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With the holidays (and crappy weather) approaching, I'm very much in the market for a smart thermostat. Anyone have any anecdotes about the Nest E vs. Ecobee 4? My original plan was to jump on the Nest as soon as it dropped to a decent price, but then I heard about Ecobee's multi-sensor feature and I was intrigued. Either way, my current thermostat isn't even programmable (and has occasional fits of wonkiness) so anything is an upgrade. There's a somewhat significant temperature difference between the two floors of my house, and no easy way to address that aside from converting to a multi-zone HVAC system which is cost-prohibitive. (It's also not THAT big a problem, especially since it's not a huge house.) So I really like the idea of having an extra temperature sensor to alleviate some of that. In pretty much every other way, I'm more predisposed toward the Nest E -- I actually prefer the less fancy design, I don't really care about smart speaker type stuff, and I'm more of a Google guy in general. But if the price is right, the extra sensor might win me over, all else being equal. (I already checked that they're both compatible with my home.)
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Nov 21, 2017 20:52
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 02:39 |
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Same. The reason I went with an Ecobee was because our upstairs and downstairs temperatures can be significantly different at times, and one or two rooms often get colder than the rest. Obviously a multi-zone system, replacing windows, better insulation, etc. are all more legitimate solutions, but as a stopgap, the room sensors are at least a little bit helpful to keep things under control.
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Dec 14, 2017 19:16
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My in-laws have an AirBnb and they're asking for recommendations for how to outfit it with a bunch of smart stuff. So basically this is starting with a clean slate, and I'm trying to figure out which ecosystem to dive into. Generally, I've been kind of averse to smart home stuff myself except for the thermostat, which is just too useful not to have. I'm still wary of having too many connected cameras and stuff in a private residence. But in an AirBnb situation, those concerns are kind of out the window, so it just comes down to what will work best for the best amount of money. The 4 things we're most interested in right now are:
The main factor that I think will drive all the other ecosystem decisions is the door lock. The way we want this to work is that it'll have a keypad and we can change the code remotely. Preferably visitors will not have to download an app or anything, just know the code. So far, the one that seems to best meet these requirements is the Nest x Yale lock. So, that would lead me to go with Nest stuff all the way, for the thermostat and cameras and stuff. On the other hand, price-wise, Amazon mops the floor with them. I'm suspicious of why the prices are so low, but again, since this isn't really a private residence I kind of don't care that much. However, I've had a surprisingly difficult time finding out if there's one specific smart lock that's the go-to device for Amazon's ecosystem, as opposed to just an "Alexa enabled" device that you can like, talk to or whatever. I see something called August which doesn't really look like the kind I want. Could anyone point me in the right direction here? I'm not even sure what Amazon's smart home stuff is called, exactly. (Alexa? Echo? Ring? All of the above?) The second most important factor would be the thermostat. This is where I'm inclined to go with Amazon's, which is dirt cheap and seems well reviewed enough. But if we end up going with the Nest door lock, I might stick with the Nest thermostat. I'm probably overthinking the whole ecosystem lock-in thing a little, but I suspect that being able to control everything from one app would result in fewer tech support calls down the line. (Probably goes without saying, but the location does have WiFi and it's been working pretty much great.)
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Jun 22, 2022 14:40
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Thanks! Ring sounds like a pretty good bet. I guess it's sort of "owned by" Amazon but sort of hands off, so I had trouble remembering what it was called. It does seem like the "Amazon thermostat" doesn't necessarily work with it, but there are other inexpensive ones like Honeywell that appear to.
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Jun 23, 2022 01:01
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Continuing the Ring discussion, I see that the 2020 video doorbell is $100 less than the Video Doorbell 3 (aka half the price). Is there a compelling reason to spend the extra $100 on the newer model?
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Jun 23, 2022 18:16
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Ok so I'm kind of a dummy here -- as I mentioned about a month ago, I'm starting from scratch outfitting a vacation rental with a few smart devices. The one we were most interested in was a smart lock/deadbolt where the PIN can be changed periodically (remotely if possible). The others were somewhat subservient to that need. Eventually I settled on a "works with Ring" system. So I got the video doorbell, a Honeywell T9 thermostat, and the Yale x Assure smart lock. I made sure to get the lock that has a "built in Z-wave" thing. Since apparently without that, there's no chance of remotely controlling it. However, being a total noob, that's about as far as my understanding went. Only after installing it and trying to connect it to an app did I realize that actually, I need some sort of Z-wave hub. I don't exactly regret the purchase, since it sounds like that's the best way to go, but I am left a little blindsided by that. For quick reference, here's the lock I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B084DX7T1G So, what's the most efficient way for me to fulfill that need? I don't anticipate adding too many more smart devices to this system, though I'm open to it. It looks like a Ring Alarm base station might be a good way to go, but it also wasn't really something I was planning on. Again, not really opposed to it, but just... wondering if there's an easier, cheaper way that also won't lock me out of future expansion. I know this is total noob stuff, so sorry in advance.
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Jul 20, 2022 21:31
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I've got an older Ring video doorbell 2nd gen which is battery powered and I don't have a good way to wire it up. It looks like the official little solar charger that sits around the doorbell might still be available, but I'm not sure it'll work great since it's on a covered porch. I see a few generic micro USB solar panels available that might work, like this one. (I would definitely need a right-angle adapter also, but that should be easy enough.) Anyone have any recommendations/experiences with these? Fortunately the thing does hold a charge pretty well, so I guess the panel doesn't need to perform that well. But this is at an in-laws' rental property so I'm not around to recharge it every few months.
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Apr 20, 2024 14:47
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 02:39 |
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TheDK posted:I have a couple of similar panels that I use to charge cameras and they've been great. Henrik Zetterberg posted:The panels keep a couple of my outdoor cams charged surprisingly well, even in the dead of winter. I don’t think I’ve ever had a cam die due to low battery. That's what I was hoping to hear, thanks!
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Apr 21, 2024 16:58
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