That's why it should have an off state. When life support stays on, and nothing else. Maybe a dumb-switch. Also, I haven't said that privacy is not a valid con

That's why it should have an off state. When life support stays on, and nothing else. Maybe a dumb-switch. Also, I haven't said that privacy is not a valid concern. But if heating is so tied to your home automation, then that's a problem. It should be able to maintain a steady temperature, just as simple thermostat system, just like before buying the fancy home automation system. (Sure, there are probably homes being built now with integrated smart/fancy systems, but still, if those lack the aforementioned fallback functionality, then they are very predictability going to have a bad time when the fancy system needs maintenance and the folks living there start to get cold.)