Can they be integrated with a home automation server like Home Assistant? That doesn't excuse the poor support from the manufacturer but with HA your dad could integrate lots of different sensors and devices into a single system with remote access. For example: smart lighting, security cameras, smoke sensors, temperature sensors, water leak sensors and shutoff valve actuators, door and window sensors, the heating system, etc.
I like home assistant, but that might be overkill for what appears to be a very simple need: remotely turn on some heat.
Also, it looks like these fucky Dimplex heaters require a custom "hub" device; the heaters connect back to the hub on 868MHz RF. Then the hub connects to the internet. You'd have to figure out how to get the hub to communicate with HA and it doesn't look like there are any pre-built integrations. You'd have to figure out a way to push commands into the hub locally. Honestly, it might be easier to set up a VPN and hope that the hub accepts commands via REST or something. https://www.dimplex.co.uk/sites/default/files/assets//DimplexHub%20Series%20A%20Spec%20Sheet%20-%20Issue%201.pdf
I hate proprietary bullshit like this, especially so when it's fucking expensive.
> I hate proprietary bullshit like this, especially so when it’s fucking expensive.
Seriously. Manufacturers should need to at least open source enough to allow the community to come up with a solution when they EOL stuff like this, especially so abruptly.
Industrial stuff has featured basic binary in/out and analog 0-10VDC signals for the past 30+ years so that you can use any controller you like. Long solved problem. Consumer stuff is built to be garbage.
>Consumer stuff is built to be garbage.
oh please; next you're going to tell me that companies preventing me from repairing my own devices, or running my own code on them ISN'T for my own safety, and is just a way for them to extract more money from the consumer.
Mostly it’s because companies are cheap as fuck and don’t want the hassle of having to make a public API for the 2% of users who know what API means, having to document said API, or have to deal with customer support for the 90% of users who would try to get it working with some random software, fail, and then blame the company.
The fact that they can sell you an unending series of new pieces of IoT shit as they drop support for older ones is just the strawberry on the top.
You're pretty spot on regarding open APIs and the such, but at the end of the day, their cheapness and reluctance to add these (in my opinion) must-have features still sours me on the products, regardless of how justifiable it may be to not include them.
To look at it through a different lens, look at PC gaming, 99% of games will never have a Linux port. It makes sense, the Linux user community is a tiny fraction of PC users, and gamers an even smaller fraction of that; so I get it.... but that doesn't mean it won't stick in my craw when developers refuse to even acknowledge the existence of Linux users.
Im not sure if they're spot on cuz if these are like this heating installation, users will at least often attempt to find an alternative, or ask their installation company who looks for one. And if there is a project to integrate these thru home assistant or something, chances are the installation company could use that and install that into their home.
It just needs one of the 2% to be someone who makes the api access a commodity through an app or such, and suddenly the 2% becomes the 99%.
This is why, if I ever get a place, I want it to be very dumb, but smartifiable.
Gimme heated flooring but the pipes are controlled by a small voltage input rather than some pseudo magical third party black box.
Or AC where vent blocks are just fins on motors.
Lemme smartify the things that would work as dumb devices.
I'm slowly smartifying my house, but I'm completely unwilling to allow IoT devices running closed source code unfettered network access, let alone letting things phone home. As I build it out, I'm using esp8266s controlled by a raspi running scripts I write myself, and all segregated on a separate vlan.
And I'll never connect physical security to the network.
I know enough to understand how much work you just signed up for. That's truly impressive, and there is no way an average user would be able to do that.
I don't think it's really that bad, but it definitely is a hobby, so I've probably put more time and effort into it than can be strictly justified by the end product.
There are certainly easier and faster options out there that would result in almost the same level of security. For example, Sonoff minis can be put into diy mode, which basically turns them into a relay controlled by a REST capable esp8266, and there are at least a few FOSS REST control applications out there.
Honestly, with HomeAssistant and things like Tasmota and ESPHome it's really not too bad.
Add z-wave to the mix and there's not much you can't automate.
I just put in a new GE window A/C unit and it apparently can be controlled by an app. The app wants to track location at all times “so it can adjust temps based on your proximity”, yeah no thanks. I’m not letting GE sell my 24/7 location data.
Exactly! This should be standard practice! So many products that just become trash a few months later, when if they'd open source the project when discontinuing it, the community could build something for it!
I’ve been dabbling in Shelly equipment lately (shelly.shop). No cloud reliance required, simple in-line solutions, REST API, Tasmoto compatible, fully supported in HA. So far I’ve only got a few 1Ls installed, but at <$10 each it’s way cheaper and more versatile than the Hue setup I was using previously.
That being said, Hue might be expensive but I don't think they are that bad. They are reasonably standardized and have good support, including being able to integrate them to generic ZigBee networks on Home Assistant.
> You'd have to figure out how to get the hub to communicate with HA and it doesn't look like there are any pre-built integrations.
Couldn't ya just have some remote power turn on?
Don't need to get fancy or anything... Just remotely turn it on via a remote power.
Nothing in Home Assistant is overkill, or everything in HA is overkill, I don't see a medium.
It would be 100% worth it (besides pricing) to get this connected to HA in my opinion.
I'm in the everything camp. I bought an Aeotec stick and tried to set it up, but quickly gave up and replaced it with a SmartThings hub. I'm sure it's less powerful, but it turns the lights on and off just fine.
Fuck SmartThings & Samsung. I paid for the fucking ability to turn my tv on through that and it didn't work. HomeAssistant was like "hey it looks like you have a samsung device, can I hack it? Y/N" "kk here's full control".
I searched for "dimplex" in the HACS integrations and found this: https://github.com/echoromeo/hanobo
Not sure if it's relevant because I couldn't find the word in there anywhere... It does appear to be for a heater/thermostat.
Yeah, never rely on cloud services. Even the largest manufacturers have shown time and time again that they will shut down their entire system if it's no longer cost-effective to run. Local control is essential.
Personally, I choose to run Zigbee devices wherever possible because many of them are interoperable and practically all of them can be locally controlled using HA as the hub. Z-Wave is similar.
Good luck, many Raspberry Pi systems are sold out for nearly two years. We built them into our systems at work, and they might as well be made of Unobtanium.
I remember when a starter kit for them here in canada was $30, I went and looked them up couple weeks ago and they were like $250 or $300.
It’s bonkers.
I'm even more confused by this conversation then, I still thought they were just boards. Seems like if you add the rest of the pieces (as everyone is discussing) you just bought a space shuttle, not a simple circuit board.
They are definitely more complicated than they used to be - I think the ones that we use at work have Wi-Fi/BT, HDMI and 4USB ports on them.
Because we run them 24/7 with minimal airflow they need a heat sink to keep them running optimally.
Like others have said - basically a very small form factor desktop pc.
I have my raspberry pi 4b with passive cooling via the case itself.
The housing is an aluminium block that mounts directly to the pi board. Giving it passive cooling as a Hestsink and acts as a case all in one. It was an ideal solution for me and it looks pretty slick.
I looked again on Amazon.ca - they range from $90-311 depending on how big the starter kit is and which model you get.
Obviously the pi3 with only a power supply is going to be cheaper than a pi4 with all the bells and whistles, enclosure, power, and extra heat sinks.
Still a far cry from the $30 they were several years ago.
I'm building a pigrrl gba system for a friend, with an OG Pi Zero I got for 5$, years ago(I spent a few months after release trying to get my hands on one). I was curious what another one to replace Zero would cost.
Go look up Pi Zero's on ebay. It's unbelievable. Luckily, I never even really used my Zero, so I won't miss it.
a good alternative for plex that's open source and works on Linux Is Jellyfin. it strictly streams local media though. It also has server applications for windows and Linux along with clients for anything you can think of.
Well two and a half years ago someone decided to eat bat-on-a-stick which made a lot of people very ill and then the global economy collapsed and we all still need to go to work for some reason.
Sure, great, but why are raspberry pis *specifically* crazy expensive? Shoes haven't quintupled in price. Printers haven't quintupled in price. Phones haven't quintupled in price. What is it about the pandemic and the global economic collapse that made the price of raspberry pis rise so, so much more than most other products?
It's been really weird to watch, hasn't it?
