Google Is Killing Software Support For Early Nest Thermostats (theverge.com) 39
Google announced it will end software updates and remote control support for the first- and second-generation Nest Learning Thermostats (plus the 2014 European model) starting October 25th. "You will no longer be able to control them remotely from your phone or with
Google Assistant, but can still adjust the temperature and modify schedules directly on the thermostat," the company wrote in a Friday blog post. The Verge reports: In other significant news, Google is flatly stating that it has no plans to release additional Nest thermostats in Europe. "Heating systems in Europe are unique and have a variety of hardware and software requirements that make it challenging to build for the diverse set of homes," the company said. "The Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen, 2015) and Nest Thermostat E (2018) will continue to be sold in Europe while current supplies last." [...]
In a clear attempt to ease customer anger, Google is offering a $130 discount on the fourth-gen Nest Learning Thermostat in the US, $160 off the same device in Canada, and 50 percent savings on the Tado Smart Thermostat X in Europe since the Nest lineup will soon be gone. The original Nest thermostats were released while the company was an independent brand under the leadership of former Apple executive Tony Fadell. Google acquired Nest in 2014 for $3.2 billion.
In a clear attempt to ease customer anger, Google is offering a $130 discount on the fourth-gen Nest Learning Thermostat in the US, $160 off the same device in Canada, and 50 percent savings on the Tado Smart Thermostat X in Europe since the Nest lineup will soon be gone. The original Nest thermostats were released while the company was an independent brand under the leadership of former Apple executive Tony Fadell. Google acquired Nest in 2014 for $3.2 billion.
Note a problem ... (Score:2)
It destroyed my furnace anyhow (Score:3)
I had an old gas furnace and the Nest thermostat burned the controller board on the furnace, twice. I replaced it with a Ecobee (model without Alexa) and it works just fine. The issue was caused by the Nest unit not respecting the wiring for legacy furnaces, which Ecobee accounts for.
When I upgraded to a heat pump with a backup gas furnace the Ecobee unit worked just fine. The Nest unit was 'free' with my solar panels at the time so not a loss.
My biggest peeve is that they should make these units controllab
about that standard support... OpenTherm (Score:2, Informative)
their explanation was that support in EU was hard
translation : europe has a standard (opentherm) and the market for controlling old not standard is large but complicated and those with the standard do not want nest, the support costs in europe are large compared to USA so lets just abandon it
so now its up to european manufacturers to support opentherm and matter standards
what is really pathetic is they claimed support for opentherm but only in europe so americans are still in a simple ecosystem and nest can
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I had an old gas furnace and the Nest thermostat burned the controller board on the furnace, twice.
Could not be that old. The gas furnace I just replaced was made before controller boards were a thing. They don't make em like they used to.
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It was a Lenox furnace installed before 2010, no idea how old it actually was. The technician that installed the heat pump really did not like the Nest units.
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Google kills everything it touches (Score:2)
Not surprising. Just be worried when they decide they no longer need you.
So those plywood shacks called "smart homes"... (Score:4, Insightful)
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In what way does a device that remains fully functional except for the ability to connect to a phone become "short lived"? It remains significantly more intelligent than 99% of thermostats in homes across the world, even after the phone support dies.
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The entire selling point for the Nest thermostats was the remote connection.
While you are right that it remains "fully functional except for the ability to connect", what you're really saying is that it is now as functional as a thermostat that costs an order of magnitude less.
The Dumb Thermostat also has the advantage of being simpler to recycle, and lacking the risk of the electronics degrading.
Yes another reason against buying "smart" devices (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Yes another reason against buying "smart" devic (Score:4, Insightful)
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I just got a $4k+ dual oven unit from LG as part of my kitchen remodel. It has wifi and so does my LG dishwasher. I did not connect either to the wifi, and if there was a cheaper model that's not Smart I would have gotten it.
Both are great appliances, but I don't need the smart phone integration on either. I'm pretty sure they would phone home and inform LG about how often I have pizza.
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Your mercury thermostat isn't supported by the manufacturer either. Try and get a replacement vile of mercury and see how it goes. Lack of support doesn't mean much here. A remote phone doesn't work, whoop de fucking do - you can't do that with your non-smart device either, so had you invested in Google you'd still be miles ahead of where you are now, even without support.
Also this isn't a problem with "smart" devices. It's a problem with "google" devices. There's countless other thermostat manufacturers on
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Your mercury thermostat isn't supported by the manufacturer either. Try and get a replacement vile of mercury and see how it goes.
Wow you have a real penchant for missing the entire point. 1) The dumb mercury thermostat DOESN'T need support as the dumb thermostat cannot be updated to be remove existing functionality. 2) You do know mercury thermostats last decades right?
A remote phone doesn't work, whoop de fucking do - you can't do that with your non-smart device either, so had you invested in Google you'd still be miles ahead of where you are now, even without support.
WTF is a remote phone have to do with manufacturers removing functionality from devices?
you can't do that with your non-smart device either, so had you invested in Google you'd still be miles ahead of where you are now, even without support.
