Most Ridiculous Item That Has WiFi

[Hall]

I just remembered, my wife bought a floor cleaner (carpet, hardwood, etc) that's WiFi enabled. Apparently it tells her when the detergent solution is low... She certainly didn't buy it for this feature but she may have installed the necessary app.

My daughter and I were looking at washers and dryers at HD once and encountered WiFi-enabled versions. We both asked "why?". I realize one reason is it can notify you when a load is done. I guess if we were washing a lot of loads while doing other things, that could be handy but not for me. I think another option was if you loaded it up with clothes and detergent, closed the lid and walked away and forgot to hit 'start'. I suppose you could do this manually. Then again, from a safety standpoint, they might not allow this.

 

[Blinker]

Toaster

 

[MrPlow]

 

[Hall]

I’m talking about the average Joe who is home everyday.

when at work

Which is it ?

We've had programmable thermostats for 20 years so I know the value and the point of them. As my wife's work schedule has changed from M-F, 8-5 like mine to 3 x 12 days, a programmable unit isn't as practical anymore. Plus we have kids in school who are remote now and our son works 3rd shift so he's home during the day. We really aren't going to turn the heat or AC down/up to save money like you can when no one's home.

Now, our ecobee is handy but still not used to its full potential by us. It was nice last winter when we went to FL for 2 weeks though. I set "vacation" mode which kept the temperature at 60ºF and on the way home, when we were in Kentucky, bumped it up to 65º and let it settle. After a break, bumped it up to 68-70º and walked into a comfortable house. Or, while we don't get anywhere as hot as you get in AZ, we do get high temperatures (90-100ºF is normal in summer) but worse, high humidity. So if we get a "cool" spell, say in the high 60s or low 70s, we'll open windows for fresh air plus get a break from the AC running. I then can get a "high humidity" alert meaning we need to close windows and turn the AC back on. The kids generally won't touch the thermostat (that can be good and bad !!) so I have to call or text them.

 

[spasm3]

Our oven.

 

[blupupher]

Kitchen Faucet.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

$250 for a thermostat when a Honeywell programmable one can be had for $30.

We purchased our Wifi T stat 10 years ago, even then it was 99 dollars, not 250. It was 20 to 30 dollars more than a Thermostat with equivalent options.

I find it very useful, and it is nice to get an alert if the temperature gets to far from the set point if you are away from home and the furnace were to quit for whatever reason.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

Plus I find the data logging nice.

 

[PandaBear]

Clock?

 

[Skippy722]

$250 for a thermostat when a Honeywell programmable one can be had for $30.

Cheapest WiFi connected Honeywell thermostat is like $100, about right in line with everyone else’s connected thermostat. They’re vastly superior to plain Jane programmable thermostats IMO. Nothing like getting comfortable in bed and realizing you’re a little too warm or cold and not having to get up to change the temp.

My dishwasher can connect to the internet.... I fail to see why it’s needed. It has a delay feature built right into the control panel, and it’s not like I’m going to start it while I’m not home, if I load it up I’ll start it while I’m right in front of it.

 

[alarmguy]

Vacation homes are not all that common. I’m talking about the average Joe who is home everyday.

I agree 100% with the following. If someone is buying a wifi thermostat to save on utility costs, then I have a bridge to sell you *LOL*
Good god! The marketing of BIG tech companies to get into your home and learn your every waking moment, just amazing. Google building a data base on everything you do. The time is coming in this country where the young are going to have to buckle down and conserve money because its not going to come as easy as it does now, when that time comes, they wont know what to do! *LOL* Oh my, the house maybe warm when I get home or I might have to get out of bed to turn down the thermostat when we have ___ . I just laugh to myself and I am sure many others do too.

If someone wants to save energy, buy a programable thermostat, program it and live by the temperatures you set in it. With the savings, pay down the money you borrowed to buy your house! Now there is a concept...

With Wifi, any snowflake will be adjusting the thermostat up and down according to how hot or cold they are. Throw the whole family in there and you have a family circus playing with the thermostat raising and lowering it at will, just so they are perfectly comfortable at the moment, instead of having a temperature that is acceptable to the human race that EVERYONE has to live by and save energy.
(god we are so spoiled as a people *LOL*)

Is it really that hard to have a home at 78 degrees in the middle of the hot summer and 74 when you are sleeping at night? Plus 82 to 85 when your not home or on unused floors in your home.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

I agree 100% with the following. If someone is buying a wifi thermostat to save on utility costs, then I have a bridge to sell you *LOL*
Good god! The marketing of BIG tech companies to get into your home and learn your every waking moment, just amazing. Google building a data base on everything you do. The time is coming in this country where the young are going to have to buckle down and conserve money because its not going to come as easy as it does now, when that time comes, they wont know what to do! *LOL* Oh my, the house maybe warm when I get home or I might have to get out of bed to turn down the thermostat when we have ___ . I just laugh to myself and I am sure many others do too.