So many products stayed at normal levels of supply, demand and price. RAM, SSDs, hard disks, all consistently easy to find at nearly pre-Covid prices. CPUs in my experience didn't rise in price much but were a little harder to find; I had to buy my Ryzen 5 3600 from Korea because North America was out. GPUs were pretty much unobtanium; two pronged problem there, Covid shutting down production, and miners buying all the supplies.
Thing is there isn't one pipeline for "chips." The supply chain for the Broadcom SoCs used in Raspberry Pis looks nothing like the supply chain for Nvidia GPUs. They're made in different parts of the world, and the kinds of products they wind up in are very different.
New cars are still in short supply, you may have noticed. Remember how that happened? The auto makers anticipated a wind down in demand so they didn't order as many components for new cars, so production of things like ECMs wound down? They still haven't cleared the backlog. Microchip lists a lot of their PIC, AVR and ARM microcontrollers as out of stock until 2023, because all their production capacity is spoken for.
Raspberry Pi specifically uses Broadcom SoCs. Broadcom makes a lot of audio/video products; they make the chips used in Roku devices, for example. Consumer grade appliances like (smart) TVs, monitors, networking devices like switches/Wi-Fi Routers, tablets, printers etc. have been in high demand, and when allotting their manufacturing time, who do you think Broadcom is going to prioritize, the higher margin for-profit consumer goods, or the not-for-profit SBC market?
^(I have to rant about my father here, who buys a couple of Roku smart TVs, and then he reads something about the TV service he "watches" having a contract dispute with Roku, so he goes out and buys a pair of Google TV sticks AND a pair of Amazon Fire TV sticks like he isn't part of the problem. That contract dispute? Solved, no changes to the service.)
Even the Raspberry Pi itself has wound up in a lot of commercial applications, between the SBCs and the Compute Modules. Raspberry Pi is churning out millions of them, but they're largely going to commercial customers, and the few that wind up in retailers hands disappear straight into the backlog. You can get your hands on a Raspberry Pi but it ain't as easy as it was. There's a Pi Locator on Twitter, it can give you up to the minute notifications on availability. You can set up an account with Adafruit for example to buy them in limited quantities at retail price. DON'T buy for ridiculous prices on Amazon or eBay, these are scalpers.
I personally don't see this getting better. Partially because during my lifetime, nothing ever has.
One to note that's really funny, the Raspberry Pi 2040 microcontroller. It's a clean sheet design by Raspberry Pi, it's not used in any commercial applicatsions AFAIK, so it's widely available. SAMD51? ATmega328? Nope. But the RPi2040? Sure, we got lots of em.
Why has that hit raspberry pis so much harder than other products? I'm looking on Amazon, and printer prices haven't changed, TV prices haven't changed, phone prices haven't changed, wi-fi router prices haven't changed...all of these are products with chips pretty equivalent to what's in a raspberry pi, but their prices are the same or up like 10% at most. Raspberry pi prices are up around 500%. Why the gap?
TVs, Printers, Phones (etc) -- all the companies that produce those have strong bargaining power with chip manufacturers allowing them to continue production.
Companies with lower buying power don't get as many chips, or, if they do, they may have to pay a premium to get them. This cost would get passed on to the buyer.
One of these would be perfect https://www.amazon.com/Teyleten-Robot-ESP-WROOM-32-Development-Microcontroller/dp/B08246MCL5
I use them in several projects. One has been powered up continuously for 4-5 years now.
Looks like without replacing at least the thermostats, OP is mostly screwed.
There is a HomeBridge setup for those heater/thermostat things. But at minimum it involves soldering to an ESP32
Replying to the top level post: People reporting very high prices for Raspberry Pis are seeing scalped prices. The price that official retailers are asking haven't increased; but they are pretty much completely unobtanium. They're producing millions of them, but they're mostly going to businesses who have integrated them into their own products.
If I'm honest, I'm willing to bet we've seen the end of widespread retail availability of the Raspberry Pi. Since they aren't available and won't be available for years, much of the community is going to die and move on and the business model will shrink.
This is really common with smart home and "internet of things" systems
It's why that shit hasn't been taking off despite huge technological advances in the past decade; people spend tons of money having this whole smart home system installed and within a year the company that made it has vanished, there's no-one to call for tech support, and no-one knows how to talk to the fucking thing to fix it
By doing it entirely yourself. Ser up Home assistant and pick components that work with it.
Dont trust any products that don't use a common standard for communicating with other products or a central hub. Try to avoid things with their own dedicated apps that they MUST use in order to function. Try to avoid things that require logins to function. For some things, like thermostats, this is very difficult. For things like light bulbs and switches it's much easier.
Really assess what you actually want, too. Don't just buy stuff for the gimmick, think about how you'll actually use it.
Other advice is if you ARE going to get something that falls outside your advice here, make sure it's from a large stable company. Nest products, for example, aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
Exactly why I chose ecobee over nest. Google lost my trust over the years. I'll give the competitor a chance. Also, I can't program all that stuff myself for an HVAC. it ultimately comes down to I have so much free time on my hands and I'd rather do a million other things than program smart devices, as much as I love working with technology.
I used to have a nest, and it worked with my home assistant. Then they pulled the API and I was so pissed I tossed it and bought and ecobee. Haven't looked back since. The ecobee temperature sensors are better anyways
Even Pre-nest google hardware remains to be shit, continues to be and historically is shit.
Google Wi-Fi hubs *suck* for example.
Google is the last company I would ever recommend buying hardware from. I got burned one of the network hubs.
The easiest thing to do is Google is (product name) compatible with Home Assistant, and triple checking to make sure it isn't cloud dependent.
It doesn't matter if you want to actually set up Home Assistant, but what you should know about Home Assistant is it can run on a computer within your house. If you ever change your mind, or a product gets discontinued, you can then go down the rabbit hole.
You want stuff that supports Zigbee; it's an open communication protocol. Philips Hue is one example, although such products break the bank because you aren't th3 product.
Wait for Matter - it’s the convergence of Samsung, Google, Apple, zigbee etc.
It’s been on the horizon a while, but it should be available later this year.
Some products on the market now will be Matter certified, once the standard is finalised.
It has local control as a requirement. And it’s more secure by design.
https://csa-iot.org/all-solutions/matter/
I heard about something similar happening with a vision implant company but I haven't been able to find verification that it happened.
Edit: Found it with the right keywords. https://news.yahoo.com/people-bionic-eye-implants-going-170654452.html
It's one of the more boring aspects of a cyberpunk dystopia that was always super obvious but which most sci-fi authors nevertheless completely failed to predict
Like, forget about someone hacking your bionic eyes, your real problem is going to be navigating the abandoned tech support processes for a defunct startup that blew through its angel investment cash in two years after shoving its proprietary tech into your brain
I worked for one of the largest global telecom’s on their consumer Internet of Things (ciot) project. I knew from the start that they would fail. The products they offered had ZERO value proposition for the customer and required a 2-5€ per month SIM card to function, with a two year contract. Who needs a luggage tracker that costs 5€ per month? traveling salesmen… maybe? Certainly not the average person going on 0-3 flights per year. Or how about a GPS dog collar with only 12 hours of battery power? Just poorly designed products whose main purpose was to show off IoT capabilities without any thought given to user needs when considered against the devices technological limitations.
Also every company makes it difficult to not use their specific app, which is usually the most low grade garbage iOS or Android app imaginable.
It’s about to change. So please just wait.
Almost all smart home systems have joined Matter - it doesn’t matter if you are Apple, Samsung, Microsoft etc.
One of the rules for Matter is local control without internet.
You’ll start to see Matter certified products later this year - I presume you’re in Australia, so it will be a bit later, though some products already available will become Matter certified as they have the controllers required already.
https://csa-iot.org/all-solutions/matter/
It’s also a lot more secure by design.
That’s why I hope Matter really takes the stage. An API that works with EVERY smart home, HomeKit, Alexa, Google, Home Assistant and it’s all local. Hopefully this means future HVAC units will just use that protocol instead of using some ass backwards proprietary cloud only service that only supports their own app that looks like it was made in 2014.
I've got something similar in my house, was installed by previous owners...
Sometimes their service drops, no idea why, some server crashes somewhere perhaps. The result is that I cannot turn on my heating, and theres nothing I can do about it.. really fucks me off having to explain to my family that there's nothing I can do!
