4 ms·

Nest thermostats are also very stupid. The 'smart' mode tries to build a schedule of activity based on how much you walk past the specific spot on the wall wher

Nest thermostats are also very stupid. The 'smart' mode tries to build a schedule of activity based on how much you walk past the specific spot on the wall where your thermostat is, and predict when to heat the house based on that. It's garbage, we (and everyone else I know) just sets a schedule like a normal thermostat. Given Google has access to my and my partner's calendars, why not link them and use that instead, and cut the AI shit?

michaeltoth 7y ago
I'm always shocked by the lack of integration among Google's various products. The amount of time my Google Home replies to a simple question with "I'm not sure how to help with that" is mind-boggling. Some variation of "I don't have a great answer, but I've sent some Google search results to your phone to review!" seems like an infinitely better (and obvious) alternative for the global leader in search, but they've for some reason ignored this for years.
- mcny 7y ago
  It kind of gives me some comfort that even Google can't get cross team collaboration right. Makes me feel less bad about the dysfunctions at the places I've worked at...
remote_phone 7y ago
The dumbest thing is they show us 10 days worth of temperatures when in fact year over year is what matters the most. It is a stupidly neutered product due to stupidity and could be so much more useful than it actually is. As I said before, Google can’t produce consumer products. They are turning into the Microsoft of the 21st century, with one good product (search) and a host of shitty products.
joezydeco 7y ago
Or the weather. Or the real time price of electricity. Or high-demand periods. Or the learned heat retention capability of a particular home. Or a ton of other things that have never been implemented.
- fredley 7y ago
  Given how much potential there is to make a vastly superior Nest-like thermostat, why hasn't anyone done it?
  - greedo 7y ago
    Because the market is actually pretty small for expensive thermostats. I bought the original version of the Nest thermostat because I wanted to remotely control it via my phone. Most of the smart features are horrible, the AI is dumb, and the fact that controlling it depends on a server that may be EOL'd scares me. Most thermostats are in the neighborhood of $25-$50, so $250 for a thermostat that offers marginal utility is a hard sell.
    - joezydeco 7y ago
      I think at some future the point the utilities are going to be more involved than they are right now. At this point in time you see some utilities offering setback thermostats (smart and non-smart) as a way to help smooth demand during peak usage periods. Some of the better ones run promotions and offer rebates on Nests and Ecobees, but these units still are completely dumb when it comes to talking to the utilities. My electricity provider has real-time pricing and smart meters (with Zigbee interfaces) that are connected to HQ, but there is still no way to move that information to the wall unit. They offer a 3G-connected modulation unit for A/C compressors, but that's directly connected to HQ and the consumer has no other way to interact with it other than overriding it. If things really start getting bad out there (e.g. Texas this week^), that will be the motivation to improve this ecosystem. ^ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-12/searing-texas-heat-pushes-power-prices-to-near-record-levels https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-12/searing-t...
    - redbeard0x0a 7y ago
      Everybody who gets a smart thermostat needs to keep their old one in a box for the day the server gets EOL or the device and/or network gets hacked. When that happens, you aren't going to be able to go to HomeDepot and buy a new dumb thermostat.
kevstev 7y ago
The Honeywell Lyrics actually geofence you via their mobile app- it works so much better, its literally set and forget. We have our geofence ring at a 10 block radius around our home. You can combine that with preferred day and night temperatures, and never have to worry about it again. It paid for itself the first month I bought it (I had a dumb thermostat prior). Come home early? No worries. Come home late and don't want to heat/cool an empty house? No worries. Go on vacation? No worries. I actually just moved a few weeks ago and have nests, and aside from looking a bit prettier on the wall, they are far inferior. I kind of want to replace them, but am hesitant since people coo over them. The fact that no one talks about Honeywell reminds me of Zune back in the day. It was (ok arguably) a better product, everyone that had one loved it, but it just didn't seem "cool" since it was made from an old-school company and died on the vine.

michaeltoth 7y ago

I'm always shocked by the lack of integration among Google's various products. The amount of time my Google Home replies to a simple question with "I'm not sure how to help with that" is mind-boggling. Some variation of "I don't have a great answer, but I've sent some Google search results to your phone to review!" seems like an infinitely better (and obvious) alternative for the global leader in search, but they've for some reason ignored this for years.

mcny 7y ago
It kind of gives me some comfort that even Google can't get cross team collaboration right. Makes me feel less bad about the dysfunctions at the places I've worked at...

remote_phone 7y ago

The dumbest thing is they show us 10 days worth of temperatures when in fact year over year is what matters the most. It is a stupidly neutered product due to stupidity and could be so much more useful than it actually is. As I said before, Google can’t produce consumer products. They are turning into the Microsoft of the 21st century, with one good product (search) and a host of shitty products.

joezydeco 7y ago

Or the weather. Or the real time price of electricity. Or high-demand periods. Or the learned heat retention capability of a particular home. Or a ton of other things that have never been implemented.

fredley 7y ago
Given how much potential there is to make a vastly superior Nest-like thermostat, why hasn't anyone done it?
- greedo 7y ago
  Because the market is actually pretty small for expensive thermostats. I bought the original version of the Nest thermostat because I wanted to remotely control it via my phone. Most of the smart features are horrible, the AI is dumb, and the fact that controlling it depends on a server that may be EOL'd scares me. Most thermostats are in the neighborhood of $25-$50, so $250 for a thermostat that offers marginal utility is a hard sell.
  - joezydeco 7y ago
    I think at some future the point the utilities are going to be more involved than they are right now. At this point in time you see some utilities offering setback thermostats (smart and non-smart) as a way to help smooth demand during peak usage periods. Some of the better ones run promotions and offer rebates on Nests and Ecobees, but these units still are completely dumb when it comes to talking to the utilities. My electricity provider has real-time pricing and smart meters (with Zigbee interfaces) that are connected to HQ, but there is still no way to move that information to the wall unit. They offer a 3G-connected modulation unit for A/C compressors, but that's directly connected to HQ and the consumer has no other way to interact with it other than overriding it. If things really start getting bad out there (e.g. Texas this week^), that will be the motivation to improve this ecosystem. ^ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-12/searing-texas-heat-pushes-power-prices-to-near-record-levels https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-12/searing-t...
  - redbeard0x0a 7y ago
    Everybody who gets a smart thermostat needs to keep their old one in a box for the day the server gets EOL or the device and/or network gets hacked. When that happens, you aren't going to be able to go to HomeDepot and buy a new dumb thermostat.

kevstev 7y ago

The Honeywell Lyrics actually geofence you via their mobile app- it works so much better, its literally set and forget. We have our geofence ring at a 10 block radius around our home. You can combine that with preferred day and night temperatures, and never have to worry about it again. It paid for itself the first month I bought it (I had a dumb thermostat prior). Come home early? No worries. Come home late and don't want to heat/cool an empty house? No worries. Go on vacation? No worries. I actually just moved a few weeks ago and have nests, and aside from looking a bit prettier on the wall, they are far inferior. I kind of want to replace them, but am hesitant since people coo over them. The fact that no one talks about Honeywell reminds me of Zune back in the day. It was (ok arguably) a better product, everyone that had one loved it, but it just didn't seem "cool" since it was made from an old-school company and died on the vine.