What does "invested" even mean? If you paid Google for a Nest device, you'll pay Google again for another device to get functionality that was in your original product. With a sim
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Wow you have a real penchant for missing the entire point.
No you missed *my* point. My point was that by comparing to a mercury thermostat you've limited the discussion to being able to turn the temperature on at a given point. The Nest doesn't need google for that. It doesn't need wifi for that. Doesn't need a phone for that. The Nest will keep working just like your mercury thermostat regardless of the state of "support". If a thermostat to you is a mercury switch, then this announcement means precisely nothing for a Nest thermostat. Objectively your complaint i
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No you missed *my* point. My point was that by comparing to a mercury thermostat you've limited the discussion to being able to turn the temperature on at a given point.
1) When did I ever discuss a mercury thermostat? You really like bringing up strawman arguments. 2) My point which you missed AGAIN is that a consumer paid more for the ADDITIONAL functionality of a smart thermostat over a dumb one. That functionality can be and has been taken away at any point. Support can be dropped at any point. A dumb thermostat has no functionality that can be taken away with an update.
The Nest will keep working just like your mercury thermostat regardless of the state of "support". If a thermostat to you is a mercury switch, then this announcement means precisely nothing for a Nest thermostat. Objectively your complaint is meaningless.
What part of you paid MORE for functionality that can be taken away is unclear to you? Consumers mig
I'll keep (Score:2)
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Why? A Nest would have objectively paid for itself by now. And there's countless alternatives on the market that aren't owned by a company run by idiots as well.
Sorry not sorry (Score:2)
Sure, if you've had the thing for ten years then replacing it isn't entirely unreasonable. OTOH, purposely withdrawing functionality you've already paid for is a criminal act and should be treated as such.
Buying products like this is stupid, and people burned in this way mostly deserve what they get.
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Sure, if you've had the thing for ten years then replacing it isn't entirely unreasonable.
Surely after 10 years the owner had their customized settings figured out. :-)
Re: Sorry not sorry (Score:1)
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For some of us the remote control was and still is the whole point.
On days that I am home during the day, when eco mode is part of the default schedule, I tend to walk past the thermostat and its proximity sensor takes it out of eco and enters a comfort mode.
I suppose if I did not normally walk past the thermostat regularly then manual override would be of more interest.
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WTF? (Score:1)
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tossed their 35 year old Honeywell round gold thermostat with mercury in the trash
Mercury ... in the trash. I hope not.
I'll have you know that I gave my old Honeywell to the kids. So they could break open the bulb and play with the little shiny blob.
Dropping support for an 8-year-old computer (Score:3)
Someone will correct my on this, but computers from 2017 don't make the Windows 11 hardware requirements?
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Bad comparison. Thermostats are devices that up until ""smart"" thermostats became a thing, were expected to work properly for decades. A dumb thermostat from 75 years ago still works, yet a Nest thermostat is being killed just because they don't feel like supporting them any more.
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Now it will become e-waste for no good reason.
Not being able to use your phone to adjust your heating doesn't make something automatically e-waste. Literally all other functions will remain working, including the predictive heating, the home/away detection from motion, the ability to set the calendar on the thermostat, etc.
Most of Europe still uses dumb thermostats. Those who have smart thermostats often opt for something much smarter than Google (zone control is common among newer high-tech products, and Google's answer to this is such a comically exp
a hidden kill-switch (Score:2)
I'm guessing the new models can't do that: That function has been replaced with a cleverly hidden kill-switch (AKA "Google Server required") that Google can 'activate' at any time.
Nest Learning Thermostat (Score:2)
Works pretty well. The first thing I learned: Don't buy shit that requires Google to stick around and support it.
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Alas, I bought mine before Google owned Nest.
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You should get credits to buy an Ecobee instead. Canadian company with less shenanigans.
Unfortunately that won't happen.
"Unique" - Horseshit (Score:5, Insightful)
As per title, there's nothing "Unique" about European heating systems. In fact they use an open standard regardless of heating system type called OpenTherm. This works regardless if you have a heatpump, central air furnace, central water boiler, regardless if your system offers hot water or not, and most importantly... Google has ALREADY DONE THE WORK. They already have all code in place for managing a very large variety of OpenTherm devices on the market, and somehow all their competitors have zero problems with this as well.
Sorry Google I call horseshit on your lame excuse. You just one again are trying to kill a product you shouldn't have bought in the first place.
Replace with a dumb thermostat (Score:2)
I had one, and it was horrible to use: it kept learning my behaviour - and assuming (very wrongly) that what I did last week applied to this week.
I replaced it with an old fashioned thermostat (a single knob and a bimetallic strip) and it's so much better.
Btw, some people may have "old" 240V manual thermostats running on a modern (12V/24V) boiler and hate the excessive hysteresis. That's because these older ones have a small heater resistor behind the bimetallic strip, designed to provide just enough extra
This is why I went with a competitor. (Score:2)
This is why I went with a competitor. It's only a matter of time before Google shutters newer Nest models too. My Ecobee will keep working.