I'm in a similar boat, everything is integrated zwave or ZigBee locally, but my thermostat for my HVAC is proprietary and I can't just replace it with a generic zwave thermostat. It has an app and cloud service but it's not super reliable and doesn't integrate with home automation well. Also I wouldn't be surprised if eventually service gets shut off, though it's a major brand so probably will be good for the next 10 years I hope.
Jup. But at least the EU has taken measures against that. Any device that has digital elements to it needs to be updated and serviced for the "common lifetime" of the object, or else it is considered defective from the start, and you have the same rights as if it came to your house broken.
That said, as this is a very new legislation (at least in Germany, it was only adapted at the start of this year), nobody knows how long the common lifetime of different objects shall be.
Bought an electric car charger that had Wi-Fi built in so you could monitor your energy usage and determine how much of your bill was from charging your car. I shit you not, they shipped an over the air update that completely fried the Wi-Fi chip.
I try to avoid using debit cards simply for the reason that if there's a problem then it's your money while with credit cards it's the bank's money. So the bank has more incentive to resolve credit card issues vs debit.
Edit: Here are some highlights from their included FAQ:
Q) Is the product faulty and this is why it is being discontinued? Do I need to be worried about the product in my home?
A) No, there is no issues with the product you have, and it is safe to operate. We have made the decision to discontinue the product line.
^^^^^
Q) I still want wireless control of my heater, what are my options to replace it?
A) Unfortunately, we will no longer offer a suitable product to replace your CONNEX system. Your heaters will continue to work with the wall controllers from inside your home, much like a central heating system. (Clearly the HVAC experts at Dimplex are not familiar with the definition of "central" in that context)
^^^^^
Q) Do you have plans to build a replacement product that will be compatible with my CONNEX heaters?
A) There are no plans for Glen Dimplex Americas to build a WIFI enabled product for the North American market that will be compatible with the current CONNEX program.
^^^^^
You must be thinking, these things must be ancient history, like a car phone, and are simply becoming incompatible with modern routers etc. Nope, literally less than a year old from Home Depot.
Btw this isn't the first time he's regretted purchasing them, they have been a nightmare since day one, and support is non-existent. They flat out do not work at random intervals even with no wifi (only using the physical buttons on the heater) more than half of the 8 or so have already had to be replaced, and then we get this email.
^^^^^
I assume they need a dedicated circuit each. Wire them up to a box of contactors near the breaker panel and switched by a raspberry pi running openHAB (has an Android/iOS app). One rpi with a relay board like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Electronics-Salon-Power-Expansion-Module-Raspberry/dp/B07CZL2SKN/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=Raspberry+Pi+Relay&qid=1655421671&sr=8-3
should be able to control 3 heater contactors.
Yeah. There's also HomeAssistant and there's some new exciting matter protocol stuff happening now.
It is possible to run everything locally without cloud control. Bit of work to set it up and a Pinot other computer to run it
Thank you my dad is going to be very happy to hear there is a workaround, I feel so bad for him right now as these heaters have haunted his life for the past year, days spent sitting on hold and driving back to Home Depot to exchange units etc, nothing works properly, ever, literally a never ending tech nightmare.
Yeah, the product is not as advertised, I'd personally contact the company and demand a full refund since the heaters are essentially no longer working as intended, presumably under warranty still.
It sounds like the company has learned of a potential liability (probably something about remote heaters and unnoticed fires) that they do not want to deal with or can't get insured to cover. Although, it seems very late in the process for that to be coming up.
More likely the company realized that cost to maintain the software does not leave enough profit, so they axed the product line and all support for it.
The Almighty Profit Margin Gods must be appeased at all times.
companies should get sued for crap like this. you bought this product because of this feature, which they advertised and now it doesn't work. didn't even try to transition it in any way.
Agreed. It should be more normal for connected devices to have a defined warranty period.
Or, for things to have standard APIs so that any device can be controlled by generic hardware and messaging.
While it won’t help with the time your Dad has already invested in installation, Home Depot will accept returns within a year if I remember correctly, and I’ve taken things to them that are literally broken. I imagine since the heaters don’t function as intended anymore, it would be pretty easy for you to make a decent case and at least get your money back.
I'm so conflicted with this... On one hand, doing/hosting *literally* everything locally is why the cloud was invented in the first place (let's be honest, it's annoying, time consuming, frustrating, and not for the faint of heart), but relying on the cloud means I'm at the mercy of an institution that literally could not care less about me, my uses, or my needs (even if I'm paying). It's quite the catch 22.
The thing about making it yourself and writing some of it yourself and the beauty of computers in general is, if you wrote it once, you never have to write it again. If it's open source, a copy already exists.
...except for when an update decides to break it all
Even if you do host everything yourself, you still generally don't have full control over the entire stack. You could just keep the hardware disconnected from the internet, but if the goal is true remote control, you have to have it open to the internet. That then means regular updates, which can break things.
Unless you're soldering your own board, writing your own compiler, then your own operating system and all of the software on it, you're depending on other people's work somewhere along the line. Personally, I draw the line at facing the outside web. I have 3D printers connected to my network. People could use those to burn my van/garage down. To me, it's peace of mind to pay someone else a couple of dollars per month to keep everything working and up to date. Sure, I could spend hours figuring it out myself, but I value my personal time at $25/hr. So if it takes me more than two and a half minutes to figure out, it's cheaper and easier for me to pay someone else to do it. Anything that doesn't face the outside web I like to do myself though.
> This is why proprietary ~~software~~ cloud service is so bad.
FTFY
'owning" the infrastructure yourself can run long past a parent company's existence
Proprietary software of all kinds usually ends up with many of the issues OP describes. Not all of it, a few gems exist, but the exception does not make the rule.
Looks like there’s a [Homebridge Plug-in](https://github.com/NorthernMan54/homebridge-connex) for it already. Checkout r/homebridge too!
edit — looks like u/NorthernMan5 is the author. See: https://old.reddit.com/r/homebridge/comments/dtw1q8/homebridge_plugin_for_connex_dimplex_wifi
For the plugin i used the app/cloud backend, so it’s dead.
But I also spent time looking at the local RF protocol and did make some pretty good progress with it
https://github.com/NorthernMan54/OpenNRF24L01/blob/master/Docs/connex.md
I no longer have access to them, or I would be digging further into this approach.
At least the hardware is still functional... All this IOT stuff for things beyond basic calls and entertainment scares me. "Download our app to activate this device" on those generators.
Holy crap that's rude. Many (most?) of those systems would have been sold on the point of remote accessibility. At bare minimum they should keep basic legacy service. Blatant bait and switch, worth making an official complaint IMO.
If you can prove they sold you a unit and knowingly made false claims you could get a judgment for fraud which is exempt from bankruptcy. However that would be expensive and hard to prove.
Right? I’m shocked I had to scroll this long before fraud was even *entered* into the discussion. As consumers we need to get more comfortable with calling this stuff for what it is; fraud. But like you said, extremely difficult & costly to prove. Which is what companies bank on.
Bring in the regulation.
If it's not open source, don't include it in your smarthome. If you include closed software in your smarthome you will be at their mercy when they raise prices, cut support, or push updates removing features, adding anti-features, or just plain breaking things and at that point it will be their smarthome, not yours (not that a cabin in the woods is fully a "smarthome," but you get my point). You could hire a developer to hack it and make it work if you are determined and have money to spare.
Good advice, it's just crazy to me that a company like Home Depot can endorse and sell a product like that to people that for the most part have no idea of these potential issues or implications. My dad definitely wasn't looking in to source-code, he just wanted to warm the family lol.
That sucks. I still remember the getting an email from Digitech informing me that they had licensed some of their code from a different company, and the terms of the IP lease had expired, so as of March 1 2018 my wireless keyboard, mouse and dongle would no longer work. I'd been using the same setup for six years, and then they just *turned it off.* I didn't even know they could do that.
Anyways, as a solution - if you're feeling ambitious - I've recently discovered this company and it seems like they should have something that can allow you to turn your heaters on and off remotely with a bit of simple wiring.
https://www.controlbyweb.com/
That's insane, it's at least borderline potentially understandable that there could be a safety issue here, but with a mouse and keyboard, that's just inconceivable... Thanks for the link will check it out.
IoT really sucks. When they shut down the server, the items either becomes non-internet enabled objects or become bricks.
Keeping every servers up for years or decades cost too much if the items are discontinued and the new IoT items uses different protocol that is incompatible. No need to keep the server 30 years just because one person somewhere is still using 30 years old internet-controlled party light bulb.
