TiVo’s remote can do a lot of great things, but apparently Brainfreiz’s remote, includes a little too much functionality. The good news is that he’s able to control his new air conditioner with his TiVo remote. No special hacks, it came out of the box like that. The bad news is, everytime he hits the select button, he turns his air conditioner on and off.
I can understand why this would be annoying and hopefully, someone out there knows how to solve his problem, but in the meantime, he is asking for America’s help on deciding whether he should ditch the air conditioner or say goodbye to TiVo. If it was up to me, I’d choose a hot apartment with TiVo, over a climate controlled life without, but as a TiVo enthusiast, I’m probably a little biased. Air conditioning is a nice luxury, but is it nicer than TiVo? If you were forced to choose between the sweltering heat or having to watch live TV with commercials, which one would be unplugged in your household?
Davis Freeberg is a technology enthusiast living in the Bay Area. He enjoys writing about movies, music, and the impact that digital technology is having on traditional media. You can read more of his musings at www.davisfreeberg.com. Davis is a TiVo stockholder.
Wow! I got a new Haier AC last week, and I went CRAZY trying to figure out why the dang thing kept turning on & off by itself! I was ready to pull my hair out!
Then, I ran inside to change the playing music during an outdoors party. I was the only one in the apartment, and the only thing I was doing was pressing the ‘select’ button on the TiVo remote, and realized what was happening!
Why not just cover up the sensor to the AC? Then if you want to turn the AC on, just walk over to the unit and turn it on (no real need to use the remote).
Brian,
I did end up covering the sensor, since the unit is sitting in a window directly behind my couch. There’s no need for a remote control, but it was still a bit of an ordeal finding the cause…
You could flip the TiVo to another set of codes, like those with multiple units do.
Changing the code was my thought while reading the article…
There is even an entry for this very issue on TiVo.com (found when searching for the button-press specifics since I haven’t had to adjust the remote assighnements for my 3 units in a while):
Other Devices Respond to the DVR Remote
This happened to someone on Live Journal about a week ago (maybe the same person?) and I suggested chaging the codes. He replied that he tried, but it still happened.
Open the pannel on the air conditioner and cut the wire that connects the remote receiver. You’ll have to turn the air conditioner on and off by hand, but at least you can have both the TiVo AND the A/C.
Black or Duct tape over the A/C’s IR and operate it manually! You can stay cool and keep your TiVo. Do you really need a remote control for the A/C?
make a hollow cylinder kind of thing using a paper and fix it at the top of the tivo remote.
Then it will work only in the direction u intend to.
Why not just get a new air conditioner? Or move it to another room? There are so many solutions to this, that it’s pretty silly to even discuss it.
I have an idea: Why not duct tape a cat in front of the AC sensor so that the Tivo remote doesn’t affect it?
Oh, I have another good idea. Take a drill and drill a hole into the air conditioner sensor.
I’ve got a million of ’em!
Geiger-Air conditioning includes both thecooling and heating of air.
It also cleans the air and controls themoisture level.
Air Conditioning Contractors Directory for Cincinnati,
Prescreened Home Improvement Professionals for Cincinnati.
gogeiger