iPhone Weather App with Notifications for Smart Thermostat

[Jxdawg]

Hey all!

Does anyone happen to know of a weather app that will notify me when the local temp drops below 50 degrees F?

I have a smart thermostat that I prefer to set to auto and leave it on it’s programmed schedule, but here in North Carolina, US the spring time can consist of 70s during the day and 30s during the night. To prevent damage to the ac unit, I don’t want to accidentally have the cool come on when it is below 50 degrees outside, hence my desire to find a weather app that will alert me to the forecasted weather.

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[jeffm5690]

Have you looked into using IFTTT?

 

[Jxdawg]

Have you looked into using IFTTT?

Never heard of it. Just reading the front page, does it allow me to input a command such as: “Set thermostat to warm when weather drops below 50 degrees?“

Ill try it out.

 

[levander]

If it’s below 50 outside, wouldn’t the house already be so cold that you wouldn’t want to cool it?

It doesn’t seem like you need to know the temperature outside. Just use the temperature gauge on the thermostat that’s inside the house, like everyone else does?

 

[Jxdawg]

If it’s below 50 outside, wouldn’t the house already be so cold that you wouldn’t want to cool it?

It doesn’t seem like you need to know the temperature outside. Just use the temperature gauge on the thermostat that’s inside the house, like everyone else does?

The thermostat is on a schedule and set to auto. So if I keep it at 71 all day and then they schedule switches to 68, it will think it needs to cool, when in reality it could just let it naturally fall to 68.

 

[levander]

The thermostat is on a schedule and set to auto. So if I keep it at 71 all day and then they schedule switches to 68, it will think it needs to cool, when in reality it could just let it naturally fall to 68.

Jxdawg, you very well might have a valid concern, but I don’t think you’re explaining it well. At least I’m not getting it.

Every thermostat I’ve ever seen also has a thermometer it interacts with. The thermometer just reads the current temperature in the room. If your thermostat is set to 71, but the thermometer reads 67, then the thermostat just doesn’t turn on the A/C. Then if you’re auto-scheduling of the thermostat turns the thermostat down from 71 to 68 and the temperature gauge still reads 67, then the A/C still doesn’t turn on. So you don’t need some external app to tell the A/C not to come on. The thermostat just checks with its thermometer to see if it needs to come on.

 

[Jxdawg]

The thermostat just checks with its thermometer to see if it needs to come on.

This is where I am having my issue. The thermostat knows when it needs to come on based on the indoor thermometer. What it dosent know is if the temperature outside is above or below 50 degrees. If the thermostat turns the cool air on when it is below 50 degrees, that can be potentially harmful to the system. So I want an external weather app that will alert me that the temperature outside will reach below 50 degrees at night so I can prevent the thermostat from turning cool air on at 50 degrees or below.

Sorry for not being clear, does this make sense?

 

[levander]

This is where I am having my issue. The thermostat knows when it needs to come on based on the indoor thermometer. What it dosent know is if the temperature outside is above or below 50 degrees. If the thermostat turns the cool air on when it is below 50 degrees, that can be potentially harmful to the system. So I want an external weather app that will alert me that the temperature outside will reach below 50 degrees at night so I can prevent the thermostat from turning cool air on at 50 degrees or below.

Sorry for not being clear, does this make sense?

yes, that makes sense.

But the first line in my first reply in this thread, I was trying to explain why I don’t think it’s necessary to worry about that scenario.

if it’s below 50 degrees outside, it’s going to be cold inside too. Yeah, you’re house has insulation, but not that much insulation.

If it’s 50 degrees outside, it’s not going to be above say 60 degrees inside. And you’re not going to want to cool your house anyway. As long as your thermostat is set at 68 (which is about the lowest I ever see anyone set them), you’re A/C is not going to come on when it’s 50 degrees outside.