Ditto here.
Our utility is giving away free high tech thermostats.
I almost jumped on the chance, but then I did some investigation.
Yes, they can set your temperature remotely to whatever they want!
No way Jose!
The old one is just perfect!.
My utility here has tried the same thing. They also send me “useful tips” from time to time. Useful tips that I applied to my house a long time ago or couldn’t afford, such as new windows. (old ones are double pane anyway)
Now those emails are deleted without opening.
My useful tip for them is ‘You supply me gas, I’ll pay the bill and apart from that we have no contact. Mmmmm kay?’ LOL
You have failed to grasp the most pernicious aspect of the new ‘high tech’ thermostats.
Years ago, I purchased one of those newfangled ‘high tech’ thermostats from the Apple store.
I thought I was safe from the machinations of google, only to learn that google bought out that brand six months later. So google can record all of my thermostat activities.
The company had been pushing to force all of us to switch from our original NEST accounts, and the final, final deadline arrived this year. So as of October, the thermostat can no longer be set remotely. It is now just a wall thermostat. Oh well.
The perniciousness of the ability to remotely set the thermostat means that one must have internet access. So after a major hurricane, such as Ida, that service may not exist for a month or two.
Now that I have been disowned, I find I rather like the device just as a ‘wall switch’. I had been considering switching to a simple model without the toxic company connection but could never justify spending the funds.