WiFi Thermostats

[scottmandue]

For the record I'm also a KIS kinda guy and I thought the WIFI function was only to connect the stat. to the phone.

Not too happy it is on the internet but too late.

[RKDinOKC]

My thermostat is some kind of wifi on the electric companies network. I can not change or view anything except on the touch screen keypad. It's part of the local electric companies Smart Home plan.

Have 4 times during the day I can set different temps normal set back stuff. And I change those temps based on the season or whether we are going to be home or not. It would be convenient to set on my butt with wifi and make those changes but it only takes a couple of minutes. If we are going to be gone for an extended time, it has a hold button the keeps a set temp till hold is turned off.

From May thru September there is also a smart home signal. During those months the off peak electricity is 5 cents/kwh. There is a peak usage time from 2pm to 7pm that electricity is either .5, .13, 22, or 42 cents/kwh depending on the electric companies peak usage, ie mainy outside temps. The thermostat receives signal for the rate for that day. if it is one of the higher rates it will set the temperature to 4 degrees lower than your set temp at 11am. Then once the peak hits, 2pm it raises the thermostat from 2 to 4 degrees above your normal set temp. This pre cools the house so i can coast until the temp gets to the higher temp, then maintains that higher temp. At 7pm it goes back to the normal temp.

I work from home so was concerned about the house getting too hot. But it I don't really notice. You can set how much it cools to and how high it lets the temps go for the different price signals. But, I found the temps that came preset work great. While I don't really notice the differences in temps I do notice the difference on my electric bill. It used to be over $200 almost $300 in the summer. Now if rarely goes over $100 both summer and winter.

During weekdays in the summer we don't use things like the oven/washer/dryer/dishwasher during the peak times from 2pm to 7pm. Weekends are the low rate all day. We even got a 1500watt toaster oven because it is much cheaper than using the much larger 3500watt oven. Prefer food cooked or re-heated in a convection oven rather than a microwave.

So, yes I have a wifi thermostat, but no I don't have wifi access.

[Deschodt]

I object On the Hold issue with Nest. I had a couple in 2 houses and it held temps just fine. If that's what you wanted it to do. Good software, interaction with Alexa id that's your deal, geofencing (detects when you're home and bumps up the heat), etc... It's great.

But sure, other Thermostats will be cheaper.

[911 Rod]

Originally Posted by john70t

I don't hand out my house keys to groups of strangers on the internet for a reason.

Please explain this John.

[Deschodt]

maybe because software is always hackable ? (replace "voting" with anything else.)

[Aerkuld]

Originally Posted by john70t

Why are people so willing to put remote control access and ultra fine tuning of their personal lives on the internet?

Heating a house is like a freight train.

Get a heat audit and insulate your home first.
Get a two-stage furnace with a high SEER and adjust flue vents to rooms where you spend time.
Set your thermostat at 60-65deg and bump it up for a few hours whenever needed.
It's that simple.

Different people have different needs. If I could find a regular thermostat which could have multiple time of day temperature settings, know which day my wife is working from home this week and adjust automatically, know which room is occupied and make sure the temperature in that room is right, and be easy to program, then I'd buy it. These thermostats work over the internet, it isn't as if everyone can log on to peoples thermostat website with people posting photos of 'my thermostat settings today'. Sure, someone could track your thermostat settings if they really wanted to, but your utility companies monitor your electricity and gas usage already. There's the possibility of hacking too, but the convenience outweighs the very small risk, and I could always revert to my 'dumb' thermostat if I need to.

Does that help answer your question?

[john70t]

Originally Posted by billybek

I The one I have now is the second of the same type. I had tried a Honeywell T'stat for a brief time and returned it as its canned programming resulted in the furnace cycling unpredictably. It was an adaptive thermostat but apparently it was a slow learner...

I had that happen as well, and the heating bills skyrocketed. $400/mo.
It was an oversized furnace with the t-stat in front of a wall of leaky windows.

One tip that really helps is to locate the T-Stat in a room without any cross-breeze and put it inside a plastic box shell so it's not affected by gusts of cold air but rather overall temp. The furnace should run longer and the cycles farther apart. Use a $30 infrared thermometer and check wall/door/window temps and re-insulate as necessary. Buy heavy insulated curtains for big sliding doors. Install heated wire for pipes that might freeze. Etc.

Good points made all around. Especially the others with the need to check up on cottages when you're not around. I understand that. It's just that the advertisement for the Nest is based on a control issues: "The kid is in jail on heroin charges again, the wife has maxed out the credit cards and is going to leave me, the boss is going to fire me next week, but dammit I can still control the thermostat down to one tenth of a degree from anywhere in the world using my phone." That kind of thing. And the final irony is that once these gizmos weasel their way into the home and start demanding inter-connectivity to function you are now dependent on them and no longer have control.

[porsche4life]

God damn some of you guys are paranoid... who here honestly thinks that they have an interesting enough life that someone would hack your thermostat and mess with the temp in you house.

