I think the proposition of death is a bit of a stretch. Definitely inconvenient, though. FWIW, dumb appliances could have done the same thing. A furnace that

I think the proposition of death is a bit of a stretch. Definitely inconvenient, though. FWIW, dumb appliances could have done the same thing. A furnace that stops working in the dead of winter while away can still burst your pipes if they get cold enough, a broken appliance (and an operator unwillingly to change the situation) can still cause someone to freeze the death or suffer from a deadly heatstroke. This particular issue cited first probably has mostly to do with the fact that nest really wants you to have a 24V power source for the thermostat (A "C" or "Common Wire"). They've figured out how to make it work without for most systems, but that relies on an internal battery.