Thank you for posting this. It made me try my old Kasa mini plug again.
I bought it quite a while back and created the automation to turn off after 5 minutes. It refused to work. Over and over again.
I reinstalled the app, re-setup the plug, and the old script worked just fine. I guess something changed (my version of the app, perhaps).
So thanks again!!
A smart plug running Tasmota can do this easily, no hub needed. You can turn it on from a phone directly with any browser and program it to turn off after any time period you want.
I have a shit load of TUYA/Smartlife smart plugs.
I realize folks are dead set again cloud connected devices...but as a starter set...these work well.
They totally allow automatic shut off after a set time period. I have an automatic that when the plug goes from the off to on position, it waits a set number of minutes and then turns the same light off.
They also allow multiple lights (separately controlled) to be synchronized. They is a visible \~100ms delay, that would not be there if they were locally controlled. My family doesn't appear to notice the small delay.
Again, the TUYA stuff has a lot of negatives as others will point out, but I think it is a reasonable start setup that you upgrade from after a few years. The price point can't be beat.
I have an automation that turns off my soldering iron after it's been on for an hour. If you've got a home assistant instance going, I'm sure you can do something similar.
"Alexa, turn on the hot plate for 30 minutes" -- me every morning as I start making coffee (heating coffee cups). I'm using a kasa plug. I do the same for a battery charger in the garage to avoid overcharging.
You could do it a little lower tech way by using an aquastat (thermostatic switch). Put it on the return line so that when it senses the temperature rise, it turns the pump off. You'd first want to measure the desired temperature on that pipe so you know what temperature aquastat to buy, but likely something like a 90-110 deg F would work. If it's, say, 100 F on the return line, it might be 115F on the supply line. If you also use something like a PIR or radar presence sensor switch to sense when someone is in the bathroom, that makes for the AND condition you want: someone is in the bathroom AND the hot water temp is too low, therefore turn circulator on until temp is sufficient.
I had that in a previous home. In that case, it would turn recirc pump on/off to keep a more or less constant temp in the pipes (usually less, sadly). But this would be a great idea. Thanks for that!
I have Kasa plugs and can set 5 minute countdowns from the app on my phone
Thank you for posting this. It made me try my old Kasa mini plug again. I bought it quite a while back and created the automation to turn off after 5 minutes. It refused to work. Over and over again. I reinstalled the app, re-setup the plug, and the old script worked just fine. I guess something changed (my version of the app, perhaps). So thanks again!!
Good to hear the reinstall helped
Same here
A smart plug running Tasmota can do this easily, no hub needed. You can turn it on from a phone directly with any browser and program it to turn off after any time period you want.
I have a shit load of TUYA/Smartlife smart plugs. I realize folks are dead set again cloud connected devices...but as a starter set...these work well. They totally allow automatic shut off after a set time period. I have an automatic that when the plug goes from the off to on position, it waits a set number of minutes and then turns the same light off. They also allow multiple lights (separately controlled) to be synchronized. They is a visible \~100ms delay, that would not be there if they were locally controlled. My family doesn't appear to notice the small delay. Again, the TUYA stuff has a lot of negatives as others will point out, but I think it is a reasonable start setup that you upgrade from after a few years. The price point can't be beat.
Shelly smart plugs will do this, and they are wifi.
I have an automation that turns off my soldering iron after it's been on for an hour. If you've got a home assistant instance going, I'm sure you can do something similar.
"Alexa, turn on the hot plate for 30 minutes" -- me every morning as I start making coffee (heating coffee cups). I'm using a kasa plug. I do the same for a battery charger in the garage to avoid overcharging.
Not automation, but old school and reliable Woods 59711 In- Wall 15 Minute Spring Wound Timer, White https://a.co/d/dsTCwP6
You could do it a little lower tech way by using an aquastat (thermostatic switch). Put it on the return line so that when it senses the temperature rise, it turns the pump off. You'd first want to measure the desired temperature on that pipe so you know what temperature aquastat to buy, but likely something like a 90-110 deg F would work. If it's, say, 100 F on the return line, it might be 115F on the supply line. If you also use something like a PIR or radar presence sensor switch to sense when someone is in the bathroom, that makes for the AND condition you want: someone is in the bathroom AND the hot water temp is too low, therefore turn circulator on until temp is sufficient.
I had that in a previous home. In that case, it would turn recirc pump on/off to keep a more or less constant temp in the pipes (usually less, sadly). But this would be a great idea. Thanks for that!