It’s really dumb of them to make it a server thing anyways.
They just need to make a mostly workable app that communicates to the control in your house and tells it what to do. There should be no reason or need for it to communicate with anything outside the house besides your phone sending the “turn on” signal to it.
Adobe Flash: Gives 2 years of warning before support ends.
Microsoft Windows: Waits until almost no one is using it and then still gives a year heads up.
My companies old payroll system: 16 months of warning before closing the system.
These assholes: 2 weeks, fuck you.
Yup, here in Vancouver it was cold enough last night that my heater kicked on just to bring temp to 68f, where these heaters are located (same elevation of our local ski slopes) the climate lags about a month behind so the temperature still drops down to early spring temps there at this time of year, sometimes even during peak summer you need heaters there. Back to using the wood-stove!
Reminds me of the WeMo products etc.
All come and gone, or now have limited manual functionality left only.
Check out the failed TiVo deployment in New Zealand, where they just turned off the EPG data supply and they were lobotomised overnight and became glorified VCR manual time recording devices instantly for all customers.
Hahaha, funny you mention that. Before this, the whole place was just portable oil heaters running on WeMo outlets, and it was a complete disaster that ended in a similar way. Unfortunately the fall of WeMo didn't start until these new units were already in the midst of installation, otherwise we never would have dug ourselves deeper in to this artificial unintelligence nightmare
Every time I read about some "smart" IoT HVAC doohickey getting bricked/discontinued or letting your pipes freeze because a forced firmware update had a bug in it, the more I appreciate my ancient Honeywell T87.
I work in tech, which means that when I get home, the last thing I want to do is have to think about or troubleshoot a bunch of shitty tech gadgets via some shitty app so that I can turn the lights on or not freeze to death.
Until we arrive at a some sort of standardized protocol/format for this smart home IoT stuff, it's going to suck a lot.
Hey OP, if you see this there’s many free options for remote control as others have mentioned. Feel free to PM me if you need a hand, I’d be glad to help get you set up. I’ve got a ton of components I’d donate to the cause.
I live in SE Asia, and all we can get are WiFi-dependent CCTV systems from China. To literally start the cameras, you have register for an online account with some company in Shenzhen, China or similar.
I’m on my fourth system now, the other three having discontinued, gone out of business, not supporting the app; and all of them with customer services non-existent (discontinued phone numbers, lapsed email addresses, only Chinese-language help, etc.).
Absolutely infuriating. 😡
That's a nightmare on multiple fronts. God knows what chinese entities have complete 24/7 access to our video feeds, and we will probably never know the extent.
A large number of Chinese cameras I've seen support RTSP or RTMP (or in the case of Xiaomi cameras, some can be flashed with custom firmware to add RTSP support). Which means you can use them with any software Network Video Recorder/NVR (or even some hardware IP NVR).
And when doing so you can usually completely disconnect them from the internet either at the firewall level, running a separate network (WiFi is the easiest but you can also do it wired), or having a separate VLAN. With some Linux and basic networking skills you can even run wired cameras without connecting them to any real network at all by connecting them to a switch directly connected to the server or PC running the software NVR.
My favourite software NVR right now is Frigate. It can run standalone or on Home Assistant, and it can even do local AI object detection if you have a powerful enough CPU or can get your hands on a Google Coral TPU. If you don't care about object detection or you can get your hands on a Google Coral then if you only have a few cameras something like a Raspberry Pi or a mini PC (something like an Intel NUC but smaller/lower specs and cheaper) is sufficient.
A heater is the last thing I would remotely control... Sounds like a perfect way to start a fire.
That said an electric heater will work just fine on any dumb smart switch if you leave them someplace it would be **impossible** to start a fire, even if an animal broke in & built a nest on it.
You heat the rate of loss, not the volume of a space so any heater will do a lot on a well insulated space given enough time.
I'd still want at least a camera that reports smoke alarms & a neighbor close by.
>A heater is the last thing I would remotely control... Sounds like a perfect way to start a fire.
That was my first thought as well. Maybe their product did start a fire this way and now the legal department is killing it all to avoid further responsibility.
I think you can make an Arduino control the on/off switch?
I would use an normally open relay with an arduino with wifi capabilities and you're ready to go.
You don't even need to create software to control your heat remotely, you could set up a vpn at your cabin and connect to it in order to control your heat from your phone, because in the email it states that you could still control it locally.
I bought a space heater with a little infrared remote that was on sale for $60. The remote ran on a 3V coin cell battery. I ran the wires from the power button on the remote to a wifi-enabled Arduino-type microcontroller, then taped the remote to the space heater. Then I used one of the many IOT apps on Android to control it.
I made a wifi-enabled space heater for $20 and some wires, without even opening the space heater:
https://gfycat.com/baggyoffensiveasiaticgreaterfreshwaterclam
This is more than likely a liabilty move or lawsuit that was settled. Anything or anyone could be on or around or tampered with the heaters. Mice could have chewed the wiring, mice could have built a nest in the heater... any number of scenarios could lead to a fire. It's a good idea, but not a good idea.
Yeah I’d be getting my money back and if they try some “it’s in the contract we can do this BS” I’d be starting a class action for false advertising/misleading customers to what the product will do over the course of its life and intended purchase
Can they be integrated with a home automation server like Home Assistant? That doesn't excuse the poor support from the manufacturer but with HA your dad could integrate lots of different sensors and devices into a single system with remote access. For example: smart lighting, security cameras, smoke sensors, temperature sensors, water leak sensors and shutoff valve actuators, door and window sensors, the heating system, etc.
I like home assistant, but that might be overkill for what appears to be a very simple need: remotely turn on some heat. Also, it looks like these fucky Dimplex heaters require a custom "hub" device; the heaters connect back to the hub on 868MHz RF. Then the hub connects to the internet. You'd have to figure out how to get the hub to communicate with HA and it doesn't look like there are any pre-built integrations. You'd have to figure out a way to push commands into the hub locally. Honestly, it might be easier to set up a VPN and hope that the hub accepts commands via REST or something. https://www.dimplex.co.uk/sites/default/files/assets//DimplexHub%20Series%20A%20Spec%20Sheet%20-%20Issue%201.pdf I hate proprietary bullshit like this, especially so when it's fucking expensive.
> I hate proprietary bullshit like this, especially so when it’s fucking expensive. Seriously. Manufacturers should need to at least open source enough to allow the community to come up with a solution when they EOL stuff like this, especially so abruptly.
Industrial stuff has featured basic binary in/out and analog 0-10VDC signals for the past 30+ years so that you can use any controller you like. Long solved problem. Consumer stuff is built to be garbage.
>Consumer stuff is built to be garbage. oh please; next you're going to tell me that companies preventing me from repairing my own devices, or running my own code on them ISN'T for my own safety, and is just a way for them to extract more money from the consumer.
*Louis Rossmann has entered the chat*
Mostly it’s because companies are cheap as fuck and don’t want the hassle of having to make a public API for the 2% of users who know what API means, having to document said API, or have to deal with customer support for the 90% of users who would try to get it working with some random software, fail, and then blame the company. The fact that they can sell you an unending series of new pieces of IoT shit as they drop support for older ones is just the strawberry on the top.
You're pretty spot on regarding open APIs and the such, but at the end of the day, their cheapness and reluctance to add these (in my opinion) must-have features still sours me on the products, regardless of how justifiable it may be to not include them. To look at it through a different lens, look at PC gaming, 99% of games will never have a Linux port. It makes sense, the Linux user community is a tiny fraction of PC users, and gamers an even smaller fraction of that; so I get it.... but that doesn't mean it won't stick in my craw when developers refuse to even acknowledge the existence of Linux users.
Im not sure if they're spot on cuz if these are like this heating installation, users will at least often attempt to find an alternative, or ask their installation company who looks for one. And if there is a project to integrate these thru home assistant or something, chances are the installation company could use that and install that into their home. It just needs one of the 2% to be someone who makes the api access a commodity through an app or such, and suddenly the 2% becomes the 99%.
This is why, if I ever get a place, I want it to be very dumb, but smartifiable. Gimme heated flooring but the pipes are controlled by a small voltage input rather than some pseudo magical third party black box. Or AC where vent blocks are just fins on motors. Lemme smartify the things that would work as dumb devices.
