Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Works With Nest

nest.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 168 posts

Re: Works With Nest

#141

Post by dionidium »

notatoad wrote: post #117
tmuir wrote: post #114

Yet another hammer looking for a nail. There is no killer app in home automation. Hackers like this stuff, because we like technology for technology's sake. But everyone else has a higher standard for adopting new gadgetry. It has to actually solve a problem, or otherwise provide value. Even the best use cases are largely novelties that will get about two days use. Turning on lights remotely? How often do you need to…

I'm optimistic about nest - they seem to understand this, their thermostat is a great user experience. You hook it up and use it just like you would use a normal thermostat, and it uses that info to make intelligent decisions to do actually useful things - like override the schedule and turn the heat up when you take a day off work, or turn the heat down when nobody is home, all with no user interaction. Remote contr…

Remote control isn't the killer app for home automation, no control is.

I think you've got this exactly backward, at least as it applies to the Nest thermostat. I find the automation aspects to be pretty gimmicky, but turning the A/C down before I head home from work or turning it off completely just before I leave town on an airplane are killer features.

Re: Works With Nest

#142

Post by shanselman »

modoc wrote: post #118
tmuir wrote: post #114

Yet another hammer looking for a nail. There is no killer app in home automation. Hackers like this stuff, because we like technology for technology's sake. But everyone else has a higher standard for adopting new gadgetry. It has to actually solve a problem, or otherwise provide value. Even the best use cases are largely novelties that will get about two days use. Turning on lights remotely? How often do you need to…

I'm JUST getting into a little home automation, and here are some great use cases that aren't just a novelty: When my wife and I both leave the house, the front door locks itself. We never have to worry about if we locked the door or not. We can also leave and enter without having to carry keys, which is great. I can also unlock the door remotely when my in-laws stop by unexpectedly to drop something off. I have a ro…

What do you use to lock the front door?

Re: Works With Nest

#143

Post by ekux44 »

tmuir wrote: post #114

Yet another hammer looking for a nail. There is no killer app in home automation. Hackers like this stuff, because we like technology for technology's sake. But everyone else has a higher standard for adopting new gadgetry. It has to actually solve a problem, or otherwise provide value. Even the best use cases are largely novelties that will get about two days use. Turning on lights remotely? How often do you need to…

I'd argue there is huge value in app controlled 'home environment' devices (light color & brightness, music, air/heat/fan, etc). When the software controls are sufficiently convenient, adjusting the environment becomes an automatic behavior like scratching an itch or shifting in one's seat.

Disclaimer: I'm the developer of LampShade.io

Re: Works With Nest

#144

Post by RyJones »

chaz wrote: post #58

Google's Nest seems to be setting out a home automation standard, partnering with Whirlpool, Mercedes-Benz, Jawbone, LIFX, IFTTT, Logitech, and Chamberlain. Over the weekend, Quirky announced its $79 Wink hub, partnering with Home Depot, Honeywell, GE, Rachio, and Philips. The two announcements were obviously timed against each other. It's hard to tell who is reacting to whom, but my bet is that Quirky is hurriedly r…

AllJoyn, as well. http://allseenalliance.org

Re: Works With Nest

#145

Post by ars »

rlpb wrote: post #86
ars wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I looked into the nest but I don't think it would save me any energy. And I'm wondering if that's actually true for lots of people. I have a modulating (i.e. change flame level) condensing boiler (the highest efficiency available). I programmed it to run as close to 24/7 as I could, because that way it uses the lowest flame, which is the most efficient flame. When I tried a setback thermostat when the boiler attempte…

> I programmed it to run as close to 24/7 as I could, because that way it uses the lowest flame, which is the most efficient flame. The energy loss from your home increases as the differential between inside and outside increases, right? So at night or when you're out, if your house were kept colder, then you'd lose less energy to the outside. So by keeping your heating running 24/7, you're wasting some energy in the…

> if your house were kept colder, then you'd lose less energy to the outside.

Yes, but I can't let it cool very far, so it's only a small energy saving.

> How does this compare to the efficiency gain by running your more efficient flame?

The boiler can be up to 98.6% efficient at low flame, going down to 86% at full flame.

