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2d ago

Google won't bring new Nest Thermostats to Europe

www.engadget.com

Google won't bring new Nest Thermostats to Europe

40 comments

So Google is telling us, they cant make a product if there are standards or requirements for what they are doing?
That means whatever US customers are buying, theres something in it, that does something illegal in EU.
- This is why companies want US citizens to believe that EU is a bureaucratic hellscape (I mean there's also the forces that want to tell them it's communist for the same reason I guess)
  
  Aah, the US.
  The only place in the world where everyone knows the word 'communism' and nobody knows what it is.
  Russia and China are not communism btw. :shocked Pikachu:
- "Sorry, we can't adjust the thermostat until we have audio evidence of whether the family is going through a divorce"
- I would have been surprised if this weren't the case
  
  They call the product line 'Nest', because it's where their data servers is getting nutrition from.

I can’t think of many companies I would be less willing to buy home automation tech from than Google.
- i am surprised that they haven't canceled the program already
  
  There is more home shot for them to create new teams. Once they get through everything is when you have to worry about your Google water heater program being cancelled.

Heating systems in Europe are unique and have a variety of hardware and software requirements that make it challenging to build for the diverse set of homes
AKA. Europe probably has hardware and software requirements that make it so Google can't
A) Harvest your data; and/or B) Must be able to function without an internet connection (aka. they can't kill it)
- European heating system:
  
  TBF, I have those AND a programmable thermostat.
  
  This is a thermostat (although an analog one). You set a temperature with it. "3" corresponds with about 20°C.

Imagine a thermostat needing an internet connection.
- It's not a hard requirement, but it's sure nice to leave the house at a low but non-freezing temp in winter while you're away for a few days, then use a web app to bring the temperature back up right before you come back in.
  Being on the home LAN, though, is a requirement for me. That is extremely convenient.
  
  I do NOT want my thermostats to phone home. I don't see any value of that.
  But they are connected to MY smart home system (Hone Assistant), and THAT is accessible from the internet.
  I get the remote monitoring and control that I want, and they don't get any of my data. Perfect!
- There's a difference between something having an optional internet connection, and something requiring one. I can control my smart home through the internet, but when the internet connection breaks and I'm at home, I can still control it.
- Actually...

TBF, over 15* in Germany I've only seen a couple of actual thermostats. The vast, vast majority use a valve on each radiator. There are electronic solutions for the radiators, but sticking a Nest on the wall is going to do nothing for someone unless the customer installs specific hardware that the Nest would have to support
*edit : years
- Those "valves" are, in fact, thermostats. They use thermal expansion of wax to open/close the valve to get to their set temperature. Settings 1-5 are 12, 16, 20, 24, 28 Celsius.
  
  Yes, but they are not electronic and they don't reflect the temperature of the room like a wall thermostat does.
- In the Netherlands, almost all houses have a thermostat. I don't know anyone that doesn't have one
  
  I haven't been in many private houses in the Netherlands. I could only speak to Germany

Good.

Anyone in Europe looking for an alternative might want to check out Tado
- Netatmo as well if I recall
- Or Drayton Wiser
- We have a Tado system, not the current generation but the one before. It was easy to self-install and configure and has never given us any trouble. There are a couple UX quirks, such as not having a confirm dialog after you touch the Shut Down All or Max Out the Heat buttons, but overall it's one of the rare electronic gadgets that has led to no buyer's remorse.
- Do they integrate with Home Assistant?
  
  Yes
  https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/tado
  You can also control locally (i.e. without internet connection) using homekit integration.
  Been working fine for me for a couple of years.

I built a thermostat with a Wemos D1 mini and a relay module about 10 years ago.
Still use it today integrated with home assistant and can turn the heat on and off while away from home. It's been reused across three boilers, no parts replaced.
It was a really fun project and I had virtually no experience with Arduino when starting out. Would recommend it to anyone.

Aren't there a lot of split units in Europe? Here I just needed an IR blaster to make my AC(s) "smart".
- AC is not common in Europe. There's a variety of heating systems: gas boilers, direct electric heating, district heating, etc. Heat pumps are a growing market though.

40 comments