4 ms·

What I like most about my smart home (and it works without internet) is that my garage door gets closed when I forget to. And the ability to turn on floodlights

What I like most about my smart home (and it works without internet) is that my garage door gets closed when I forget to. And the ability to turn on floodlights in the yard from outside. Not used as much, but turning on the A/C before arriving home from a long trip sure is nice. That obviously requires the internet, but I refuse to use a third party. Downsides - 2 dead smart switches in 2 weeks. They aren't cheap and should last a lot longer.

Red_Leaves_Flyy 6y ago
Dumb garage door closers with programmable timers exist. The same goes for hvac. Configuration might be more complicated but I'd rather walk into a sweltering home than have a massive power bill when some script kid pwns my system and sets the temp to 50f for two weeks.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  50f is pretty cold for indoor temps. My house is in the 65 to 73 range all the time.
- twothamendment 6y ago
  You know a dumb HVAC thermostat that can somehow know when I'll return home from a trip when I don't know when I'll return? I'll take 2! Humor aside, I'm still interested in what you are referring to. I'm not aware of a way to do that, but maybe didn't know what to look for. I was interested in a thermostat with an API that worked locally, no internet needed and no 3rd party required and that is what I went with. Paired with the alarm system (old school, hard wired, it doesn't know what the internet is) it can alert me when the A/C is on, but a window is open.
  - Red_Leaves_Flyy 6y ago
    Most of the dumb thermostats are 7 day at best. I couldn't find one in a 5 minutes of searching so I gave up. I'd be surprised if they don't exist though. A 7 day may not be sufficient for an 8 day trip unless you can have a friend or family member drop by to adjust the settings, but I'm definitely going to keep this in the back of my head for when I inevitably need to upgrade my HVAC.

Red_Leaves_Flyy 6y ago

Dumb garage door closers with programmable timers exist. The same goes for hvac. Configuration might be more complicated but I'd rather walk into a sweltering home than have a massive power bill when some script kid pwns my system and sets the temp to 50f for two weeks.

lotsofpulp 6y ago
50f is pretty cold for indoor temps. My house is in the 65 to 73 range all the time.
twothamendment 6y ago
You know a dumb HVAC thermostat that can somehow know when I'll return home from a trip when I don't know when I'll return? I'll take 2! Humor aside, I'm still interested in what you are referring to. I'm not aware of a way to do that, but maybe didn't know what to look for. I was interested in a thermostat with an API that worked locally, no internet needed and no 3rd party required and that is what I went with. Paired with the alarm system (old school, hard wired, it doesn't know what the internet is) it can alert me when the A/C is on, but a window is open.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 6y ago
  Most of the dumb thermostats are 7 day at best. I couldn't find one in a 5 minutes of searching so I gave up. I'd be surprised if they don't exist though. A 7 day may not be sufficient for an 8 day trip unless you can have a friend or family member drop by to adjust the settings, but I'm definitely going to keep this in the back of my head for when I inevitably need to upgrade my HVAC.