If someone wants to save energy, buy a programable thermostat, program it and live by the temperatures you set in it. With the savings, pay down the money you borrowed to buy your house! Now there is a concept...

With Wifi, any snowflake will be adjusting the thermostat up and down according to how hot or cold they are. Throw the whole family in there and you have a family circus playing with the thermostat raising and lowering it at will, just so they are perfectly comfortable at the moment, instead of having a temperature that is acceptable to the human race that EVERYONE has to live by and save energy.
(god we are so spoiled as a people *LOL*)

Is it really that hard to have a home at 78 degrees in the middle of the hot summer and 74 when you are sleeping at night? Plus 82 to 85 when your not home or on unused floors in your home.

So the whole family can't adjust the thermostat if it's a traditional variety?

I work out in the elements much of the time, I am uncomfortable much of that time. There was a time we kept the thermostat at 62 in the winter and bundled up, as I got older the day came where I decided I was not going to be uncomfortable in my home.

I have a question for you, do you have electric lights in your home? If so let it be known that when electric lighting started to become commonplace many naysayers didn't understand why there was a need to switch from oil lamps.

Should we go back to oil lamps for lighting? Candles? Fire in a cave? No lights at all!?

 

[Sierra048]

A bathroom fart fan that has blue-tooth music capabilities. While maybe not controlled via Wifi. I'm still scratching my head over that one.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

A bathroom fart fan that has blue-tooth music capabilities. While maybe not controlled via Wifi. I'm still scratching my head over that one.

Some people like to listen to music or a podcast while in the shower or when taking a bath.....my grandfather used to have one of those new fangled transistor radios hanging in his bathroom.

I like listening to podcasts or youtube when I'm in the shower. I just usually set the phone nearby and crank the volume up. Maybe I'm a good candidate for a bluetooth speaker built into the exhaust fan. As long as you could still change the motor out if it goes bad I am not opposed to one.

 

[alarmguy]

So the whole family can't adjust the thermostat if it's a traditional variety?

I work out in the elements much of the time, I am uncomfortable much of that time. There was a time we kept the thermostat at 62 in the winter and bundled up, as I got older the day came where I decided I was not going to be uncomfortable in my home.

I have a question for you, do you have electric lights in your home? If so let it be known that when electric lighting started to become commonplace many naysayers didn't understand why there was a need to switch from oil lamps.

Should we go back to oil lamps for lighting? Candles? Fire in a cave? No lights at all!?

No, I think the question is do we need to control all these devices with our cell phones in the marketing name of saving energy. Since this is a wifi thread, not a candle, oil lamp, light bulb thread )

 

[dadto2]

My sump pumps. I think the idea is sound, but I have no internet and extremely spotty cell coverage at my cottage, so if the home sump pumps fail, I'll still never know.

 

[JT20]

Clock?

Nah... that's smart, it will sync to GMT time in whatever your time zone.

We are living truly in the age of The Jrtsons, really everything except for the Telenor and flying car. Everything else (primarily Video Calls) and Back To The Future 2, walk into a room and say "okay give me Channel 5, 23, 61, 28, 94 and 82" of something like that and 6 squares come up on a TV...................

Remember the old joke: "I have a watch that does everything but tell time." Now, obviously it will tell the time... but maybe not automatically? LOL.

 

[Andrew1972]

$250 for a thermostat when a Honeywell programmable one can be had for $30.

Does the $30 one have remote capability? I doubt it.

We have a $90 Honeywell wifi thermostat that alerts us when freeze occurring in our ski home and also I click turn up heat from 50F to 69F when I leave our home (2hrs away) to heat the home up.

 

[Andrew1972]

The oven seems like an one unless you maybe leave something frozen in it and remotely cook it?

 

[PandaBear]

My dishwasher can connect to the internet.... I fail to see why it’s needed. It has a delay feature built right into the control panel, and it’s not like I’m going to start it while I’m not home, if I load it up I’ll start it while I’m right in front of it.

Likely benefit is if you forgot to turn it on you can turn it on from far away (i.e. people load up dishes but don't always turn it on).