![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bone-in-the-throat.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nest-Thermostat-Away-454987170.jpg\" "\\"Nest-Thermostat-Away-454987170.jpg\\"")
Way back when Nest produced their first thermostats I bought one. Our contractor installed thermostat was the cheapest piece of shit they could install, and honestly it didn\u2019t fucking work.<\/p>\nWay back when Nest produced their first thermostats I bought one. Our contractor installed thermostat was the cheapest piece of shit they could install, and honestly it didn\u2019t fucking work.<\/p>\n
We\u2019d set the temp, the Thermostat was say it heated the house but a normal thermometer told us that the house was colder than when we\u2019d started.<\/p>\n
In the winter this presented a problem for the instruments (Harps, Guitars,) anything with strings. The people weren\u2019t exactly happy either!<\/p>\n
So at some point I got pissed and plunked down $300 for a Nest learning thermostat. In the beginning it was great and I highly recommended a unit to anyone and everyone. Then fucking Google bought Nest.<\/p>\n
At first there didn\u2019t seem to be too much of a problem. My programming of the thermostat held true and the unit adjusted to our changing schedules. It did what it was supposed to do and for a good 10 years the house was warm when we got home. I know the system was working the way I\u2019d intended because if I was home sick with a cold or whatever, I\u2019d have to override the thermostat during the day. I also saw the difference in the Gas bill in Winter and the A\/C bill in summer.<\/p>\n
Google got ever more invasive. Google wants to deprecate the Nest application login and force you to make a Google account. I\u2019ve moved as far away from Google as possible and don\u2019t even have gmail accounts anymore. That means I\u2019m resisting.<\/p>\n
Every time I log into the Nest Application or the Nest Website. Google has a shit fit! \u201cDon\u2019t you want to create a Google log in? Don\u2019t you want to enable 90 factor log in security?<\/em> \u201c On and on and on\u2026<\/p>\n NO!<\/strong> I don\u2019t want any of your shit Google! Just let me get to the actual control part of the damn application!<\/p>\n Lately, my thermostat is being reprogrammed without my consent.<\/p>\n 62\u00b0F at night is too damn cold! Even with blankets and flannel sheets, I\u2019m not sleeping well. I do sleep soundly if I\u2019m in my sleeping bag that\u2019s rated to 0\u00b0F. I shouldn\u2019t have to sleep in a sleeping bag\u2026 IN MY OWN FUCKING HOUSE!<\/p>\n During the day if I\u2019m home the temp is set to 66\u00b0F in the winter. That\u2019s still a bit too cold but I\u2019m willing to put up with it because I live in terror of the damn natural gas bill. Southern California Gas royally fucked everyone last year. Of course their executives still got their bonuses for incompetence. That\u2019s another story!<\/p>\n I have specifically told the Nest Thermostat that I don\u2019t want it learning. I don\u2019t want it making adjustments, I want it to maintain my set temps within the schedule I\u2019ve created and I want it to go to the lower temps when it figures out I’m not home.<\/p>\n Dirt Fucking Simple!<\/p>\n But\u2026 Somewhere, deep in the bowels of Google, some little Indian programmer fuck is deciding via programming that I don\u2019t know what I’m doing and they know better what I need.<\/p>\n Every time they send a software update my schedule gets \u201cFine Tuned\u201d. It used to be that having your temps set to 68\u00b0 F or lower was considered worthy of a little environment leaf. Now the leaf doesn\u2019t show up until you dial the temp down to 65\u00b0F. Nighttime temps of 63\u00b0F used to be \u201cefficient\u201d and worthy of the leaf. Now it\u2019s 62\u00b0F. \u00a0The Nest \u201cFine Tuning\u201d routine \u201cadjusts” whatever your schedule is, to having the leaf indicator on.<\/p>\n If you scheduled 68\u00b0F during the evening\u2026 “Well you\u2019re a moron! Let Google set your temp for you. There 65\u00b0F aren\u2019t you happy? Gee sorry about that asthmatic child developing pneumonia. We\u2019re about saving the environment, a little collateral damage is acceptable.<\/em>“<\/p>\n I don\u2019t care about the leafs, I care about not having my hands turn blue, or shivering in my bed all night.<\/p>\n Were I not thinking about selling this house and moving, I\u2019d be shopping for a new thermostat. I have reprogrammed my schedule<\/strong> according to\u00a0my needs<\/strong> 4 times in the past 3 months. If you see a little yellow\/gold gear with a leaf at the bottom of your Nest thermostat display, guess what? You\u2019ve been fine tuned!