My utility bill is out of control. I have a whiny bro in law living with us for practically nothing a month. He crys everytime it gets below 70 in the house. If I am not there he will then crank the heater up and forget to turn it off when he leaves. We are in the process of getting rid of him but the wife dosent want to ruin their freindship. I am ready to beat the crap out of him, but maybe i can freeze him out instead.:D

So the heater/ac control panel is only 4"x4" and I need to find a way to lock it so dumbsh*t cant turn it on. Any ideas, besides cutting his fingers off, or taking the battery out every morning?

Originally posted by pickeledpigsfeet
My utility bill is out of control. I have a whiny bro in law living with us for practically nothing a month. He crys everytime it gets below 70 in the house. If I am not there he will then crank the heater up and forget to turn it off when he leaves. We are in the process of getting rid of him but the wife dosent want to ruin their freindship. I am ready to beat the crap out of him, but maybe i can freeze him out instead.:D

So the heater/ac control panel is only 4"x4" and I need to find a way to lock it so dumbsh*t cant turn it on. Any ideas, besides cutting his fingers off, or taking the battery out every morning?

Yeah.

Tell him to keep his fawking hands off your shit, or you'll break his fawking arm.

McMaster-Carr and Grainger both sell boxes to go over the thermostat. Might not look very nice.

Or, there is the put another thermostat somewhere he can't get to it and disconnect the existing one...

There are alot of inexpensive digital thermostats that will allow you to lock the key pad by using a few "secret" keystrokes.

Originally posted by Priest
There are alot of inexpensive digital thermostats that will allow you to lock the key pad by using a few "secret" keystrokes.

Mine does that... but I have never used it.

It is a TempRite I think. Cost me 120 - but they have them a little cheaper than that.

Locking covers are the standard solution for public buildings. Just as easy to wire in a switch out of sight on the LV control wiring. I have the same problem with my roomate, but I just weld alot in the garage and he has to pay half the bill.

http://www.fixitshop.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/2801040.jpg

I have a digital thermostat that you can "lock". It will only let you change the setting by 6 degrees, and in one hour it goes back to the locked setting. I think I paid about 40 bucks for it, but I have a forgetful girlfriend, so it was worth it. I also like it because you can set different temps for day and night, so when you get home, you hit the night button, and it changes to your nighttime setting.

Originally posted by PTSchram
McMaster-Carr and Grainger both sell boxes to go over the thermostat. Might not look very nice.

Or, there is the put another thermostat somewhere he can't get to it and disconnect the existing one... IIRC you can get them from H/D and Lowes as well.

coool. looks like i will make a trip to H/D or lowes today after work.