Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Yeah but then it doesn’t have any soap in it
Most Ridiculous Item That Has WiFi
- Thread starter Warstud
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Agreed I bought this (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Honeywell-...ite-Smart-Thermostat-with-Wi-Fi-Compatibility) mostly because I get low temperature alert for my ski home quiet cheaply. My current home I have a 45 year old oil boiler and for the $100 know it still functions with a nice alert on smartphone.
I have a number of smart items that have really created a bit of convenience and took workload off myself.
My smart plugs turn my fish tank light on at dawn and off at dusk (fish need natural light cycles), during xmas times they turn my patio xmas lights on at dusk and off at dawn. My Philips Hue bulbs turn the lights on when I get home and off when I leave, they also vacation mode and randomize their turn on/off times to make it appear someone is home, best part is I can remotely control them if lets say I forget to turn off the living room lights when I turn in for the night. My Nest thermostat has way too many features to list here without a TL
R reply.
It is strictly convenience for me, I know the Nest has saved me $$$ versus a basic programmable but that is just icing on the cake.
Now some of this odd stuff like microwaves, dishwashers, etc. that are smart capable I don't really see the value but that is neither here nor there. I guess I can understand some aspects but whether they are used or not is a whole different ballgame, I'm not about to put food in the microwave before I leave for work so I can start it 7 minutes before I get home. Even lets say an oven I am not sure of the food safety aspect of let's say Thanksgiving you toss a big bird in there night before and set a start time for many hours later.
My smart plugs turn my fish tank light on at dawn and off at dusk (fish need natural light cycles), during xmas times they turn my patio xmas lights on at dusk and off at dawn. My Philips Hue bulbs turn the lights on when I get home and off when I leave, they also vacation mode and randomize their turn on/off times to make it appear someone is home, best part is I can remotely control them if lets say I forget to turn off the living room lights when I turn in for the night. My Nest thermostat has way too many features to list here without a TL
R reply. It is strictly convenience for me, I know the Nest has saved me $$$ versus a basic programmable but that is just icing on the cake.
Now some of this odd stuff like microwaves, dishwashers, etc. that are smart capable I don't really see the value but that is neither here nor there. I guess I can understand some aspects but whether they are used or not is a whole different ballgame, I'm not about to put food in the microwave before I leave for work so I can start it 7 minutes before I get home. Even lets say an oven I am not sure of the food safety aspect of let's say Thanksgiving you toss a big bird in there night before and set a start time for many hours later.
Didn’t you pay like $3000 for an extended car warranty?
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Yeah but it paid for $5,400 in repairs in my first dealer visit.
What kind of car is it? My entire car was only 5300 lol. I guess that's why I can splurge and blow my money on foolish things like a "250 dollar" wifi thermostat.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
2015 Hyundai Genesis 5.0L
Nice, I like those. Couldn't you have purchased a Mitsubishi Mirage instead? That would have still got you from point A to point B. You see where I'm going with this....
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Nah, very different. Using a $30 Honeywell thermostat vs a $250 Nest shouldn’t make you miserable. Set it once and forget it even exists.
That theory works if you have a set schedule. Does a 30 dollar Honeywell thermostat alert you if you are away from home for several days when theres subzero weather and your furnace quits working?
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
What ever did people do before 10 years ago when these thermostats came out? 1 in a million chance that would happen.
Probably came home to a flooded home - 1 in a million chance of a HVAC system dying? LOL. Thats like saying there is a 1 in a million chance a persons car is going to break down on a road trip.
Far from a 1 in a million chance, much of the extreme weather here sometimes involves storms which can cause power outages. It's nice to know if I'm away if my house is about to freeze up or if the freezer with 1000 dollars of meat in it loses power. My wifi thermostat helps me determine the conditions at my house to some extent.
What did people do before heated seats, power steering, the electric starter?
What did people do before anything? Its interesting you have chosen to draw the line in the sand of human evolution at wifi thermostats.
You drive a luxury car however you criticize people that buy a high end thermostat? Its contradictory thinking.
I personally wouldn't spend 250 dollars on a nest. There are plenty of wifi thermostats that can be had for an affordable price. I'm confused why wifi thermostats make you so angry.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Ah, so you do agree $250 on a thermostat is absurd when a $60 WiFi Honeywell does the same thing.
Probably not helpful for those who are home everyday. And with current events, even more folks are home every day.
When we travelled more, the Home/Away settings were useful.
Alas, I don't think people even want programmable thermostats. I tried to sell the two I removed to install our two Nest thermostats and couldn't even get $20 or $25 for the pair, IIRC. Had a couple of flakes contact me and ask me more than just the automatic, "Do you still have this?" question, only to go radio silent after I answered the question.
I think I donated them to Goodwill as no one wanted them.
I think I got two for the price of one Nest with utility rebates. I've received $200 worth of value, and must have saved that much energy as it keeps track of if I'm home or not better than just programming the thermostat with fixed times.
I'm into smart tech that makes sense, and don't like to buy it for the heck of it. Examples of what I own that are "smart" devices:
-2 wifi thermostats, one for the house and the other for the garage. House unit has remote sensors located in bedrooms and other living areas to help regulate the household temps. Example: over night thermostat is programmed to use the sensor in the nursery to maintain setpoint...it's a cooler room in the house so this helps overnight. During various portions of the day I have it average temps of various rooms that we occupy. Worth the $300 for the thermo plus the sensors? I think yes.