From what I’ve seen these are all operating on heavily encrypted bands, and more and more services are requiring multi factor authentication for account login. It’s not an easy feat to mess with this stuff.

For me I look at that the smart features will regulate our house better than a traditional thermostat. I’ve not got my tinfoil on tight enough to be worried about it getting hacked. For gods sake, if they want to mess with me that bad they’ll just bust in a window and come on in...

[john70t]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

God damn some of you guys are paranoid... who here honestly thinks that they have an interesting enough life that someone would hack your thermostat and mess with the temp in you house.

Guess I'm paranoid then.
Who would think that Facebook would erase all conservative pages during this last political purge attempt?

I did. About ten years ago after I had used it only a few times.
Then I read about them changing their own TOS without notifying users. Ok. Mistakes happen.
Then they were tracking users outside the Facebook webpage.
Then they were into implementing facial and object recognition wherever they could.
Then they were tracking people who never even signed up for Facebook.

Now the Facebook surveillance app is integrated deep in Android phones, and can't be removed.
And government websites don't function at all without allowing Google javascript.

Ribbit.[hop]

[mepstein]

Originally Posted by john70t

Guess I'm paranoid then.
Who would think that Facebook would erase all conservative pages during this last political purge attempt?

I did. About ten years ago after I had used it only a few times.
Then I read about them changing their own TOS without notifying users. Ok. Mistakes happen.
Then they were tracking users outside the Facebook webpage.
Then they were into implementing facial and object recognition wherever they could.
Then they were tracking people who never even signed up for Facebook.

Now the Facebook surveillance app is integrated deep in Android phones, and can't be removed.
And government websites don't function at all without allowing Google javascript.

Ribbit.[hop]

If anyone actually did hack into my nest, I'd be amused. I do almost everything online so my home thermostat is a pretty low priority. I'm careful but I don't live in fear.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

God damn some of you guys are paranoid... who here honestly thinks that they have an interesting enough life that someone would hack your thermostat and mess with the temp in you house.

August 29th 1997 the thermostats became aware...

I also love the facebook paranoia... um... no one is holding a gun to your head to sign up for facebook and put all your contact info on there.

[john70t]

Alright then. If being watched means nothing then prove it right here.
Post full name, address, social security, phone, email, possessions, spending habits, hobbies, political affiliation and activities, family members and their info and attributes and your relationship history and status, friends and their info and the same, people you have met, who you work for and position and how you like your job, detailed twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles of everything...do you get the point yet?
Because that's what these companies are doing without our permission.
They make billions off of other people's collected/stolen data.

The functionality is sometimes a great thing to have, but as a caveat it's a small step from being master to being servant.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by john70t

Because that's what these companies are doing without our permission.
They make billions off of other people's collected/stolen data.

The functionality is sometimes a great thing to have, but as a caveat it's a small step from being master to being servant.

It is not stealing if you/we volunteer all that data.
Just:
Don't use google, don't have a facebook, instagram, twitter account.
Don't have an Alexa (or any of the listening device) in your house.
Don't have a cell phone.
Problem solved.

[john70t]

No cell phone? No internet? Dude you are harshing my melon.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by john70t

No cell phone? No internet? Dude you are harshing my melon.

You know your cell phone is listening to you and reporting your GPS location to the authorities, right?

[Kraftwerk]

Our Nest-thing seems to have a mind of it's own.. It's like an old lady who says "where's my sweater? there's a draft in here.." It's always on even after I turn in down, it goes back up. Super annoying or maybe my wife is to blame? I am really temped to put the 1981 Honeywell back on the wall....

[David]

I really like the nest. Sometimes it does learn the wrong schedule for some reason but the schedule interface is super easy to adjust. I installed an early wifi honeywell but it was not user friendly. Hopefully theyve gotten better.

I also have a wired nest fire alarm and i havent died in a house fire yet so i guess it works.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by john70t

Guess I'm paranoid then.

^john70t is nuts. No basis in reality. And he's um biased so reject every single thing he says.
Why would he even consider (((google))) would be evil?

https://archive.ph/6FCVV
Google says the built-in microphone it never told Nest users about was 'never supposed to be a secret'

*In early February, Google announced that Assistant would now work with its home security and alarm system Nest Secure.

*The problem — users didn't know a microphone even existed on their Nest security devices to begin with.

*On Tuesday, a Google spokesperson told Business Insider it had made an "error."

*"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part," the spokesperson said.

[biosurfer1]

Conveniently leaves out the part:

“The microphone has never been on, and is only activated when users specifically enable the option.”

I'd also venture that if you were interested in the Nest Protect device, there is a 99.99999999% chance you already have a smartphone (with a mic), a smart tv (with a mic), a Google assistant (with a mic) or an Alexa (with a mic), or on and on and on.

Damn near every "smart" device you can buy now has a built in mic and probably camera, and if someone is too stupid to expect that, they probably shouldn't buy it in the first place.

[john70t]

Which part of "Not disclosing a hidden microphone inside your house" didn't you understand?