Ecosense Air Conditioning Controllers

[shaz1967]

Bruce they sound like a fantastic thing to have that will save you lots of €€€s. How much will it cost to have that system installed on a 3 bed room villa which has 4 units installed ,1 in each bedroom & 1 in the lounge

Roughly 250,000 euros.

Pato, did you mean €250.00 each or was you having your usual jokey comment by stating €250,000 each ????

[shaz1967]

Hello
I am very interested in the battery operated ones as I do not want any mess with hardwiring. I would need 4 in total can anybody clarify the price please including everything ie, parts, labour etc. Thanks

[Bruce Wallis]

Hello
I am very interested in the battery operated ones as I do not want any mess with hardwiring. I would need 4 in total can anybody clarify the price please including everything ie, parts, labour etc. Thanks

My advice?
Look online at the Ecosense site.
Buy the units online, and then get a local electrician to install them on an hourly basis.

We didnt do our sitting room as the whole wall opens out onto the pool area, and wary of people leaving the outside doors open all day, we decided not to install an airconditioner in there. Why pay a fortune to try and cool the Algarve with the doors permanantly open?

Ohhh.....and ignore Pato, he tries, and usually fails, to make a poor joke out of everything.

[shaz1967]

Thanks Bruce, I thought Pato was having one of his funny moments ! I have looked on the ecosense web page & also looked on you tube & watched the official ecosense installation guides. I was under the impression that the hard wired model required wiring in from the fuse box but after watching the videos I can see that you can mount them adjacent to the air con unit & hide the wiring pretty easily or at worse have very little wiring showing. Have you installed the hard wired units Bruce? They don't seem such a technically demanding job & for an electrician I can visualise it taking them maybe 15/30 minutes to install one unit, what do you think Bruce? Thank you for your reply.

[njc0607]

fabulous feedback and information thanks guys & gals...

defo going to be fitting these. if not for rentals, peace of mind if you forget to switch it off...

[alf1956]

I paid £50 a unit and installed them myself. A 20 minute job, including the programming of the controllers.
Mine are run off batteries, which you are advised to replace at the beginning of each season.
£250 a unit sounds like somebody is taking the proverbial!

Bruce,i presume that this system is a unit that fastens to the wall & a remote control ? If so does that price include the unit that fastens to the wall & a remote ?

[Bruce Wallis]

I paid £50 a unit and installed them myself. A 20 minute job, including the programming of the controllers.
Mine are run off batteries, which you are advised to replace at the beginning of each season.
£250 a unit sounds like somebody is taking the proverbial!

Bruce,i presume that this system is a unit that fastens to the wall & a remote control ? If so does that price include the unit that fastens to the wall & a remote ?

You'll need to check Ecosense website to get up to date prices

[alf1956]

I spoke to a friend of mine who has an air conditioning company about the ecosense units & he told me that you can buy stand alone pir/sound detecting units for around £10/12 which will do the same job & you fit them in exactly the same way you would fit the ecosense units. He explained that all you do is wire the pir into the mains feed so in theory it becomes a switch but working on movement/sound. he explained to me that you see lots of these pir units fitted in commercial office & toilets etc where people are prone to leaving the lights on so when you walk in the lights turn on then after a set time if there is no movement the light turns off.

[RichardHenshall]

... all you do is wire the pir into the mains feed so in theory it becomes a switch ...

Snag is that it will switch the aircon ON again every time it senses movement.

[alf1956]

I thought that's the same principle how the ecosense units worked? The pir's I have looked at have a pir, sound sensor as well as a function to set the sensitivity of the pir as well as the length of time it will keep the electrical appliance will stay on before it turns the appliance off.

[RichardHenshall]

My understanding is that the Ecosense unit only sends an OFF command (some time after the user has left the room), so the user will need to manually restart the aircon on their return.

[alf1956]

I think your right Richard. I believe it sends an off command at a time that can be set by the owner but I am not sure about the owner has to restart it or it start's automatically on the detection of movement.

[widge]

I paid £50 a unit and installed them myself. A 20 minute job, including the programming of the controllers.
Mine are run off batteries, which you are advised to replace at the beginning of each season.
£250 a unit sounds like somebody is taking the proverbial!

Bruce,i presume that this system is a unit that fastens to the wall & a remote control ? If so does that price include the unit that fastens to the wall & a remote ?

You'll need to check Ecosense website to get up to date prices

According to their website a battery operated unit including the necessary replacement remote is £89. The hard wired version including remote and one door sensor and one window sensor £145 each. Extra sensors cost more. Shipping to Portugal will cost more unless you are living in UK & can put them in your suitcase ! I expect Bruce missed off the cost of the remote and the fact that he got his odd job man to help him with the installation !