Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Price-Aware Thermostat

Internet-Connection Room Thermostat.
  (+1, -7)(+1, -7)
(+1, -7)
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Instead of keeping a room at constant temperature; have a setting which would keep the cost of heating a room constant.

The price-o-stat would connect to the internet to retrieve the latest prices of your supplier and throttle-down your boiler's output accordingly.

It would probably need to maintain a database of actual heating bills versus setting.

monojohnny, Jul 13 2006

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       I'll admit this is an idea, but why would anyone want to spend a fixed amount per day on something which obviously would benefit from spending a different amount on depending on the temperature ?   

       Next : you too can furnish your wardrobe with clothes which offer exactly the same warmth in winter and summer.
neilp, Jul 13 2006
  

       [neilp] - Energy prices are rising (in the UK at least) - I was thinking that this could compensate for that; I'm not sure I could tell the difference between say 15 degrees and 12 degrees.   

       Of course I could just turn down my thermostat to save money, but why not do it automatically, so I don't have to bother checking all the time......   

       If somehow it could change supplier automatically that would be even better. :)
monojohnny, Jul 13 2006
  

       how about if it also connects to a weather forecast and predicts your need over the coming week? Average it out that way instead of daily.
pigtails_and_ponies, Jul 13 2006
  

       For most of us, what's important is not a steady rate of expenditure, but the lowest rate of expenditure.
DrCurry, Jul 13 2006
  

       So will we die of heat stroke if the price of electricity plummets?
Bukkakinator, Oct 18 2008
  

       While it probably doesn't make sense for the thermostat to regulate based on energy price, it could give you an idea what your monthly bill will be based on your usage. That might give you an incentive to throttle back manually.
phoenix, Oct 18 2008
  

       //why would anyone want to spend a fixed amount per day on something which obviously would benefit from spending ...//   

       Agreed. I think some form of a energy consumption cap might be a better way to go. I.E. Exert no more than 500watt.minutes per hour to maintain climate control.
MikeD, Oct 18 2008
  

       Baked. Search first.
WcW, Oct 19 2008
  

       You get constant energy consumption by simply plugging the heating system in without a thermostat. And you can cap your energy consumption by using an underpowered heating system.
Bad Jim, Oct 19 2008
  

       //no more than 500watt.minutes per hour //   

       Sp "maximum average of 8.333 watts"   

       ....which isn't a lot of heating, by the way, like 1/3 of a candle flame.
Custardguts, Oct 22 2008
  

       //Sp "maximum average of 8.333 watts"//   

       It's strangely comforting being corrected for not simplify your work, at a recreational web-site.   

       Twas just a guesstimate, [custard].
MikeD, Oct 24 2008
  
      
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