Intellivent: Decentralizing Control
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 11.28.07
We often talk about how little control we have over our environment; if you rent or share a flat it is difficult to agree on the temperature and if people keep different hours it is hard to deal with setback thermostats. That is why this Intellivent is such an interesting idea- it shifts the responsibility for deciding on what temperature when right down to the end of the pipe.
You don't need the building super either; "Instead of paying hundreds of dollars for a complicated zone-based thermostat system, the Programmable IntelliVent will do this for you automatically. The Programmable IntelliVent installs easily in any floor vent opening and uses a programmable interface to open and close the vent based on when you want the room heated." It's cheap at $30 too.
Most apartments don't have this kind of heating grill but most houses do. Next step: add a motion detector to it. ::IntelliVent via ::Apartment Therapy
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It's only worth while if the temperature sensor is away from the vent. Otherwise it won't be very accurate.
It's only worth while if the temperature sensor is away from the vent. Otherwise it won't be very accurate.
JiltedCitizen, I think that there are no temperature sensor. From what we can read on their site, it is only a time controlled vent. It would have been a great idea to also introduce an external temperature sensor.
Careful.
You can blow the ducts apart if the system wasn't designed for partial shutdown.
Been there, done that, in manual mode.
First poster comment about sensor position is a good one.
Keep it where it is and you're going to get a lot of on/off cycling.
Bump the price up a bit and make the thermostat/programming part a remote.
JC: I don't think there's a thermostat built in to this...it's only for setting the times when you want it to open or close.
What's wrong with a manual vent cover?