{"id":4432,"date":"2020-01-22T16:48:28","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T16:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesmartcave.com\/?p=4432"},"modified":"2020-01-22T19:43:58","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T19:43:58","slug":"how-to-make-smart-garage-heater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesmartcave.com\/how-to-make-smart-garage-heater\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY: How to make a smart garage heater"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this article, I’ll show you how to take a regular 5000W electric heater and turn it into a smart heater using a low-cost WiFi smart switch and a relay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I recently insulated my detached garage and bought an electric heater to warm the space. I’m not in my garage every day, so it would be unnecessary and expensive to keep the space heated constantly. Therefore, on days when I want the garage warm, it will need to be heated from a fairly low temperature. Since it will take a little while to get up to a comfortable temperature, I want to be able to turn the heat on\/off from the comfort of my house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, I thought it might be nice to use a line voltage smart thermostat<\/a>. I already have a Mysa thermostat<\/a> connected to an electric baseboard heater in my kitchen. It looks good, it’s very reliable, and I would happily purchase another for my garage. However, the 5000W garage heater is beyond the capacity of the Mysa and all other smart thermostats I found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another option would be to buy a heavy duty smart switch<\/a> that can handle the load ( the 21 Amps of the heater is too much for any standard smart switch). However, all those heavy duty switches come with an enclosure. I prefer to put all my components inside the heater enclosure. So for my purposes, the included enclosure is an unnecessary added cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, I decided to go the DIY route. Here’s how I did it:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Contents<\/p>\n