WTF is nest? a rant about americentrism in tech and internet in general

[JZStudios]

15 hours ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

What else would you use? ._.

Really fucking loud doorbells or a massive power inverters somewhere I guess.

 

15 hours ago, Damascus said:

Why does this

Illuminate your eyes, while this:

(The first result on google) 

is somehow incomprehensible?

Because the first aligns with his point of view of them being mostly useless.

[JZStudios]

13 hours ago, The1Dickens said:

and they are looking for reasons to justify that hatred.

And it's all the damn Air Con's fault!

12 hours ago, pinksnowbirdie said:

I think American houses they're way too big.

 

Personally I want a nice 4-5 bedroom bungalow/cottage.

...that's a pretty damn big cottage.

[IkeaGnome]

18 hours ago, zassou said:

woah thats a new angle ive never thought about, thanks, that's why sometimes a rant helps.

I don't personally have one. I've thought about something similar, if I can find a relatively trustworthy company. I know all the larger companies that make this stuff will use it to track certain items. 

However, I do rotation work where I'm not at home for 2 weeks. I'm about 600 miles(1000km) away from my house. I do like the idea of being able to monitor temperatures etc from work.

[PhantomJaguarr]

I got one of those Nest things as a free upgrade from my gas and electric provider. And let me tell you it was a effing mistake. First one I got the battery died after a year-ish. I had it replaced easily. Nest customer support was excellent. But when I set it up myself the "smart" system is complete bs. It tries to "learn" the temperatures you manually set it to so it can adjust it on its own when the house gets too hot or cold.

 

But let me tell you..my house ends up being too hot or cold anyway. In winter right now for some reason the heat goes down to 64F setting on the Nest so the heater turns off. As a Southern Californian I end up freezin my arse off in the middle of the night. In Summer time the Nest goes too cold a setting so my bill is off the charts. A "smart" thermostat? More like dumb AF.  And yes I called support. They walked me through it and helped teach me how to turn the smart learning settings off.  But the Nest is somehow smart enough to ignore me and turns the settings back on or something.

 

Thanks for making this thread.

 

/endrant

[straight_stewie]

19 hours ago, zassou said:

why is anyone need a smart device to control their home temprature?

and how and why do they need to control it?

why is central heating and air conditioning so common in america?

an aircon always comes with a remote controller with lcd display, that worked fine; still why would anyone need a fancy colour lcd on a thermostat that suck up electricity just to display things you dont normally get to see?

I'll answer your last question first:

• Central Air systems are actually two systems in one, a cooling system and a heating system, and they are hidden away in the house. Therefore, central air systems do not traditionally have a remote controller and an LCD display like small window or cross-wall units often do.

Next, I'll talk about why it's so common:

• The United States has many areas with an extremely wide range of weather conditions: In my region alone, commonly called the "mid-south", I have to deal with 120^o F temperatures in the summer, and 32^o F or lower temperatures in the winter. Working air conditioning is an absolute requirement in the summer, and working heat is a requirement in winter. I suppose any heat or cooling would work, but some effective form of both is required.
• Now some history: In the late 80's and early 90's central air was not nearly as common as it is now. In fact, it was often considered a desirable luxury item only available in very nice homes. However, central air conditioning is so much more efficient at cooling homes that by the early 2000's lawmakers keen on being branded "Green" and "eco-friendly" began to write building codes that required new residential construction to have central air conditioning units. However, during this time, heating systems were still largely left up to the discrepancy of the builders. During this time, citizens became very accustomed to central air conditioning because every home they bought was required to have it installed.
  
  Some time later, builders began installing central heat into the nicer homes as well, and at some point lawmakers decided to include that in the building codes as well. So now, most new residential construction requires, by law, central air conditioning and central heat systems.
  
  I hope that explains why it's so common. It's not only easier to use, it's safer, more efficient, and required by law in most areas.

Why do we need to control the thermostat?

• This need should be obvious. There must be some control of some type over the homes Heating, Ventilation, And Cooling (hereafter just called HVAC) system. The most common type of control is the simple thermostat. The simplest ones have a function to set whether you are heating or cooling, whether the circulation fan comes on only when the air conditioner is conditioning/heater is heating or whether it is always on, and a way to set the desired temperature.
  
  However, these thermostats have no remote control. But even the simpler window units that you describe have a remote control. So the owners of these full featured HVAC systems don't get to use a feature that users of simple window units do. That's where smart thermostats come in: Primarily, they exist so that you can control the temperature of your house remotely. Some are even programmable, preferring different temperatures at different times of day, and coming with a plethora of other features. This yields a very convenient control mechanism that also helps to reduce energy consumption and therefore, reduce the financial cost of running the central HVAC systems found in modern homes.

Why does anyone need a smart device to control their home temperature?

• They don't. Many, like myself, still don't have one and likely won't until they are the only type of thermostat available. I'll admit, "smart thermostats" as they are called are largely a luxury item.

[The1Dickens]

37 minutes ago, JZStudios said:

Or, get this, he could not waste his money on a BMW

Just to run off on this tangent a bit...

