Here’s a better question. How often do you WANT to be interacting with your thermostat? If you asked the average person, they would probably say “as infrequently as possible.” My idea would be targeting the people willing to spend the money on smart home tech like per-room zoning, smart dampers, etc. to make that a reality. They just want things to work, and they’ll pay for it (either as part of a renovation or a new home build).
Granting access to guests or family members is easy and doesn’t require direct network access. Cloud access is a thing, and that’s how most new smart home devices work. Grant them access to the portal with the permissions you want them to have, and they’re in. Temporary access to revoke permissions after a certain amount of time could be implemented, too.
Let me rephrase my comment about smart locks. I have yet to see a MODERN smart lock that has a physical display on it. The ones you posted are basically 5+ year-old digital upgrades to the mechanical push-button keypad locks that have been around for decades. The vast majority of new smart locks eschew displays because that’s not what customers want, and the technology is there to make that a reality. Wikipedia isn’t the source truth and fact, but there’s probably a good reason that their article on smart locks shows an August lock and makes no mention of devices with pin pads.
I’ll make some blanket statements. Modern smart home tech should:
- be as mobile-friendly as possible
- accessible from anywhere
- require the least amount of interaction as possible
- only require buttons or a display when absolutely necessary (since they should be mobile friendly)
That is the clear direction that the market is taking, and it is being done in a way that targets people that aren’t tech-savvy. There’s a reason that the Amazon Alexa didn’t follow in the footsteps of the Chumby. Done right, a displayless thermostat would a) set the HestiaPi apart from other offerings, b) be a lower price point than any smart thermostat on the market, and c) follow the direction that smart home tech is taking.
I decided that the HestiaPi community would be the best project to approach with this suggestion because open source projects are often more willing to innovate and push boundaries. If there’s not any interest, I didn’t mean to start a flame war. However, I think it would be great to see an open source project like HestiaPi make Nest and ecobee look like the Chumby of thermostats by comparison.