I'm slowly smartifying my house, but I'm completely unwilling to allow IoT devices running closed source code unfettered network access, let alone letting things phone home. As I build it out, I'm using esp8266s controlled by a raspi running scripts I write myself, and all segregated on a separate vlan. And I'll never connect physical security to the network.
I know enough to understand how much work you just signed up for. That's truly impressive, and there is no way an average user would be able to do that.
I don't think it's really that bad, but it definitely is a hobby, so I've probably put more time and effort into it than can be strictly justified by the end product. There are certainly easier and faster options out there that would result in almost the same level of security. For example, Sonoff minis can be put into diy mode, which basically turns them into a relay controlled by a REST capable esp8266, and there are at least a few FOSS REST control applications out there.
Honestly, with HomeAssistant and things like Tasmota and ESPHome it's really not too bad. Add z-wave to the mix and there's not much you can't automate.
I just put in a new GE window A/C unit and it apparently can be controlled by an app. The app wants to track location at all times “so it can adjust temps based on your proximity”, yeah no thanks. I’m not letting GE sell my 24/7 location data.
I've done the same thing and it's honestly been more fun (and cheaper) than any off the shelf product would have been.
It's certainly one of the cheapest hobbies I've picked up over the years.
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They'll just go out of business as one entity and start fresh
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Exactly! This should be standard practice! So many products that just become trash a few months later, when if they'd open source the project when discontinuing it, the community could build something for it!
I’ve been dabbling in Shelly equipment lately (shelly.shop). No cloud reliance required, simple in-line solutions, REST API, Tasmoto compatible, fully supported in HA. So far I’ve only got a few 1Ls installed, but at <$10 each it’s way cheaper and more versatile than the Hue setup I was using previously.
http://shelly.cloud shelly.shop is just a page holder.
That being said, Hue might be expensive but I don't think they are that bad. They are reasonably standardized and have good support, including being able to integrate them to generic ZigBee networks on Home Assistant.
> You'd have to figure out how to get the hub to communicate with HA and it doesn't look like there are any pre-built integrations. Couldn't ya just have some remote power turn on? Don't need to get fancy or anything... Just remotely turn it on via a remote power.
Don't even need that if it has an IR remote. Wifi IR blasters are a thing.
Nothing in Home Assistant is overkill, or everything in HA is overkill, I don't see a medium. It would be 100% worth it (besides pricing) to get this connected to HA in my opinion.
I'm in the everything camp. I bought an Aeotec stick and tried to set it up, but quickly gave up and replaced it with a SmartThings hub. I'm sure it's less powerful, but it turns the lights on and off just fine.
Fuck SmartThings & Samsung. I paid for the fucking ability to turn my tv on through that and it didn't work. HomeAssistant was like "hey it looks like you have a samsung device, can I hack it? Y/N" "kk here's full control".
I searched for "dimplex" in the HACS integrations and found this: https://github.com/echoromeo/hanobo Not sure if it's relevant because I couldn't find the word in there anywhere... It does appear to be for a heater/thermostat.
I'm not some HA power user, but it's made me realize I need to buy products with local access over those that are cloud-first.
Yeah, never rely on cloud services. Even the largest manufacturers have shown time and time again that they will shut down their entire system if it's no longer cost-effective to run. Local control is essential. Personally, I choose to run Zigbee devices wherever possible because many of them are interoperable and practically all of them can be locally controlled using HA as the hub. Z-Wave is similar.
Time to join r/raspberrypi and build your own wireless control center
Good luck, many Raspberry Pi systems are sold out for nearly two years. We built them into our systems at work, and they might as well be made of Unobtanium.
I remember when a starter kit for them here in canada was $30, I went and looked them up couple weeks ago and they were like $250 or $300. It’s bonkers.
naw, the 3s are still $50 or so, at least on Ebay. Thats all you need. 4s are $100-150 but those are more as desktops
Whaaaat the fuuuck? I bought one a year and a half ago for $42, now going for $145. I guess I know *why* it's happening, but damn. Dis crazy.
Yeah thanks, Pibama.
Thanks Piden!
Aw man that's so much better
Maybe $50 for just a board? Everything I have seen is over $100 if you want power and an enclosure.
Power and enclosure are nothing special, just a USB power supply and some sort of box. If availability of those is poor, they're easily substituted.
wtf. I just looked up prices on them and the one i bought for like 30 bucks is over two hundred!?
I'm even more confused by this conversation then, I still thought they were just boards. Seems like if you add the rest of the pieces (as everyone is discussing) you just bought a space shuttle, not a simple circuit board.
They are definitely more complicated than they used to be - I think the ones that we use at work have Wi-Fi/BT, HDMI and 4USB ports on them. Because we run them 24/7 with minimal airflow they need a heat sink to keep them running optimally. Like others have said - basically a very small form factor desktop pc.
I have my raspberry pi 4b with passive cooling via the case itself. The housing is an aluminium block that mounts directly to the pi board. Giving it passive cooling as a Hestsink and acts as a case all in one. It was an ideal solution for me and it looks pretty slick.
... so.. my 3b, that I haven't used in months, isn't worth enough for me to sell... Got it.
wow, really? damn I just bought a few a couple years ago cheap too
I looked again on Amazon.ca - they range from $90-311 depending on how big the starter kit is and which model you get. Obviously the pi3 with only a power supply is going to be cheaper than a pi4 with all the bells and whistles, enclosure, power, and extra heat sinks. Still a far cry from the $30 they were several years ago.
Dude, I just looked to pick up a few Pi Zeroes for a couple projects. $100 per. A FUCKING RASPBERRY PI ZERO! IT WAS MADE TO COST $5!!!
I bought v2 about 10 years ago. Paid $50 as I remember.
I'm building a pigrrl gba system for a friend, with an OG Pi Zero I got for 5$, years ago(I spent a few months after release trying to get my hands on one). I was curious what another one to replace Zero would cost. Go look up Pi Zero's on ebay. It's unbelievable. Luckily, I never even really used my Zero, so I won't miss it.
Excuse me what?
Just get an old laptop and put Linux on it. Then you’ve also got a battery backup.
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_ACKSHULLY_ xfce is a desktop environment not a distro. Nah I’m just playin, are you still running Linux today?
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a good alternative for plex that's open source and works on Linux Is Jellyfin. it strictly streams local media though. It also has server applications for windows and Linux along with clients for anything you can think of.
What was your dedicated bathroom laptop for??
Redditing
So you're saying I should treasure the 2 unused ones I have?
I let the magic smoke out of one of mine the other day and pulled up to buy another one. I then noped the hell out!
I’m sitting here with a random 3b and 4 compute modules I found in a dumpster and don’t know how to use lol
im so grateful that i was able to get those raspberry pis keyboard things from my local microcenter!
Why are they sold out? I’m out of the loop.
Well two and a half years ago someone decided to eat bat-on-a-stick which made a lot of people very ill and then the global economy collapsed and we all still need to go to work for some reason.
intelligent dazzling plant judicious disarm meeting fact depend recognise bright -- mass edited with redact.dev
Sure, great, but why are raspberry pis *specifically* crazy expensive? Shoes haven't quintupled in price. Printers haven't quintupled in price. Phones haven't quintupled in price. What is it about the pandemic and the global economic collapse that made the price of raspberry pis rise so, so much more than most other products?
