Got burned spending $200 on a 'smart' thermostat that fought me all winter

I bought one of those fancy Nest knockoffs last October thinking it'd save me money. Instead, it kept turning the heat off when I was home because it 'learned' my habits wrong, and I froze my butt off for three months before switching back to the dumb $30 one. Anyone else had a smart home gadget make life harder instead of easier?

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan_butler13d ago

Swap that thing out for a basic programmable model. Set it once and forget it, way less headache. The smart stuff just tries too hard to guess what you want and gets it wrong every time.

jordanhall13d ago

Old school programmable timers are great until you need to change your schedule for holidays or random days off. Then you're digging out the manual or pressing buttons 47 times trying to figure out which sequence does what. @morgan_butler I think the real sweet spot is something with a simple physical switch that lets you override the program on the fly. Like those old school Honeywell thermostats where you could push a button to hold the temp for a few hours. No app needed, no guessing, just a button that does exactly what you tell it to. Ever tried one of those touch screen ones where the delay makes you miss the setting you wanted?