Tado Cooling is a third-party device that can turn any existing airconditioning unit into a smart connected appliance. That’s right, no need to buy a smart AC to continue with your home automation expansion — just hook one of these up to any window, freestanding, or wall AC unit to give existing fixtures the same smart capabilities.
Sure, you can use a smart plug to add remote operation abilities to your AC, but this small control panel will do so much more. Not only does it let you turn your AC on or off remotely, it allows you to change cooling settings, maintain room humidity levels automatically (it will turn on the airconditioning while you’re away periodically to satisfy desired levels), and add indoor presence detection to the AC’s operation (can automatically shut off when no one’s in the room), turning it into a full-fledged smart appliance.
Consisting of a small wall-mounted panel, Tado Cooling connects to the AC via infrared, so there’s no need to mess with any of the electronics. Just find a space for the unit on the wall (needs a clear line to the AC for the IR to work), mount it, and plug into an open outlet to get started. It comes with a 15 x 15 LED matrix display, with a touch-sensitive capacitive control panel that lets you both see data on the airconditioning’s operation as well as control it. Of course, you can also operate things from an accompanying mobile app, whether to prepare the room on your way home from work or just to mess with your mom who’s visiting. Yeah, you’re a horrible son.
It comes with sensors for temperature, humidity, noise, and ambient light, with both WiFi and Bluetooth for wireless communication. Operation is powered by a Texas Instruments 20MHz MSP430 microcontroller.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running to fund Tado Cooling. Available pledges to reserve a unit starts at $99.