I don’t think I can do anything using Siri with the Nest.
With the Echo and the third party skill “the thermostat” I can set the current temperature (if it’s in a single mode such as heating), or either the high or the low temperature if it’s in auto switch mode (both heating and cooling). I can also ask it for a report of what the temperature is set to, and what it is, and I can ask it what the humidity is. I don’t think I can do anything else. With the app I can do more, such as changing the mode, whether it is set to “home” or “away” (although the Nest figures this out itself very well using its built-in motion sensors), and I can turn on/off many of the Nest features. The only things I cannot do which I reasonably want to do is to setup schedules and change the desired level of humidity. Many home automation items work with Nest to obtain its status on whether you are home or away, including the Nest smoke detectors which also have motion sensors to help determine when you are home, and so this is one more consideration … if you want to build an automated home, you may want to look at the Nest to have much automation triggered when you first come home. The Nest app will also use a “geo fence” to determine when all residents of a home have left it, to set the mode to away, but this requires all residents to carry a smart phone and run the Nest app for this to work. Otherwise it determines when you are away based on no motion detected for some time, and it’s not during the setup sleep time. Hth, Chip From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Rick Alfaro Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2017 3:52 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: WiFi thermostats Chip, thanks for the great summary. So far I’m leaning to the Honeywell RTH9585WF1004 since it’s app looks to be at least somewhat workable. The Ecobee4 looked interesting but I found the demo mode in the app to mostly be inaccessible with no way to interact with the controls with VO. The skill you mentioned sounds very interesting. Is there any skill available that will allow you to create schedules? Also, how much can you really do via the Echo or Siri? I get the feeling it’s quite limited. From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Chip Orange Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2017 3:45 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: WiFi thermostats I have several years of experience with the Nest thermostats: we own two, and we have two Nest smoke detectors as well (primarily because they will call your phone if an emergency occurs at home). The Nest app is moderately accessible … I have not been able to set schedules using it. Also, if the thermostat has a problem connecting to your wifi, or via the internet to the Nest main servers, it will display error messages only on the thermostat (which you usually have to have sighted help to deal with). You could get around the inability to set schedules by use of the “learning” feature (having your installer clear all learning after installation and testing is very helpful). Each time you make an adjustment to the temp, the idea is that if it sees you do this repeatedly it will make a schedule for you. My wife found it confusing when it would suddenly make a temperature setting change without explanation, so we eventually turned off learning (I guess it’s a personal preference). It’s very nice that the Nest will manage humidity in a home which has a two-speed or a variable speed system. It does this by running the system at slower speeds when the humidity rises too high. Even with a standard single speed system the Nest will manage humidity by “over-cooling” up to 4 degrees if you enable this feature. However, it takes sighted assistance to adjust the humidity level setting (it’s not something you usually ever adjust again however). It’s a very good idea to get an installer who is certified as a “Nest Pro”, so ask them. Turns out my installer was not, and I am still arguing with them, and trying to teach them about Nest features. Their one employee who understood Nest thermostats has left them. If you have both Nest thermostats and smoke detectors, if you have any smoke the detectors will cause your heating or air conditioning to shut off to stop the spread of smoke … a nice feature. Their smoke detectors report the problem with a recorded voice announcement, along with its location, such as “low battery in the dining room” or “smoke in the up stairs”, so this is also nice. They self test themselves monthly, and report the results to you via the app. While the ability to control Nest thermostats is built into the Echo, I use a third party Skill called “The Thermostat” because it allows me to ask it what is the humidity in the up stairs, and other such additional questions and commands, so you may want to look into this skill as it works with many models. Hth, Chip From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Rick Alfaro Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2017 1:22 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: WiFi thermostats Hello listers. I know this topic has been discussed several times on this list. At the time I had a functioning WiFi thermostat from Radio Thermostats known as the Filtreet CT50. Unfortunately, it’s bitten the dust and no longer connects to my network, even not after long hours of trouble shooting including the wiring. It’s time for me to move on so I’d like to purchase a thermostat that works with Alexa. The one I’ve seen on Amazon is the Ecobee3 lite second gen for $168 via Prime shipping. Of course the real issue is whether or not it’s IOS app is workable with VoiceOver. If anyone has had any experience with this brand, I’d be interested in knowing your experience in terms of accessibility. There are 2 other thermostats that work with Alexa. The Nest learning and the Honeywell RTH9585WF1004 so if anyone has any experience with either of these, I’d also be grateful for any feedback with regard to their respective accessibility. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. 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