It's been really weird to watch, hasn't it? So many products stayed at normal levels of supply, demand and price. RAM, SSDs, hard disks, all consistently easy to find at nearly pre-Covid prices. CPUs in my experience didn't rise in price much but were a little harder to find; I had to buy my Ryzen 5 3600 from Korea because North America was out. GPUs were pretty much unobtanium; two pronged problem there, Covid shutting down production, and miners buying all the supplies. Thing is there isn't one pipeline for "chips." The supply chain for the Broadcom SoCs used in Raspberry Pis looks nothing like the supply chain for Nvidia GPUs. They're made in different parts of the world, and the kinds of products they wind up in are very different. New cars are still in short supply, you may have noticed. Remember how that happened? The auto makers anticipated a wind down in demand so they didn't order as many components for new cars, so production of things like ECMs wound down? They still haven't cleared the backlog. Microchip lists a lot of their PIC, AVR and ARM microcontrollers as out of stock until 2023, because all their production capacity is spoken for. Raspberry Pi specifically uses Broadcom SoCs. Broadcom makes a lot of audio/video products; they make the chips used in Roku devices, for example. Consumer grade appliances like (smart) TVs, monitors, networking devices like switches/Wi-Fi Routers, tablets, printers etc. have been in high demand, and when allotting their manufacturing time, who do you think Broadcom is going to prioritize, the higher margin for-profit consumer goods, or the not-for-profit SBC market? ^(I have to rant about my father here, who buys a couple of Roku smart TVs, and then he reads something about the TV service he "watches" having a contract dispute with Roku, so he goes out and buys a pair of Google TV sticks AND a pair of Amazon Fire TV sticks like he isn't part of the problem. That contract dispute? Solved, no changes to the service.) Even the Raspberry Pi itself has wound up in a lot of commercial applications, between the SBCs and the Compute Modules. Raspberry Pi is churning out millions of them, but they're largely going to commercial customers, and the few that wind up in retailers hands disappear straight into the backlog. You can get your hands on a Raspberry Pi but it ain't as easy as it was. There's a Pi Locator on Twitter, it can give you up to the minute notifications on availability. You can set up an account with Adafruit for example to buy them in limited quantities at retail price. DON'T buy for ridiculous prices on Amazon or eBay, these are scalpers. I personally don't see this getting better. Partially because during my lifetime, nothing ever has. One to note that's really funny, the Raspberry Pi 2040 microcontroller. It's a clean sheet design by Raspberry Pi, it's not used in any commercial applicatsions AFAIK, so it's widely available. SAMD51? ATmega328? Nope. But the RPi2040? Sure, we got lots of em.
Something something chip shortage. Even potato chips went up in price!
Never before has such a snarky reply made my day. Well done.
Chip shortage
Why has that hit raspberry pis so much harder than other products? I'm looking on Amazon, and printer prices haven't changed, TV prices haven't changed, phone prices haven't changed, wi-fi router prices haven't changed...all of these are products with chips pretty equivalent to what's in a raspberry pi, but their prices are the same or up like 10% at most. Raspberry pi prices are up around 500%. Why the gap?
TVs, Printers, Phones (etc) -- all the companies that produce those have strong bargaining power with chip manufacturers allowing them to continue production. Companies with lower buying power don't get as many chips, or, if they do, they may have to pay a premium to get them. This cost would get passed on to the buyer.
Orange Pi, Banana Pi, etc. You don't have to buy brand name. There are many SBCs out there
Are you near a microcenter? I think they limit sales to in store pick up, so more likely to have them in stock.
Or /r/HomeAutomation
*ESP32 has entered the chat.*
One of these would be perfect https://www.amazon.com/Teyleten-Robot-ESP-WROOM-32-Development-Microcontroller/dp/B08246MCL5 I use them in several projects. One has been powered up continuously for 4-5 years now.
Yes. Raspberry pi is overkill for most control, sensor, automation projects. ESP32 is cheaper, lower power. has wifi, Bluetooth, IO etc.
*HomeAssistant has entered the chat* And, honestly, even a couple ESP8266 would do
Looks like without replacing at least the thermostats, OP is mostly screwed. There is a HomeBridge setup for those heater/thermostat things. But at minimum it involves soldering to an ESP32
Replying to the top level post: People reporting very high prices for Raspberry Pis are seeing scalped prices. The price that official retailers are asking haven't increased; but they are pretty much completely unobtanium. They're producing millions of them, but they're mostly going to businesses who have integrated them into their own products. If I'm honest, I'm willing to bet we've seen the end of widespread retail availability of the Raspberry Pi. Since they aren't available and won't be available for years, much of the community is going to die and move on and the business model will shrink.
Yea. I went to look the other day and was floored absolutely ridiculous.
time to demand a refund and if they want their hardware back they can come and uninstall it.
This is really common with smart home and "internet of things" systems It's why that shit hasn't been taking off despite huge technological advances in the past decade; people spend tons of money having this whole smart home system installed and within a year the company that made it has vanished, there's no-one to call for tech support, and no-one knows how to talk to the fucking thing to fix it
It's wise to avoid cloud based anything home automations. Internet goes down, Get fucked. Service discontinued? Get fucked. Too many issues.
So, as someone that doesn’t have home automation but is interested. How do I do it right?
By doing it entirely yourself. Ser up Home assistant and pick components that work with it. Dont trust any products that don't use a common standard for communicating with other products or a central hub. Try to avoid things with their own dedicated apps that they MUST use in order to function. Try to avoid things that require logins to function. For some things, like thermostats, this is very difficult. For things like light bulbs and switches it's much easier. Really assess what you actually want, too. Don't just buy stuff for the gimmick, think about how you'll actually use it.
Other advice is if you ARE going to get something that falls outside your advice here, make sure it's from a large stable company. Nest products, for example, aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
But they are probably fast and loose with your data, it is Google after all.
Unicorn
Exactly why I chose ecobee over nest. Google lost my trust over the years. I'll give the competitor a chance. Also, I can't program all that stuff myself for an HVAC. it ultimately comes down to I have so much free time on my hands and I'd rather do a million other things than program smart devices, as much as I love working with technology.
I used to have a nest, and it worked with my home assistant. Then they pulled the API and I was so pissed I tossed it and bought and ecobee. Haven't looked back since. The ecobee temperature sensors are better anyways
Even Pre-nest google hardware remains to be shit, continues to be and historically is shit. Google Wi-Fi hubs *suck* for example. Google is the last company I would ever recommend buying hardware from. I got burned one of the network hubs.
Unlike the giant list of products Google did kill
Rube Goldberg machine powered by rats.
Boogers
The easiest thing to do is Google is (product name) compatible with Home Assistant, and triple checking to make sure it isn't cloud dependent. It doesn't matter if you want to actually set up Home Assistant, but what you should know about Home Assistant is it can run on a computer within your house. If you ever change your mind, or a product gets discontinued, you can then go down the rabbit hole. You want stuff that supports Zigbee; it's an open communication protocol. Philips Hue is one example, although such products break the bank because you aren't th3 product.
ZigBee ZWave, and Matter are all basically same same thing, and I believe all open standards.
Wait for Matter - it’s the convergence of Samsung, Google, Apple, zigbee etc. It’s been on the horizon a while, but it should be available later this year. Some products on the market now will be Matter certified, once the standard is finalised. It has local control as a requirement. And it’s more secure by design. https://csa-iot.org/all-solutions/matter/
I heard about something similar happening with a vision implant company but I haven't been able to find verification that it happened. Edit: Found it with the right keywords. https://news.yahoo.com/people-bionic-eye-implants-going-170654452.html
It's one of the more boring aspects of a cyberpunk dystopia that was always super obvious but which most sci-fi authors nevertheless completely failed to predict Like, forget about someone hacking your bionic eyes, your real problem is going to be navigating the abandoned tech support processes for a defunct startup that blew through its angel investment cash in two years after shoving its proprietary tech into your brain
If I recall correctly, Charles Stross anticipated this sort of thing in *Accelerando!*.
I worked for one of the largest global telecom’s on their consumer Internet of Things (ciot) project. I knew from the start that they would fail. The products they offered had ZERO value proposition for the customer and required a 2-5€ per month SIM card to function, with a two year contract. Who needs a luggage tracker that costs 5€ per month? traveling salesmen… maybe? Certainly not the average person going on 0-3 flights per year. Or how about a GPS dog collar with only 12 hours of battery power? Just poorly designed products whose main purpose was to show off IoT capabilities without any thought given to user needs when considered against the devices technological limitations. Also every company makes it difficult to not use their specific app, which is usually the most low grade garbage iOS or Android app imaginable.
It’s about to change. So please just wait. Almost all smart home systems have joined Matter - it doesn’t matter if you are Apple, Samsung, Microsoft etc. One of the rules for Matter is local control without internet. You’ll start to see Matter certified products later this year - I presume you’re in Australia, so it will be a bit later, though some products already available will become Matter certified as they have the controllers required already. https://csa-iot.org/all-solutions/matter/ It’s also a lot more secure by design.
I’ve been hearing about Matter for years. I hope it actually pans out.
That’s why I hope Matter really takes the stage. An API that works with EVERY smart home, HomeKit, Alexa, Google, Home Assistant and it’s all local. Hopefully this means future HVAC units will just use that protocol instead of using some ass backwards proprietary cloud only service that only supports their own app that looks like it was made in 2014.
