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My $300 smart thermostat turned out to be a dumb investment in this old house
I dropped $300 on a Nest thermostat thinking it would save me money on heating bills in my 1920s bungalow near Portland. But the wiring in these old places is a mess, and it kept disconnecting from the WiFi every time the furnace kicked on. Ended up ripping it out and putting a $30 manual one back in. Anyone else find that fancy smart stuff just doesn't play nice with older homes?
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betty_fisher56d agoTop Commenter
Did you ever try adding a simple WiFi repeater between the router and the thermostat? I put one in my hall closet near the furnace and it fixed all my disconnect issues for under 40 bucks. That cheap little box made my smart thermostat finally work like it should.
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schmidt.blake6d ago
Oh man, I read an article just last week about how old houses and smart gear are basically sworn enemies. Something about the voltage fluctuations from those old furnaces causing interference. I had a similar headache with a smart light switch in my 1940s place - it kept flickering until I put in a basic mechanical timer instead. These old wires just weren't built for the digital stuff we try to throw at them.
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