Lights have been on at this school for a year because no one can turn them off

Post by imgabe » Fri, Jan 20, 2023, 10:11 AM UTC

Freak_NL wrote: post #9

For all the money this system costs more than conventional off-the-shelf energy efficient bulbs, switches, and dimmers, you could hire a janitor's assistant to keep an eye out that the lights are off in the evening and turned on in the morning, and have a system that is maintainable with very little training, off-the-shelf replacement parts, and which will work for decades. But the smart system they installed came wi…

Post by stepbeek » Fri, Jan 20, 2023, 10:15 AM UTC

Freak_NL wrote: post #9

For all the money this system costs more than conventional off-the-shelf energy efficient bulbs, switches, and dimmers, you could hire a janitor's assistant to keep an eye out that the lights are off in the evening and turned on in the morning, and have a system that is maintainable with very little training, off-the-shelf replacement parts, and which will work for decades. But the smart system they installed came wi…

Post by bushbaba » Fri, Jan 20, 2023, 10:16 AM UTC

xnorswap wrote: post #26

This is why it's so important to have public contracts drafted and reviewed by experts. The original contract should have provision in place that the system be maintained, that the school be notified in any change in parent company ownership, etc. It would then be much easier to compel the company to do the replacement and if necessary sue them to recover the $1.2m cost. The issue isn't just one of a technological so…

Post by braingenious » Fri, Jan 20, 2023, 10:17 AM UTC

autora wrote: post #19

amelius wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Electronics hobbyist magazines of the 70s and 80s are full of better Nest replacements.

Considering parent, myself and most people I talk to consider the point of Nest being the ability to control their thermostat when they are out of the house, I don't understand how any system in the 70s or 80s could even work at all like a Nest, let alone better. No mobile phones, no widespread use of the internet and a hobbyist can make a thermostat you can control when out of the house? Would love to know how?

Post by miroljub » Fri, Jan 20, 2023, 10:24 AM UTC

Tade0 wrote: post #28

Freak_NL wrote: post #9

For all the money this system costs more than conventional off-the-shelf energy efficient bulbs, switches, and dimmers, you could hire a janitor's assistant to keep an eye out that the lights are off in the evening and turned on in the morning, and have a system that is maintainable with very little training, off-the-shelf replacement parts, and which will work for decades. But the smart system they installed came wi…

> you could hire a janitor's assistant to keep an eye out that the lights are off in the evening and turned on in the morning My worry is that there would be problems with getting such a person. Unemployment in the US (and quite a few other regions as well) is currently low, and "janitor's assistant" doesn't sound like a particularly glamorous career.