\u00a0<\/p>\n “We hope you like being cold living above the snowline. You\u2019re welcome! Sincerely Google.<\/em>“<\/p>\n My problem is this. I bought the fucking machine, I installed the fucking machine, I expect the fucking machine to obey my wishes, not the wishes of some asshole I\u2019ve never met who doesn\u2019t live my life, who has decided that they\u2019re my better!<\/p>\n Mercury is bad dontchaknow even if it\u2019s sealed in a glass ampule that never, or only rarely sees the light of day.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n There are some old school thermostats like that in houses in this little town. Those scary dangerous mercury ampules have been in service for 70 years firing up heaters and haven\u2019t hurt anyone yet.<\/p>\n This bullshit with the thermostat has made me seriously start rethinking the smart house concept entirely.<\/p>\n So long as the devices in my home are controlled only by me we got no problem and I like the convenience. But when they start disobeying, or someone remotely overrides my settings we got a serious problem.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why after the house burned, we didn\u2019t sign up for Edisons Power Savings thing again. The A\/C Compressor of the old house, Edison could kill remotely. \u00a0We were going to drop out of that program. The house burning down simply spared us the annoyance.<\/p>\n That previous summer, Edison shut down the A\/C while we were at work several days in a row. The interior temps of the house exceeded 100\u00b0 F and caused $50-$60 worth of harp strings to snap each day. It also caused a meltdown on a RAID array that contained all our data. The RAID array did a thermal shutdown but the damage was already done. (It was a shitty manufacturer and while it was supposed to shut down prior to damage, it didn\u2019t.)<\/p>\n At the time I remember wondering how it could be better for the grid, to have all the home A\/C compressors in Southern California running at the same time for 2 or 3 hours. \u00a0That\u2019s what it took to bring the temps in everyone\u2019s homes down to something livable again after work. It wasn\u2019t good for the grid. But it was great for the Electric company executives who were making more money than ever, and bitching about the strain on the electrical grid to justify rate increases to the PUC.<\/p>\n When \/ If I move. I\u2019m going to be considering very carefully how smart I make things.\u00a0<\/p>\n While I like having the lights come on when I get home, I could do that with a motion detector. I like having lights come on at a particular time, but I could do that with a timer. I like being able to turn the lights off at night with a word, but I could do that with The Clapper<\/em> .<\/p>\n Do I really need the maintenance headache of smart lightbulbs, ceiling fans, thermostats, and security cameras?<\/p>\n It was done with the BSR X-10 system. And I had one!<\/p>\n Nobody could screw with the BSR unit via the internet. (The internet existed but wasn\u2019t offered to the Public yet.) If someone was messing around with your lights and things it was an accident. They\u2019d set their box to the same base code as yours and it was easily handled.<\/p>\n I suppose it\u2019s another case of the old way is the best way.<\/p>\n Just how smart does my house need to be to make me happy?<\/p>\n The answer to that question may be, “My house needs a lobotomy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Way back when Nest produced their first thermostats I bought one. Our contractor installed thermostat was the cheapest piece of shit they could install, and honestly it didn\u2019t fucking work. We\u2019d set the temp, the Thermostat was say it heated the house but a normal thermometer told us that the house was colder than when … <\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bone-in-the-throat.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/thermostat.jpg\" "\\"thermostat.jpg\\"")
I may start shopping for a new thermostat anyway. I\u2019d go for one of the really old units with a mercury switch and piece of coiled metal that reacted to temperature. Unfortunately, you can\u2019t get mercury switches anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bone-in-the-throat.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/s-l640-3731283815.jpg\" "\\"s-l640-3731283815.jpg\\"")
Thinking about it, I had most of this back in the \u201880s.\u00a0<\/p>\n