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0 pointsghaff6y ago0 comments

I use Alexa for one light that never got connected to a light switch. I used wireless X-10 for it previously :-)

I agree about reliability. It's one reason I won't get a Nest thermostat. I live in snow country and I'm not going to do anything that potentially introduces a new failure mode into my heating system.

(I actually have a couple of the Nest smoke detectors. The internet connection isn't required for them to function as dumb detectors and they work well in my experience.)

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5 comments · 3 top-level

jld6y ago· 2 in thread

An internet connection isn’t required for the Nest thermostat to operate the furnace either.

I can appreciate not wanting to allow Google the opportunity to brick your thermostat (and hence your furnance) through some kind of software issue but if you’re willing to extend that faith to their smoke detectors, why not your furnace?

ghaffOP6y ago

I guess my feeling with the smoke/CO detectors is that I also have other "dumb" models throughout the house. Furthermore, a thermostat needs to work basically all the time at certain times of the year, whereas the detector only needs to work when there's something to detect. I guess Google could silently brick them and I'd never know about it but that seems to be getting into paranoia territory. (And it's not like other detectors can't silently fail too.)

It's probably paranoia about the thermostat too TBH. But other than looking cooler than my old programmable Honeywell, a Nest thermostat also wouldn't really do anything for me anyway.

wayoutthere6y ago

Yeah, the Nest was ahead of its time in 2010; but by 2012 the big players like Honeywell and Carrier had caught up. At this point they beat Nest on both price and features. A good friend of mine owns an HVAC company and would recommend a dozen thermostats over a Nest on functionality alone.

dmoose6y ago

I live in snow country as well so when I updated my boiler for home automation I connected the existing controller that has worked for 20 years to the NC side of each relay. This way if the HA controller fails it falls back to the old less sophisticated but near bullet proof analog control system. I dialed those thermostats down 10 degrees below the HA setpoints. If the HA system fails the relays are inert and the old system keeps the house from freezing.

I suppose if it fails with the relays energized it's going to get pretty hot inside, but in the meantime if I have issues with the HA system I can just turn it off and use the old thermostats. This was great while I was debugging my design.

SkyPuncher6y ago

> I live in snow country and I'm not going to do anything that potentially introduces a new failure mode into my heating system.

On the flip side, my Ecobee notified me that my furnace was broken while I was at work.

I don't really see name-brand smart thermostats in the same category as most home automation devices. There's also a lot of nice features that can improve efficiency. For example, we drastically cut our cooling bill by utilizing the scheduled fan mode to pull cool, main floor air into the air handler and redistributing it (partially to the second floor).

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