Part of the Smart Home Saga – a four-part look at my ongoing truce with Google Nest.
After weeks of research, compatibility tests, and back-and-forth emails with support teams, I’ve landed in an unexpected place: right where I started.
I decided to keep my old Nest – disconnected from Wi-Fi but still mounted proudly on the wall. It’s no longer “smart” by definition, but it works. My house stays warm, my schedule runs manually, and my sanity remains intact.
How I’ve Set It Up
I programmed a simple schedule directly on the thermostat: morning heat, evening setback, repeat. It’s the same approach we all used before “machine learning” entered the equation. It doesn’t talk to my phone, but it does its job: reliably and quietly.
I even adjusted my expectations. Instead of checking an app while traveling, I trust that my old hardware will just do its thing. No push notifications. No updates. No forced firmware.
Why I’m Okay With It (for Now)
There’s something strangely freeing about it. I don’t have to worry about Google servers going down, privacy concerns, or surprise “end of support” emails. My heating system now runs completely locally – no cloud required.
I’m not anti-tech. I’m just pro-choice. And when companies remove that choice, they risk pushing loyal customers out of their ecosystem altogether.
At some point, I may upgrade – maybe when Ecobee releases a boiler-friendly model that doesn’t require rewiring. But for now, my setup works. It’s 80 percent smart and 100 percent stable.
The Bigger Picture
This whole saga taught me something about the illusion of “smart” technology. When devices depend entirely on cloud services, they’re not really ours – they’re on loan, connected by a string that can be cut at any time.
The smartest homes might not be the most connected ones; they might just be the ones that keep working no matter what decisions a Silicon Valley product team makes.
If you’ve been through a forced upgrade or lost a favorite product to the “discontinued” pile, you’re not alone. The smart-home industry is still figuring out how to balance innovation with longevity. In the meantime, I’ll be here – turning the dial myself, one degree at a time.
👉 Missed the beginning? Start from the top: Google Pulls the Plug on Nest Gen 1 & Gen 2
