Not sure what section this should be posted to as I didn’t see a dedicated 3rd-party Hardware sub.
I’m getting tired of Google and their shenanigans. I used to have a Nest Thermostat before they were acquired and also bought into the Nest Protects, but now I’m reading that this summer they were killing off their “works with Nest” functionalities and it appears they’re trying to nickel and dime customers with monthly subscriptions. Granted their hardware is pretty good, but I need something that’s cross-compatible and not forcing us to “pick one or the other.” I never migrated over to using a gmail address for them, so I suppose that’s the only positive from their Great Wall of Google.
So currently I have a Hello Nest (doorbell), a Google Nest Hub (sent to me free), Google Mini (also free), and three Nest protects. Aside from the hubs and minis (which honestly I don’t really use), do any of you that have had these have any recommendations for subscription-free alternatives that match or are better in quality? Preferably something local with optional free cloud connectivity?
I'm also looking for Google/Alexa assistant replacements. Eager to see what people have using as alternatives.
I recommend a GoControl Z-wave thermostat in place of a Nest Thermostat. They are inexpensive and work well if you have a C wire for power. They are "dumb" so you will have to either use the scheduler or rules in HE to change temperature settings automatically. I found I really only need a few temperature changes during a 24hr period. If you have the HE app on your phone with the geofence set up, you can set up an AWAY mode which can change temperature when no one is home then run a schedule when you are. Seems to work well for my situation and the best part is LOCAL control with no CLOUD.
I just learned yesterday that Sonos has acquired Snips AI. Which could be good or could be terrible only time will tell. I'm hopeful Sonos will integrate it into the Sonos One platform and leave the API open for use. IF they do that it will be a great alternative to Alexa/Google for voice assistants.
I 2nd @Beachguy's recommendation of the GoControl Z-wave. I have one for one HVAC and an Ecobee for the other. I only really ever change settings based on cell phone presence like he mentioned using RM. Both have been running flawlessly for over 3 years (knock on wood).
I have mentioned this in other posts but I use HE's geofence for HSM and Locative on wife's iPhone and Tasker on my Android phone for the "HVAC geofence". You will want your "HVAC Geofence" pretty big (mine is 5 mile radius) to give your HVAC time to heat or cool the house in time for you to return.
I would have 2 GoControls except that the designer of our house decided it would be a good idea to put the thermostat (and the return) for the HVAC for the Master Suite outside the door to the bedroom. The temperature reading at the thermostat was often 2-3 degrees different than the temperature at our bed. I utilize one of Ecobee's stand-alone sensors sitting on bedside table and have it ignore the on-board temperature sensor of the Ecobee. Had I known then what I know now, I would have bought 2 GoControls and a z-wave or zigbee temperature sensor and let RM do all of the work.
I also have the GoControl Thermostat GC-TBZ48. I had issues when I first switched over to HE with battery life. I have 3 of these in my house. Batteries would last 2 weeks max. I figured out to use Alkaline Batteries. Switched out my Lithium and now I have over 2 months on Alkaline with 95% still showing..
PLEASE REMEMBER TO USE Alkaline batteries not Lithium. I found this out the Hard and Expensive way.
You can do a lot better than a lot of the Nest hardware, but my personal opinion is the Nest Protects are worthwhile, connected or not.
I’m using this as a temporary solution until the dust settles around the Google Nest fiasco. If you kept your old Nest account and you’re an iOS user, then this could work for you too.
Honestly I think they’ll get their act together eventually, so I would not suggest making a lot of major investments in new equipment just yet. Give it more time. CES was a big platform for them two years ago, and it drove a lot of sales. So I would guess they would try to rebound in time for CES 2020. Black Friday can be a good time to replace duds, but it might be a bit premature to count them out at this point in time.
Have you added any new nest protects since they locked down the environment? I'm wondering if I can add anymore new protects to the system and integrate them through Dant's app with makerapi and IOS or if those will just be left to sit out on their own?