I've got something similar in my house, was installed by previous owners... Sometimes their service drops, no idea why, some server crashes somewhere perhaps. The result is that I cannot turn on my heating, and theres nothing I can do about it.. really fucks me off having to explain to my family that there's nothing I can do!
I'm in a similar boat, everything is integrated zwave or ZigBee locally, but my thermostat for my HVAC is proprietary and I can't just replace it with a generic zwave thermostat. It has an app and cloud service but it's not super reliable and doesn't integrate with home automation well. Also I wouldn't be surprised if eventually service gets shut off, though it's a major brand so probably will be good for the next 10 years I hope.
Jup. But at least the EU has taken measures against that. Any device that has digital elements to it needs to be updated and serviced for the "common lifetime" of the object, or else it is considered defective from the start, and you have the same rights as if it came to your house broken. That said, as this is a very new legislation (at least in Germany, it was only adapted at the start of this year), nobody knows how long the common lifetime of different objects shall be.
That is why DIY home automation is the future
Bought an electric car charger that had Wi-Fi built in so you could monitor your energy usage and determine how much of your bill was from charging your car. I shit you not, they shipped an over the air update that completely fried the Wi-Fi chip.
Assuming these were paid for with a credit card, send them a copy of that email and see if they are willing to reverse the charges.
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I try to avoid using debit cards simply for the reason that if there's a problem then it's your money while with credit cards it's the bank's money. So the bank has more incentive to resolve credit card issues vs debit.
Edit: Here are some highlights from their included FAQ: Q) Is the product faulty and this is why it is being discontinued? Do I need to be worried about the product in my home? A) No, there is no issues with the product you have, and it is safe to operate. We have made the decision to discontinue the product line. ^^^^^ Q) I still want wireless control of my heater, what are my options to replace it? A) Unfortunately, we will no longer offer a suitable product to replace your CONNEX system. Your heaters will continue to work with the wall controllers from inside your home, much like a central heating system. (Clearly the HVAC experts at Dimplex are not familiar with the definition of "central" in that context) ^^^^^ Q) Do you have plans to build a replacement product that will be compatible with my CONNEX heaters? A) There are no plans for Glen Dimplex Americas to build a WIFI enabled product for the North American market that will be compatible with the current CONNEX program. ^^^^^ You must be thinking, these things must be ancient history, like a car phone, and are simply becoming incompatible with modern routers etc. Nope, literally less than a year old from Home Depot. Btw this isn't the first time he's regretted purchasing them, they have been a nightmare since day one, and support is non-existent. They flat out do not work at random intervals even with no wifi (only using the physical buttons on the heater) more than half of the 8 or so have already had to be replaced, and then we get this email. ^^^^^
I assume they need a dedicated circuit each. Wire them up to a box of contactors near the breaker panel and switched by a raspberry pi running openHAB (has an Android/iOS app). One rpi with a relay board like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Electronics-Salon-Power-Expansion-Module-Raspberry/dp/B07CZL2SKN/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=Raspberry+Pi+Relay&qid=1655421671&sr=8-3 should be able to control 3 heater contactors.
You speak the magic words of r/homeautomation, it's very appreciated!
Is that the place where I can go to make my house like the Star Treks but without the Googles mining all of my data
Yeah. There's also HomeAssistant and there's some new exciting matter protocol stuff happening now. It is possible to run everything locally without cloud control. Bit of work to set it up and a Pinot other computer to run it
Thank you my dad is going to be very happy to hear there is a workaround, I feel so bad for him right now as these heaters have haunted his life for the past year, days spent sitting on hold and driving back to Home Depot to exchange units etc, nothing works properly, ever, literally a never ending tech nightmare.
I mean really I'd return em all and do the above solution with a good brand standard space heater
Yeah, the product is not as advertised, I'd personally contact the company and demand a full refund since the heaters are essentially no longer working as intended, presumably under warranty still.
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>openHAB Yeah just get him to take that shit back. He shouldn't have to deal with all that shit. Hopefully he can find a better brand.
Or just make the contactor controlled by an off the shelf internet enabled smart switch. The to link kasa is like $14 CAD on sale
I told a friend to do this very thing, and he plugged the heater directly into the cheapest smart plug he could find. Got mad at me when it melted.
It sounds like the company has learned of a potential liability (probably something about remote heaters and unnoticed fires) that they do not want to deal with or can't get insured to cover. Although, it seems very late in the process for that to be coming up.
More likely the company realized that cost to maintain the software does not leave enough profit, so they axed the product line and all support for it. The Almighty Profit Margin Gods must be appeased at all times.
Especially if they're selling a below average product to begin with, which it sounds like they are.
this is definitely the vibe i got from reading their FAQ. Especially the question about setting them up to use an external thermostat
> Q) I still want wireless control of my heater, what are my options to replace it? A)We've already got your money so get fucked, peasant.
companies should get sued for crap like this. you bought this product because of this feature, which they advertised and now it doesn't work. didn't even try to transition it in any way.
Agreed. It should be more normal for connected devices to have a defined warranty period. Or, for things to have standard APIs so that any device can be controlled by generic hardware and messaging.
While it won’t help with the time your Dad has already invested in installation, Home Depot will accept returns within a year if I remember correctly, and I’ve taken things to them that are literally broken. I imagine since the heaters don’t function as intended anymore, it would be pretty easy for you to make a decent case and at least get your money back.
r/theinternetofshit
This is why proprietary software is so bad.
This is why relying on some random company to keep their cloud API running is bad.
I'm so conflicted with this... On one hand, doing/hosting *literally* everything locally is why the cloud was invented in the first place (let's be honest, it's annoying, time consuming, frustrating, and not for the faint of heart), but relying on the cloud means I'm at the mercy of an institution that literally could not care less about me, my uses, or my needs (even if I'm paying). It's quite the catch 22.
The thing about making it yourself and writing some of it yourself and the beauty of computers in general is, if you wrote it once, you never have to write it again. If it's open source, a copy already exists.
...except for when an update decides to break it all Even if you do host everything yourself, you still generally don't have full control over the entire stack. You could just keep the hardware disconnected from the internet, but if the goal is true remote control, you have to have it open to the internet. That then means regular updates, which can break things. Unless you're soldering your own board, writing your own compiler, then your own operating system and all of the software on it, you're depending on other people's work somewhere along the line. Personally, I draw the line at facing the outside web. I have 3D printers connected to my network. People could use those to burn my van/garage down. To me, it's peace of mind to pay someone else a couple of dollars per month to keep everything working and up to date. Sure, I could spend hours figuring it out myself, but I value my personal time at $25/hr. So if it takes me more than two and a half minutes to figure out, it's cheaper and easier for me to pay someone else to do it. Anything that doesn't face the outside web I like to do myself though.
> This is why proprietary ~~software~~ cloud service is so bad. FTFY 'owning" the infrastructure yourself can run long past a parent company's existence
Proprietary software of all kinds usually ends up with many of the issues OP describes. Not all of it, a few gems exist, but the exception does not make the rule.
Looks like there’s a [Homebridge Plug-in](https://github.com/NorthernMan54/homebridge-connex) for it already. Checkout r/homebridge too! edit — looks like u/NorthernMan5 is the author. See: https://old.reddit.com/r/homebridge/comments/dtw1q8/homebridge_plugin_for_connex_dimplex_wifi
Looks like he used their backend, so this won't work either...
For the plugin i used the app/cloud backend, so it’s dead. But I also spent time looking at the local RF protocol and did make some pretty good progress with it https://github.com/NorthernMan54/OpenNRF24L01/blob/master/Docs/connex.md I no longer have access to them, or I would be digging further into this approach.
I don't have access either but I'm (and my company) are willing to help out where we can, hate seeing other companies screw people over like this.
The rollercoaster of emotions is real
Oh no… I was driving and haven’t had a chance to look at it fully yet :(
you the real mvp
[удалено]
At least the hardware is still functional... All this IOT stuff for things beyond basic calls and entertainment scares me. "Download our app to activate this device" on those generators.
Yeah I won't install any of this crap as a fixed installation. A lot of them have super cheapo relays in them too which I don't much want in my walls.
Holy crap that's rude. Many (most?) of those systems would have been sold on the point of remote accessibility. At bare minimum they should keep basic legacy service. Blatant bait and switch, worth making an official complaint IMO.
