loads, that wouldn’t work because all these heaters have a safety feature to run the fan until the unit is cool
Maybe the Kelvin Smart Space Heater. It’s a radiant heat panel. Works with Alexa and Google Home but if you pair it with their thermostat it works with Matter and Home Assistant out of the box.
https://shopboldr.com/products/kelvin?variant=39739124580430
https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/this-shiny-black-panel-is-one-of-the-best-home-heaters-ive-tested/
Also don’t compare the wattage of these panels with a normal space heater. These panels are more efficient since they radiate infrared right onto the surfaces of your room and on to your body, instead of heating the air and letting the warm air warm the room and yourself.
That looks really cool for other uses but it doesn’t really fit the goal of quickly heating a garage for a workout. Too expensive, not enough power, looks too nice, radiant is probably not the right technology.
On the other hand my bathroom could really use exactly that
They might be perfect for a workout space. Just place a panel right above where you work out and when you turn the panel on you feel the heat immediately, since the infrared waves gets blasted straight on to you. And you don’t have to heat the entire garage. Or hang one on a wall with a swivel hinge and you can change the direction of the radiation so when you move to the other side of the room you can aim it to that side.
Radiant heat is great for intermittent heating. Instead of heating a space, you heat the objects (and people) in the space, and that heat can be felt seconds after starting the heater. It doesn’t matter if the air temp is actually 2C if the radiant heat makes it feel like 22C.