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“Smart” thermostat


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So I am having to replace the HVAC system in my home, and I am figuring that I will take the opportunity to investigate smart thermostat options (Nest, etc.).  Anyone mess with any of these and have any feedback?  I’m mostly interested in being able to set up schedules, control it remotely, and HomeKit support.  Not necessarily interested in having it do things like tell me the weather, and definitely not interested in having it listen to me (Alexa, etc.).  I’m investigating on my own but was sort of wondering if anyone in the crowd here has experience with one of these and has something that they would recommend or not recommend.

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Dell Precision 7770 (personal)

  • Intel Core i9-12950HX ("Alder Lake"), 8P+8E
    • 8× P cores ("Golden Cove"): 2.3 GHz base, 5.0 GHz turbo, hyperthreading
    • 8× E cores ("Gracemont"): 1.7 GHz base, 3.6 GHz turbo
  • 128GB DDR5-3600 (CAMM)
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 16GB (DGFF)
  • Storage:
    • 2TB system drive: Samsung 980 Pro, PCIe4
    • 24TB additional storage: 3× Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 8TB, PCIe4 (Storage Spaces)
  • Windows 10 (Enterprise LTSC 2021)
  • 17.3" 3940×2160 display
  • Intel Wi-Fi AX211 (Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth)
  • 93Wh battery
  • IR webcam
  • Fingerprint reader

 

Dell Precision 7560 (work)

  • Intel Xeon W-11955M ("Tiger Lake")
    • 8×2.6 GHz base, 5.0 GHz turbo, hyperthreading ("Willow Cove")
  • 64GB DDR4-3200 ECC
  • NVIDIA RTX A2000 4GB
  • Storage:
    • 512GB system drive (Micron 2300)
    • 4TB additional storage (Sabrent Rocket Q4)
  • Windows 10 (Enterprise LTSC 2021)
  • 15.6" 3940×2160 display
  • Intel Wi-Fi AX210 (Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth)
  • 95Wh battery
  • IR webcam
  • Fingerprint reader

 

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  • Dell Precision 7530, 7510, M4800, M6700
  • Dell Latitude E6520
  • Dell Inspiron 1720, 5150
  • Dell Latitude CPi
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I currently use the lower end nest (whatever it's called) and it works just fine. I like the ability to set schedules as well as run my fan in circulation mode throughout the day to keep from using AC as much as possible. The only thing I don't like about it, is integrating it with Home Assistant is a total bear...

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  • 2 months later...

I love my Nest too. Remote control is the best, whenever we are away for a few days, I can set it to keep eco temps, for example in the summer let the apt get all the way 80F and a few hours before arriving home, I just open the app and set it to our usual 76F.

 

It does have one annoying thing but it's partly my fault. I had an "offer" from our electricity provider that if we opt-in some stupid energy saving program, we'll get some discount. Now I can't disable that and because texas can't get their act together and fix the power grid, with all the above 100F days, we get a bunch of these events when the thermostat wants to change temps to "save" the grid. Screw that, I need to keep my eye on it and when it does this, I have to set it back to our usual temps...

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I ended up getting an Ecobee3 Lite.  Rather happy with it.  A main draw was the total lack of a microphone for smart assistant integration.  I also like how it shows the actual current temperature and not the target temperature as the large number on the display.  And, it supports setting a threshold for "cool" and "heat" at the same time (as long as they are five degrees apart, °F), which will help during couple of weeks or so of fall/spring transition when I need heat in the morning but cool in the afternoon, without having to go and remember to switch it from heat mode to cool mode and back.  ...It otherwise supports what you'd expect from a smart thermostat... remote control via app, scheduling, hourly cycling of the air even if cool or heat is not needed.

Dell Precision 7770 (personal) • Dell Precision 7560 (work) • Full specs in spoiler block below
Info posts (Dell) — Dell Precision key postsDell driver RSS feeds • Dell Fan Management — override fan behavior
Info posts (Windows) — Turbo boost toggle • The problem with Windows 11 • About Windows 10 LTSC

Spoiler

Dell Precision 7770 (personal)

  • Intel Core i9-12950HX ("Alder Lake"), 8P+8E
    • 8× P cores ("Golden Cove"): 2.3 GHz base, 5.0 GHz turbo, hyperthreading
    • 8× E cores ("Gracemont"): 1.7 GHz base, 3.6 GHz turbo
  • 128GB DDR5-3600 (CAMM)
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 16GB (DGFF)
  • Storage:
    • 2TB system drive: Samsung 980 Pro, PCIe4
    • 24TB additional storage: 3× Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 8TB, PCIe4 (Storage Spaces)
  • Windows 10 (Enterprise LTSC 2021)
  • 17.3" 3940×2160 display
  • Intel Wi-Fi AX211 (Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth)
  • 93Wh battery
  • IR webcam
  • Fingerprint reader

 

Dell Precision 7560 (work)

  • Intel Xeon W-11955M ("Tiger Lake")
    • 8×2.6 GHz base, 5.0 GHz turbo, hyperthreading ("Willow Cove")
  • 64GB DDR4-3200 ECC
  • NVIDIA RTX A2000 4GB
  • Storage:
    • 512GB system drive (Micron 2300)
    • 4TB additional storage (Sabrent Rocket Q4)
  • Windows 10 (Enterprise LTSC 2021)
  • 15.6" 3940×2160 display
  • Intel Wi-Fi AX210 (Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth)
  • 95Wh battery
  • IR webcam
  • Fingerprint reader

 

Previous

  • Dell Precision 7530, 7510, M4800, M6700
  • Dell Latitude E6520
  • Dell Inspiron 1720, 5150
  • Dell Latitude CPi
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  • 3 weeks later...

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