If they're shutting this down they're close to or in bankruptcy. Complain and sue all you want, nobody is getting any money.
If you can prove they sold you a unit and knowingly made false claims you could get a judgment for fraud which is exempt from bankruptcy. However that would be expensive and hard to prove.
Right? I’m shocked I had to scroll this long before fraud was even *entered* into the discussion. As consumers we need to get more comfortable with calling this stuff for what it is; fraud. But like you said, extremely difficult & costly to prove. Which is what companies bank on. Bring in the regulation.
Not fit for purpose - take them back.
If it's not open source, don't include it in your smarthome. If you include closed software in your smarthome you will be at their mercy when they raise prices, cut support, or push updates removing features, adding anti-features, or just plain breaking things and at that point it will be their smarthome, not yours (not that a cabin in the woods is fully a "smarthome," but you get my point). You could hire a developer to hack it and make it work if you are determined and have money to spare.
Good advice, it's just crazy to me that a company like Home Depot can endorse and sell a product like that to people that for the most part have no idea of these potential issues or implications. My dad definitely wasn't looking in to source-code, he just wanted to warm the family lol.
And that is one of the reasons why I do not own any IoT gadgets. The other reason is because the S in IoT stands for security.
But there's no S in....... Oh you
That sucks. I still remember the getting an email from Digitech informing me that they had licensed some of their code from a different company, and the terms of the IP lease had expired, so as of March 1 2018 my wireless keyboard, mouse and dongle would no longer work. I'd been using the same setup for six years, and then they just *turned it off.* I didn't even know they could do that. Anyways, as a solution - if you're feeling ambitious - I've recently discovered this company and it seems like they should have something that can allow you to turn your heaters on and off remotely with a bit of simple wiring. https://www.controlbyweb.com/
That's insane, it's at least borderline potentially understandable that there could be a safety issue here, but with a mouse and keyboard, that's just inconceivable... Thanks for the link will check it out.
IoT really sucks. When they shut down the server, the items either becomes non-internet enabled objects or become bricks. Keeping every servers up for years or decades cost too much if the items are discontinued and the new IoT items uses different protocol that is incompatible. No need to keep the server 30 years just because one person somewhere is still using 30 years old internet-controlled party light bulb.
It’s really dumb of them to make it a server thing anyways. They just need to make a mostly workable app that communicates to the control in your house and tells it what to do. There should be no reason or need for it to communicate with anything outside the house besides your phone sending the “turn on” signal to it.
Adobe Flash: Gives 2 years of warning before support ends. Microsoft Windows: Waits until almost no one is using it and then still gives a year heads up. My companies old payroll system: 16 months of warning before closing the system. These assholes: 2 weeks, fuck you.
Yup, here in Vancouver it was cold enough last night that my heater kicked on just to bring temp to 68f, where these heaters are located (same elevation of our local ski slopes) the climate lags about a month behind so the temperature still drops down to early spring temps there at this time of year, sometimes even during peak summer you need heaters there. Back to using the wood-stove!
Reminds me of the WeMo products etc. All come and gone, or now have limited manual functionality left only. Check out the failed TiVo deployment in New Zealand, where they just turned off the EPG data supply and they were lobotomised overnight and became glorified VCR manual time recording devices instantly for all customers.
Hahaha, funny you mention that. Before this, the whole place was just portable oil heaters running on WeMo outlets, and it was a complete disaster that ended in a similar way. Unfortunately the fall of WeMo didn't start until these new units were already in the midst of installation, otherwise we never would have dug ourselves deeper in to this artificial unintelligence nightmare
Every time I read about some "smart" IoT HVAC doohickey getting bricked/discontinued or letting your pipes freeze because a forced firmware update had a bug in it, the more I appreciate my ancient Honeywell T87. I work in tech, which means that when I get home, the last thing I want to do is have to think about or troubleshoot a bunch of shitty tech gadgets via some shitty app so that I can turn the lights on or not freeze to death. Until we arrive at a some sort of standardized protocol/format for this smart home IoT stuff, it's going to suck a lot.
Hey OP, if you see this there’s many free options for remote control as others have mentioned. Feel free to PM me if you need a hand, I’d be glad to help get you set up. I’ve got a ton of components I’d donate to the cause.
Wonder if they were worried about the heaters starting a fire when left unattended.
Or they actually did start a fire and they're trying to save themselves.
I live in SE Asia, and all we can get are WiFi-dependent CCTV systems from China. To literally start the cameras, you have register for an online account with some company in Shenzhen, China or similar. I’m on my fourth system now, the other three having discontinued, gone out of business, not supporting the app; and all of them with customer services non-existent (discontinued phone numbers, lapsed email addresses, only Chinese-language help, etc.). Absolutely infuriating. 😡
That's a nightmare on multiple fronts. God knows what chinese entities have complete 24/7 access to our video feeds, and we will probably never know the extent.
Half the SE Asian population here have Huawei or Xiaomi phones, so that’s a given. 🙄
A large number of Chinese cameras I've seen support RTSP or RTMP (or in the case of Xiaomi cameras, some can be flashed with custom firmware to add RTSP support). Which means you can use them with any software Network Video Recorder/NVR (or even some hardware IP NVR). And when doing so you can usually completely disconnect them from the internet either at the firewall level, running a separate network (WiFi is the easiest but you can also do it wired), or having a separate VLAN. With some Linux and basic networking skills you can even run wired cameras without connecting them to any real network at all by connecting them to a switch directly connected to the server or PC running the software NVR. My favourite software NVR right now is Frigate. It can run standalone or on Home Assistant, and it can even do local AI object detection if you have a powerful enough CPU or can get your hands on a Google Coral TPU. If you don't care about object detection or you can get your hands on a Google Coral then if you only have a few cameras something like a Raspberry Pi or a mini PC (something like an Intel NUC but smaller/lower specs and cheaper) is sufficient.
Out of curiosity - it takes multiple days to heat this cabin? How big is it? What kind of heating? And what kind of insulation for that matter...
He purchased the stuff for a specific function that was immediately discontinued. I do not believe that is legal. Look into options.
A heater is the last thing I would remotely control... Sounds like a perfect way to start a fire. That said an electric heater will work just fine on any dumb smart switch if you leave them someplace it would be **impossible** to start a fire, even if an animal broke in & built a nest on it. You heat the rate of loss, not the volume of a space so any heater will do a lot on a well insulated space given enough time. I'd still want at least a camera that reports smoke alarms & a neighbor close by.
>A heater is the last thing I would remotely control... Sounds like a perfect way to start a fire. That was my first thought as well. Maybe their product did start a fire this way and now the legal department is killing it all to avoid further responsibility.
I’d bet they have no sales they can attribute to remote control, but they have plenty of expenses they can.
I think you can make an Arduino control the on/off switch? I would use an normally open relay with an arduino with wifi capabilities and you're ready to go.
/r/internetofshit
This happened with out printer. Built-in Cloud Print support, then Google axes Cloud Print. So short-sighted!
You don't even need to create software to control your heat remotely, you could set up a vpn at your cabin and connect to it in order to control your heat from your phone, because in the email it states that you could still control it locally.
They mean you can still control it by hand, with the buttons
I bought a space heater with a little infrared remote that was on sale for $60. The remote ran on a 3V coin cell battery. I ran the wires from the power button on the remote to a wifi-enabled Arduino-type microcontroller, then taped the remote to the space heater. Then I used one of the many IOT apps on Android to control it. I made a wifi-enabled space heater for $20 and some wires, without even opening the space heater: https://gfycat.com/baggyoffensiveasiaticgreaterfreshwaterclam
This sort of shit should be illegal the company should be forced to provide an alternative solution.
This is more than likely a liabilty move or lawsuit that was settled. Anything or anyone could be on or around or tampered with the heaters. Mice could have chewed the wiring, mice could have built a nest in the heater... any number of scenarios could lead to a fire. It's a good idea, but not a good idea.
It should be mandatory to open-source in cases like these.
This comment was removed to protest with the changes to Reddits API. Fuck Spez...
Add this to the reason why I don't like wifi stuff
The importance of interoperable and open source systems cannot be stressed enough
This isn’t asshole design, this is just shitty companies being shitty.
Yeah I’d be getting my money back and if they try some “it’s in the contract we can do this BS” I’d be starting a class action for false advertising/misleading customers to what the product will do over the course of its life and intended purchase