-Front door deadbolt. Just a week ago when I was out of town on vacation I set up an access code for a friend to drop our dog back off at the house, and then a second friend got a code of their choosing to come and let the dog out mid-day before we returned later. I hate keys in my pocket, and we would only need to use the front door if the power went out and the garage openers quit but now I don't have to carry a house key.
-Irrigation controller. Probably my favorite...syncs weather with NOAA and taps into local neighbors' weather stations to measure rainfall, temps, sun and wind exposure, etc. and automatically adjusts watering times. I also input grass type, soil type, sprinkler flow rates, etc. for fine-tuning to minimize water waste. This thing probably paid for itself in water bills alone within a few months.
-Last example are little things but great: Chromecast audios. I can cast from Spotify simultaneously to all 3 separate home audio systems for whole house (and garage) music for parties.
-2 wifi thermostats, one for the house and the other for the garage. House unit has remote sensors located in bedrooms and other living areas to help regulate the household temps. Example: over night thermostat is programmed to use the sensor in the nursery to maintain setpoint...it's a cooler room in the house so this helps overnight. During various portions of the day I have it average temps of various rooms that we occupy. Worth the $300 for the thermo plus the sensors? I think yes.
-Front door deadbolt. Just a week ago when I was out of town on vacation I set up an access code for a friend to drop our dog back off at the house, and then a second friend got a code of their choosing to come and let the dog out mid-day before we returned later. I hate keys in my pocket, and we would only need to use the front door if the power went out and the garage openers quit but now I don't have to carry a house key.
-Irrigation controller. Probably my favorite...syncs weather with NOAA and taps into local neighbors' weather stations to measure rainfall, temps, sun and wind exposure, etc. and automatically adjusts watering times. I also input grass type, soil type, sprinkler flow rates, etc. for fine-tuning to minimize water waste. This thing probably paid for itself in water bills alone within a few months.
-Last example are little things but great: Chromecast audios. I can cast from Spotify simultaneously to all 3 separate home audio systems for whole house (and garage) music for parties.
Fair enough.
FWIW, I wouldn't spend $250 on a thermostat. I do have a Nest E, the cheaper model which I got for $80 NIB on eBay. I didn't think that was unreasonable. I don't mind paying for some technology.
Furthermore, I always look at reviews and the number of stars. The product that has more than 10,000 five start reviews is usually the one to get, like my Echo string trimmer and KitchenAid mixer.
Now that is awesome!
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
I gave up my tin-foil hat a long time ago. I don't care whether Amazon hears what I'm saying. What could they possibly do with that information that isn't already known about me. Most of my most important information was already stolen during multiple data breaches over the past ten years. There will be more, none LESS ****ing than what I say in my own home.
With that said, I have around 10 Echo devices. I like to be able to say, "Alexa, play Hip Hop in the family room" or, "Alexa, play kids music in the bedroom" or, "Alexa, what's in the news". I also listen to Classic Rock while working on my cars, and it's nice to be able to change songs (and stations) with my voice, without having to pull my gloves off or touch my phone with dirty fingers.
I also have Amazon cams, Smartthings plugs, sensors and other wifi plugs. I use the cams and sensors for security (we receive alerts on our phones). I use the plugs to control various lights and loads. For instance, our Christmas tree, a village with lights my wife made, and a couple of other things are set to come on at dusk and turn off at dawn.
Some smart plugs, like our Samsung Smarthings plugs will tell you the load on the plug, too. You'd be surprised how low of a load the small window A/C units draw. I was surprised how much the Christmas tree draws.
We have window A/C units and use smart plugs to turn them on when we're away and want to turn them on before we get home. If we didn't have line-voltage thermostats for our all-electric heat we'd have a smart thermostat for that, too.
We have Smart bulbs in our bedroom, outside and in other strategic locations. "Alexa, turn on the outside lights" or, "Alexa, turn on Mom's light". They remember the last settings, so when I command them off and then on again, I don't need to command them again to dim. It is nice being able to leave mom's light at 1% at night as a night light.
Finally, we have water sensors near our old water heater and dishwasher in case they leak...or my 2 year-old licks them. lol
With that said, I have around 10 Echo devices. I like to be able to say, "Alexa, play Hip Hop in the family room" or, "Alexa, play kids music in the bedroom" or, "Alexa, what's in the news". I also listen to Classic Rock while working on my cars, and it's nice to be able to change songs (and stations) with my voice, without having to pull my gloves off or touch my phone with dirty fingers.
I also have Amazon cams, Smartthings plugs, sensors and other wifi plugs. I use the cams and sensors for security (we receive alerts on our phones). I use the plugs to control various lights and loads. For instance, our Christmas tree, a village with lights my wife made, and a couple of other things are set to come on at dusk and turn off at dawn.
Some smart plugs, like our Samsung Smarthings plugs will tell you the load on the plug, too. You'd be surprised how low of a load the small window A/C units draw. I was surprised how much the Christmas tree draws.
We have window A/C units and use smart plugs to turn them on when we're away and want to turn them on before we get home. If we didn't have line-voltage thermostats for our all-electric heat we'd have a smart thermostat for that, too.
We have Smart bulbs in our bedroom, outside and in other strategic locations. "Alexa, turn on the outside lights" or, "Alexa, turn on Mom's light". They remember the last settings, so when I command them off and then on again, I don't need to command them again to dim. It is nice being able to leave mom's light at 1% at night as a night light.
Finally, we have water sensors near our old water heater and dishwasher in case they leak...or my 2 year-old licks them. lol
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