Honeywell Thermostat and Amazon Echo

I can adjust my thermostat from the app on my phone - which is nice, but the real advantage is being able to build the schedule without having to wade through the menus on the limited physical interface of the thermostat itself.

So, I'm not sure how much I would use the integration with the Amazon Echo, but it's cool to see it is an option:

"Amazon Echo can now control your Honeywell Total Connect Comfort Thermostat. Use Alexa, the voice service that powers Amazon Echo, to set the perfect temperature in your home by voice command. Simply say "Alexa, set my temperature to 72 degrees" and enjoy your home's comfort without having to lift a finger."

Also, you can get a cheap refurbished Amazon Echo today from Woot.

Nest Thermostat

Interesting take on actually living with the Nest thermostat:

"When I first got my Nest I felt like I had super powers because it connected to Wi-Fi and enabled me to adjust my home’s temperature using the Nest website or tablet app. This was unheard of for a thermostat at that time. But this positive feature has been eclipsed by negative elements that commandeered control. (And control is what you really want when it comes to using a device.) 

A learning device implies that it will not only pick up on what you usually do, but it will also: 1) allow you to change, and 2) absorb those changes. My Nest learned quite well, but then stopped learning. It remembered but it didn’t look for variations or adapt. It was the equivalent of a printed textbook: Facts, correct or not, become law if written in there and thus will be taught that way until the school chooses a different textbook. 

When I turned the dial to increase the heat to 66 degrees, rather than responding by making the house warmer, or by informing me that it is now working toward this, it read, "in 1 hour and 20 minutes 66 degrees until 10:00PM.” The next day the house temperature plummeted to a punishing 50 degrees (I realize I may be spoiled) for no reason I was privy to. Here, by the way, is another usability heuristic not heeded: visibility of system status."

That article makes me happier with my Honeywell Wi-Fi thermostats. They are very easy to control. It's not flashy, but they just seem to work. I've had one for a long time now and the second one for about a month. Defining a schedule is fairly straightforward, but the temporary overrides are trivial to make. It has controls at the thermostat or you can make changes via the web or the app.

IoT: Keen Smart Vent

Sounds like a great idea... the Keen Smart Vent. I've got problems with hot and cold areas in my house. (It's much better since I've replaced both HVAC systems in the last 8 months or so.) I'd love to see if it could actually lower utility bills rather than just even out the temperatures.

Home Data Center

I've added a Dell Mini 10 running Ubuntu and have a Frankensteined desktop that has replaced the one that died a while back. So I am slowly moving in this direction - the home data center.

(Who am I kidding? I'm all about being a minimalist now and I grumble enough about my electric bill.)

Via Data Center Knowledge via Slashdot.org

IoT: Honeywell Lyric Thermostat

Forget the NSA, your thermostat is watching you.

"The Lyric has a motion sensor, too–one which it uses to put itself into an interactive mode when it notices you’ve approached. But for monitoring whether you’re at home at all, Honeywell’s thermostat leverages its iOS and Android apps. Your phone tracks your location via GPS and reports it back to the thermostat, so the Lyric knows if you’re around the house or at a distant location. And if it notices that you’re headed home, it can begin to adjust itself so that the temperature is ideal by the time you arrive."

Hot DC

This is what happens when the HVAC fails in your data center and no one sees the alerts from the environmental monitoring system. It hit 118 degrees. Luckily, a server shut itself down; prompting a call from the plant so that someone could figure out what was happening. I've never seen tiles curl up like that. C'est la vie. (And we all have our trials and tribulations.)

Networked Devices at Home

I have marveled at how many devices I have on my network at the house. Beyond the usual smartphones, tablets, printers, game consoles, and even laptops; I now have my thermostat on my wireless. I can control the HVAC from anywhere via a webpage or app. It was pretty cool (no pun intended) to be on vacation and remotely change the heating/cooling schedule to save a few pennies since we were out of town. (I ended up not getting a Nest even though I still think it is neat.)

I had to get a new controller for my irrigation system - it was only as I was checking the thermostats program that I realized I should have asked about one with network connectivity. It would have saved a lot of running around the house - start zone 1, walk to check it, walk back to start zone 2, etc.

If I ever have to replace the cipher lock on my front door, maybe I need to upgrade to an August lock.

Green for Green

In my latest utility bill, KUB had a generous offer allowing me to support Green Power Switch Pure Solar. For a mere $8 per 50 kWh block, I can pay to have "green" power.

Seriously, why don't we let the markets work? At least this is optional compared to sending my tax dollars chasing after green solutions.

Nest Thermostat

I posted back in October about the Nest Thermostat. I thought it looked to be a cool device. Given that Honeywell is suing Nest, it must be good. Nest responds and says they will fight the good fight.

Utilities Bills vs. Technology Bills

I'm a geek, but maybe I am a frugal geek, because my utilities are much more expensive than my monthly technology cost unlike the findings in this article. If you don't like words, there is a good infograph there, too.

It helps that my company provides my smartphone service, but we have the basic internet service with Knology and no home phone. We don't spend a lot on apps or other services - including an on-line backup service. (I've been tempted, but I use a combination of Dropbox, Windows Live Mesh, and USB hard drives to do the heavy lifting there.) It also helps that my daughter is only three - she probably won't need her own smart phone for another 6 months. ;)

Another factor is that my house is one big energy sink when it comes to heating and cooling. My base usage is a small number compared to the heating and cooling costs. I need a smaller house.

Nest - Learning WiFi Thermostat

How about a smart WiFi enabled thermostat? The Nest Learning Thermostat is just that. What makes it smart? Data from several sensors - Temperature (as you would expect), Humidity, Proximity, Far-field activity, Near-field activity, and Ambient light. It knows when you are home using the activity sensors. It lights up when you get close. You supply it with your zip code, so it knows what the weather is outside. It builds a history and develops a schedule for you based on the changes you make over time. It calculates how long it will take to reach a certain temperature. (In the summer that may be calculated in hours instead of minutes when we hit 100 and I want to get in the low 70's.) It has WiFi and you can control it remotely. I like where all this is going. I manually changed my thermostats, so I'm not sure if this would ever pay for itself, but I like gadgets.

Via Uncrate