 

Maybe it's because I'm in California, but owning a BMW is not a rich person thing. Used ones can be had for under 20K, and on a 6-year payment plan (depending on credit), it turns out to probably 400-ish per month. Heck, even new entry level models start as low as 35K. Though, they do get up there in price, simply having a BMW isn't an indicator of wealth. Actually, you'd think the rich person was the one driving the Plymouth Duster with the 50-series tires in the back, blower poking out of the hood, and the custom built 440 big block with a nasty cam in it, rumbling along so loud you can feel the bark as it starts up. Or the frame-off, rotisserie restoration of the '64.5 Mustang A Code, factory reborn down to the paint drips to match how it would have looked rolling off the factory floor in 1964. Or the all original Model T complete with wooden wheels. It's the people with evidently plenty of disposable income, not the one who owns a single BMW as their daily driver.

[AlwaysFSX]

1 hour ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

I wish where I live didn't get over 100 degrees F! I have seen it get to 122 degrees F (and was outside working my tailfeathers off; to this day I still don't have any tailfeathers!) and temperatures over 110 are not uncommon.

 

Actually, converting over to metric would save money--eventually--and would improve the quality of people's lives. Metric is so much simpler to use. However, the transition would take decades until older equipment (and the stubborn holdouts) finally die.

100+ is perfectly fine without humidity, having lived along the southern border a lot. 100F with 100% humidity is a bitch I don't prefer to deal with however.

 

Short and mid term however we'd be sunk in a hole so deep and we can't even figure out the one we're currently in. So it's not worth it for every day living. Metric is used where necessary in the US.

 

That being said, as I posted with the picture, Celsius is stupid when referring to the weather.

[Lurick]

20 minutes ago, WhiteJaguar77 said:

-snip-

I had a Nest a while back and eventually it just stopped working properly and I replaced it after it decided I needed the aux heat on for 23 hours one day! I swapped it for an Ecobee 3 Lite and I've never looked back. The ecobee is actually mucy more open, you can see the data collected and choose if you want to share it and it can help you make decisions as well if you want to save more money, you're not just left with a Nest that tries to figure you out by itself and the ecobee had remote sensors you could use long before Nest finally brought them out as well. Sure it's not perfect but I have 4 modes setup and with eco+ mode which will adjust your temperature a bit more when you're not home to save you a bit more money, it's really nice overall or if you're home at an off time it won't just automatically try to adjust the temperature to your normal unless you tell it to. I like the data portion a lot more than I realized I would because I can see the impact of weather/temp and other factors on my heating and cooling trends throughout the year.

[RonnieOP]

17 minutes ago, The1Dickens said:

Just to run off on this tangent a bit...

 

Maybe it's because I'm in California, but owning a BMW is not a rich person thing. Used ones can be had for under 20K, and on a 6-year payment plan (depending on credit), it turns out to probably 400-ish per month. Heck, even new entry level models start as low as 35K. Though, they do get up there in price, simply having a BMW isn't an indicator of wealth. Actually, you'd think the rich person was the one driving the Plymouth Duster with the 50-series tires in the back, blower poking out of the hood, and the custom built 440 big block with a nasty cam in it, rumbling along so loud you can feel the bark as it starts up. Or the frame-off, rotisserie restoration of the '64.5 Mustang A Code, factory reborn down to the paint drips to match how it would have looked rolling off the factory floor in 1964. Or the all original Model T complete with wooden wheels. It's the people with evidently plenty of disposable income, not the one who owns a single BMW as their daily driver.

This.

 

Ive seen used BMWs on CL for 5 to 10 grand. My friends sister has a BMW and shes a CNA for a run down nursing home.

 

Owning a BMW in no way makes you rich.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, RonnieOP said:

Not saying you are wrong...but how would it improve someones quality of life?

 

It would be far  simpler to have one system instead of the dual system we are cursed with now. Metric is much simpler to work with than Imperial since all units are based on the meter and liter and multiples or divisions of ten instead of the insane nightmare of inches being divided by half, quarters, eighths, etc., a foot being divided by 12 inches, a mile being 5280 feet. Volume measurements are even worse and often aren't even consistent.

[NineEyeRon]

18 hours ago, kelvinhall05 said:

You're complaining about something that's over 130 years old.

Tell ya what. Download TF2 for free on Steam. It's a much better waste of your time than this pointless post.

ha ha Johnson and Butz

[RonnieOP]

22 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

It would be far  simpler to have one system instead of the dual system we are cursed with now. Metric is much simpler to work with than Imperial since all units are based on the meter and liter and multiples or divisions of ten instead of the insane nightmare of inches being divided by half, quarters, eighths, etc., a foot being divided by 12 inches, a mile being 5280 feet. Volume measurements are even worse and often aren't even consistent.

I understand it being easier. But for most people we dont even have a dual system. Most people in the US only deal with imperial. And since we are taught it all through school its pretty easy for us to understand it.

