My Wyze thermostat decided to brick itself at 9pm on a cold and rainy Sunday night. A fitting end to a device that has given me nothing but problems since I installed it.
I was working in the basement when I noticed it was incredibly hot. Took a look at my phone and had about 100 notifications warning me of extreme cold in the house. Found the thermostat was displaying a measured interior temperature of 32°F and had kicked into emergency mode. It was not anywhere near 32°F inside.
The thermostat was wholly unresponsive to inputs from both the dial and the app, so I pulled it off the wall and shut the unit down the old fashioned way by pulling the fuse block. According to the internet, this is a common death for these thermostats. The solder joint on the sensor board fails and the device defaults to 32°F.
By this point Home Depot was closed, so I went to Walmart in search of a $20 non-programmable thermostat that would get me through the night until I decided what to replace it with. Just for fun, I looked at their smart thermostat selection and found they had the third gen stainless steel Nest on sale for $113. I was planning on a Honeywell T9, but a quick check of the reviews made me feel comfortable enough to give it a shot. Especially considering it was half the price of the T9.
Install was seamless and so far it's working great. Much better already than the POS Wyze it replaced.
The best part wast interaction with the Walmart clerk.
Clerk: "How are you doing this evening?"
Me: It is 9:30pm on a 40° Sunday night and I am buying a thermostat at Walmart. How do you think I am doing?
Clerk: "Our beer selection is back that way..." *points to beer aisle*
And yes I know my wall is the ugliest shade of grey you've ever seen. That's next on the list.
For a few years I was collecting Hot Wheels. About 10 years later I was selling them. I did a nice return of doubling my money and then some on the rare ones.
