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Preheating the house from John's Hill Lookout

Johns Hill Lookout
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After a beautiful morning drive in the Dandenong Ranges, with our last stop at John’s Hill Reserve Lookout, we decided to head for home, about 20 minutes away. It was 6°C outside but warm and toasty in the Tesla.

Our house was going to be cold 🥶. If only there was a way to heat it up remotely, before we got home, like we can with the Tesla 🤔.

Fortunately, there is! We bought a Sensibo remote control. It communicates with the air conditioner via infrared, and communicates with our phones via the Internet. It even works with our ten year old Panasonic air con. So, we can be in bed, or many kilometres away and say “Siri, turn on the air conditioner”, to have a warm lounge room waiting for us. We can also control the temperature, fan speed, schedule and so on. We could even set it up to turn on the air conditioner automatically when we’re within 20km from home, via geofencing.

Nice 😊

We opted for the “Air Pro” version, which also monitors air quality. I’ve noticed that it sometimes shows a spike in airborne particulates, which I suspect is when neighbours fire up their fireplaces and the smoke fills the area.

15 comments

  1. Wallis Wallace via Facebook ↗
    Get out of town?!
    I’m about to move into a place & will get my sparkie to look into this for me!! Thanks for the recommendation & post !
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    1. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au
      Wallis Wallace We were out of town! 😉. The Sensibo module is user installable. You just plug it into a power point or USB port in the same room as the air con. Configuration is done via an app. You basically point your old remote at it.

      Reply

    2. James Mackness via Facebook ↗
      Wallis Wallace there are cheaper versions too, about $25 on Amazon, which others report that work well. Search 'IR Blaster'.
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      1. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au
        James Mackness Cool! I suspect that the IR blaster just does on/off, whereas the Sensibo gives more detailed control. There’s some discussion here:

        https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topi…
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      2. Pradeep Prabhakaran via Facebook ↗
        Tesla Tripping thanks for the quick review, do the Sensibo’s require a line of sight with the ac? On my list to research as part of built in / add on wifi
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      3. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au
        Pradeep Prabhakaran Yes, the Sensibo control unit requires a line of site with the air conditioner, for the IR transmission.

        Reply

  2. Greg Hayden via Facebook ↗
    I have Wiz Smart Plugs so I can turn off appliances from my plane. This includes the garage door which makes it extra hard for thieves.
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    1. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au
      Greg Hayden Yeah, I have a few smart plugs. But they only allow turning an appliance on and off – useful for a lamp, oil heater or towel dryer etc. But the Sensibo gives us control of all the air con functions, like temperature and fan, whilst showing details like current temp, humidity and air quality. The air con is directly wired (not through a power point) so a smart plug wouldn’t work.

      I am keen to automate the garage door. I’m looking for something that integrates with both Apple HomeKit and the Tesla.
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      1. James Mackness via Facebook ↗
        Tesla Tripping you can get a Homelink retrofitted into the car by Tesla to control the garage door. I think you get a button in the car to control it, so it's the most integrated solution for the car, not sure how it links up with other smart home stuff though.
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  3. Lesley Brodhurst-Hill via Facebook ↗
    Some people are SO up themselves!
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    1. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au
      Lesley Brodhurst-Hill Oh, wow. Thanks Mum 😮😉. You were saying how freezing it is down here in Emerald, so now we’re doing something about it 😜.

      Reply

  4. Anura Samara via Facebook ↗
    Sensibo is great. We originally bought it so we could heat the Tuross house before we arrived, but now that Juliane lives there it’s good for scheduling too. Much easier to use the app rather than trying to figure out an old remote control.
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  5. Greg Lewis via Facebook ↗
    I have an LG aircon, fridge and washing machine. It's great having control over your house when you're not there.
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  6. Max Milrayitas via Facebook ↗
    Hi, I was wondering if you bought it directly from Sensibo if I could get the email confirmation order? Without disclosing any personal information. I'm a marketing student that is studying email marketing and this would help my research. Thank you
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    1. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au
      Max Milrayitas I ordered it from Amazon, not directly from Sensibo.

      Reply

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