 

I agree its easier but tbh i wouldnt put that as a factor when it comes to quality of life.

[Bombastinator]

25 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

It would be far  simpler to have one system instead of the dual system we are cursed with now. Metric is much simpler to work with than Imperial since all units are based on the meter and liter and multiples or divisions of ten instead of the insane nightmare of inches being divided by half, quarters, eighths, etc., a foot being divided by 12 inches, a mile being 5280 feet. Volume measurements are even worse and often aren't even consistent.

Yep.  There’s a reason even the US tried twice.

[handymanshandle]

1 hour ago, JZStudios said:

And it's all the damn Air Con's fault!

...that's a pretty damn big cottage.

eh 3 rooms on the main floor, and the last room or two in the basement. and perhaps like an attic room of sorts, almost like a half bedroom? I dunno you see it a lot in Europe I think but that's an aesthetic I like lol. Think of the house like a 2003 Saab 9-3. Very efficient use of space.

 

 

 

Cottages in my opinion can be about this big

I see it described as a craftsman style house but cottage to me is just a generally smaller house.
Not your like split level homes or rambler style homes like so many cookie cutter homes are.

 

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, pinksnowbirdie said:

eh 3 rooms on the main floor, and the last room or two in the basement. and perhaps like an attic room of sorts, almost like a half bedroom? I dunno you see it a lot in Europe I think but that's an aesthetic I like lol. Think of the house like a 2003 Saab 9-3. Very efficient use of space.

 

 

 

Cottages in my opinion can be about this big

I see it described as a craftsman style house but cottage to me is just a generally smaller house.
Not your like split level homes or rambler style homes like so many cookie cutter homes are.

 

That's a pretty massive Cottage my dude. That'd even be a fairly large house - what's the Square footage?

[Skipple]

5 hours ago, handymanshandle said:

Always irritates me when people act like Americans don't understand the Metric system. A lot of us do. We just choose to not use it in our daily lives because Imperial is better at actually conveying things in a non-scientific manner.

Oh my god thank you for saying this. Louder for the people in the back.

[dalekphalm]

Just now, Skipple said:

Oh my god thank you for saying this. Louder for the people in the back.

It really varies - some Americans really do have no idea about Celsius - but it's true, many Americans have a basic grasp on the Metric system, and some have an excellent grasp of it.

 

And I also disagree that Imperial is better for every day use. Metric is excellent for daily use.

[handymanshandle]

8 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

That's a pretty massive Cottage my dude. That'd even be a fairly large house - what's the Square footage?

the plans for something like this specifically

[Skipple]

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

And I also disagree that Imperial is better for every day use. Metric is excellent for daily use.

Ah come on... 

 

Would you rather say 1 cup of flour?

 

Or 236ml of flour?

Or .25l of flour? 

[Skipple]

*looks at thermostat in my 1920s american home..*

 

*shudders at how americancentric I am*

[The1Dickens]

6 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

That's a pretty massive Cottage my dude. That'd even be a fairly large house - what's the Square footage?

Rough guesstimate: looks to be at least 35 (guessing the door is 6'8", and the front looks about 5 to 5.5 doors long) across the front. Assuming 3 bed, 2 bath, full kitchen, laundry room (if its not in the garage) probably another 65-70-deep. That's roughly 2500 square feet. Not including the garage, or a second story (some cottages look to have 1.5 stories)

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, Skipple said:

Ah come on... 

 

Would you rather say 1 cup of flour?

 

Or 236ml of flour?

Or .25l of flour? 

I’d say you needed a new recipie book.  Cup measurements were invented somewhat randomly by Betty Crocker when she wrote her cookbook way back when.  They’re not even part of imperial measurement or anyone else’s  the whole cups and spoons thing was designed to make turn of the century housewives feel more comfortable using the herasy that was a cookbook.  Now cookbooks are normal.  When Betty Crocker wrote hers it was actually a big risk.

[The1Dickens]

7 minutes ago, pinksnowbirdie said:

the plans for something like this specifically

Shucks, I was way off. Guess its not as deep as I had guessed... Also... that picture is on the page I linked... If I had just scrolled down... x____x I'm a big dumb...

[handymanshandle]

2 minutes ago, The1Dickens said:

Rough guesstimate: looks to be at least 35 (guessing the door is 6'8", and the front looks about 5 to 5.5 doors long) across the front. Assuming 3 bed, 2 bath, full kitchen, laundry room (if its not in the garage) probably another 65-70-deep. That's roughly 2500 square feet. Not including the garage, or a second story (some cottages look to have 1.5 stories)

oh lord lol
no no no

 

The house would be under 2000 sq feet at least the footprint of the house. Basement and Attic space could add more but Im talking like foot print of the main floor, i've read it is possible to have a basement that is actually larger than the house although the engineering of that would be rather expensive lol

[The1Dickens]

7 minutes ago, Skipple said:

Or 236ml of flour?

Or .25l of flour? 

Pretty sure that's for liquid measurements, too. You'd use grams for solids/powders. So it would likely call for 200 grams.