I'm never investing in Google's smart home ecosystem again

Re:I'm never investing in Google's smart home ecosystem again by 13of40 on Sunday May 07, 2023 @11:28AM (#35852438)

Same here, but I want to say some bad things about old thermostats. My first house had propane heating, in a big tank that they would periodically come by and fill, so I had a visceral connection to how much fuel I was using. The previous owner had left the original 1960s mercury thermostats running the place, which meant that barring any initiative on my end the temperature was the same no matter if I was sleeping, at work, or whatever else it is people do. When I finally got around to replacing it with a digital programmable one, it cut my propane bill in half. Do you need to hook it to your smart phone? No, that's dumb. Do you need to choose between bleeding money vs. adjusting everything manually as part of your daily routine, like your grandfather winding the hallway clock? No, also dumb. Local digital is the way to go.

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Re:I'm never investing in Google's smart home ecosystem again by s1artibartfast on Sunday May 07, 2023 @11:55AM (#35852736)

Even that isn't a binary decision (haha). I have a 60 year old dumb analog thermostat and it solves that problem by having a big knob on it with time to set Heating and Cooling. No winding required.

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Re:I'm never investing in Google's smart home ecosystem again by Espressosaurus on Sunday May 07, 2023 @12:01PM (#35852803)

That's what the parent is saying. The new digital thermostats have some nice features without the stupidity that is IoT connectivity that allows the parent corporation to screw you over when they get bored.

I personally would not consider anything IoT because anything connected to the internet is a) a vector for intrusion into my network and b) has a lifetime measured in single digit years. Anything going into a home should realistically have a lifetime of at minimum ten years. For capital improvements like a furnace or thermometer connected to it (or a washing machine, or a stove), it should be measured in decades. Even lightbulbs aren't that disposable anymore thanks to LEDs.

Google discards things after a handful of years. Anything cellphone related has a lifetime of 5 years max, and for most it's more like 2 to 3.

Keep that shit away from my home and my car.

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Re:I'm never investing in Google's smart home ecosystem again by 13of40 on Sunday May 07, 2023 @12:06PM (#35852850)

> Even lightbulbs aren't that disposable anymore thanks to LEDs.

I'm staring at a pair of wifi enabled lightbulbs above the island in my kitchen that are stuck on the same hue I set them to three years ago when the app actually worked...

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Re:I'm never investing in Google's smart home ecosystem again by throwaway049 on Sunday May 07, 2023 @12:22PM (#35853036)

Are you not free to adjust the old thermostat when you leave for work or go to bed?

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Re:I'm never investing in Google's smart home ecosystem again by wlonkly on Sunday May 07, 2023 @06:35PM (#35856270)

GP specifically said that they found that "also dumb".

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Re:I'm never investing in Google's smart home ecosystem again by pmcjones on Sunday May 07, 2023 @03:40PM (#35854883)

Setback thermostats were invented a century ago — not digital.

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Re:I'm never investing in Google's smart home ecosystem again by 13of40 on Sunday May 07, 2023 @06:33PM (#35856252)

You're correct. I poked around to see what they were like and found this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134131981597

Adjusted for inflation this would cost almost $500. Probably explains why the ones in my bungalow starter home were just bimetallic coils with mercury switches.

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