And after experimenting it always ended up at full flame when trying to rewarm a house.

> Have you calculated or measured that you actually save energy overall?

I tried, but I couldn't, winters are just so variable. I even emailed the EPA asking if they had research data, but they didn't.

Re: Works With Nest

#146

Post by modoc »

shanselman wrote: post #142
modoc wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm JUST getting into a little home automation, and here are some great use cases that aren't just a novelty: When my wife and I both leave the house, the front door locks itself. We never have to worry about if we locked the door or not. We can also leave and enter without having to carry keys, which is great. I can also unlock the door remotely when my in-laws stop by unexpectedly to drop something off. I have a ro…

What do you use to lock the front door?

Schlage Century Touchscreen Deadbolt hooked into a SmartThings system: https://shop.smartthings.com/#!/products/schlage-century-tou...

Re: Works With Nest

#147

Post by mdaniel »

coherentpony wrote: post #130
chaz wrote: post #58

Google's Nest seems to be setting out a home automation standard, partnering with Whirlpool, Mercedes-Benz, Jawbone, LIFX, IFTTT, Logitech, and Chamberlain. Over the weekend, Quirky announced its $79 Wink hub, partnering with Home Depot, Honeywell, GE, Rachio, and Philips. The two announcements were obviously timed against each other. It's hard to tell who is reacting to whom, but my bet is that Quirky is hurriedly r…

I'd be really worried about an exploit allowing someone to unlock my front doors and walk into my house.

You mean lockpicks, or were you thinking of a sledgehammer?

Re: Works With Nest

#148

Post by Oletros »

crdoconnor wrote: post #74
cbeach wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given Google's fondness for shutting down APIs and services, I'd be very disappointed if they monopolised all of these markets. They'll be the Microsoft of home automation. Using it to trap people in their monolith (and Android is just a vehicle for them to deliver ads, folks), and then letting it stagnate or shutting it down if the ad delivery doesn't prove lucrative. I've been burnt so many times by Google I've los…

>and Android is just a vehicle for them to deliver ads, folks They are dealing with that 'problem' by steadily de-opensourcing all of the components. You don't use the email app, you use gmail. You don't use the camera any more, you use "google camera". You don't even use the keyboard any more, you use "google keyboard". A lot of the new android functionality is piled into 'google play services'. I don't think the da…

If so, how AOSP still has email, camera or keyboard apps?

Can you show just one service that has been pulled off from AOSP?

Re: Works With Nest

#149

Post by Oletros »

nardi wrote: post #29
gravity13 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

|| some kind of appstore I would imagine. Extrapolation != predicting the future. You can't just download an android app to fluff your pillows before you get home, it's about integrating the house with new devices. || if this fails This won't fail.

Consider: the vast majority of people who have money to spend on home automation have Apple products.

Citation needed

Re: Works With Nest

#150

Post by toomuchtodo »

vnorby wrote: post #13
yitchelle wrote: post #8

I am a little bit unenthusiastic about Nest integration into the Mercedes Benz where it tells Nest to warm up the house prior to arrival. What a waste of energy! Is it so difficult for physical human body to endure some discomfort while the house warms up? Imagine thousands of household doing something similar. OK, there could be a use-case where the elderly is due to arrive home and needs the house to be at the righ…

Wasting/saving energy is not as simple a calculation as that. When energy is at peak use (say in the winter, around 5:30/6:00 when everybody returns from work), it becomes more expensive for energy companies to procure the requisite energy needed. During these peak times, they often have to buy energy from other companies at a higher cost or find less efficient means of generating it (e.g. coal) to meet the demand. G…

> I work at Nest and it may be a little unclear at the moment (we're working on it), but The Nest API does not guarantee that if you send an ETA of 15 minutes (docs: https://developer.nest.com/documentation/eta-guide), the home will heat to the appropriate level in 15 minutes. It's actually filtered through our algorithms to determine the best course of action to not waste energy but also provide the appropriate level of comfort.

So you're accepting the ETA request not as a demand to obtain a certain temperature, but as a request, and then still taking utility demand information into account. Excellent.

Post reply on HN