Today I Learned...

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

Either way, it's totally unnecessary and I would stay far away from whatever brand of refrigerator this is........

......What brand was it again?

GE. We really like the fridge.

[cjd]

If we ever manage the kitchen renovation we've been hoping to do for 7 years I'll be avoiding all the smart appliances... Which does mean they'll be expensive, but that was planned anyway. Fridge we have likely to stay though... And I had to add an external filter, none included. (Sub Zero). Ovens are the bit I'm struggling with at the moment.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by cjd

If we ever manage the kitchen renovation we've been hoping to do for 7 years I'll be avoiding all the smart appliances... Which does mean they'll be expensive, but that was planned anyway. Fridge we have likely to stay though... And I had to add an external filter, none included. (Sub Zero). Ovens are the bit I'm struggling with at the moment.

i believe the entire sub-z/wolf line these days is wi-fi enabled/computer controlled.

i know the last 6 houses we've installed those appliances, the fridges have a cat3 internet port built into top assembly for internet access. and the wolf/kitchenaid ovens have all had wi-fi connections that must be made..

these days, better off with a 'rental-spec' appliance than anything above $500...

[MuseChaser]

Haven't seriously looked into a new appliance in forever; so far, I've managed to find parts for and repair everything we own... early 1980s Jennair range/oven and microwave (main kitchen), early 1980s Amana RadarRange and oven, GE cooktop (inlaw-apartment type small kitchen in finished basement), old Whirlpool/Kenmore fridges, etc. The only appliance I really dislike is the newest of our two fridges... it's impossible to get at anything in it without taking everything out of it, and the freezer seems to choose between freezing ice cream hard as a rock to almost wet ice cubes according to its own whims.

I have no "smart" anythings in my house, other than our two MotoG7 phones. I have a programmable thermostat, but it's not connected to anything other than the furnace via actual wire. I do NOT want any Alexa, Nest, Google, ANYTHING in my house.

OK... so here's the question... do the new appliances that "feature" wifi connectivity for smart phone control or other functions, or ethernet connections, REQUIRE one to use those "features" in order to for the appliance to function, or can one simply ignore them? For instance, an Onkyo receiver I have has wifi built in, but I don't have it connected to our network, and updated the firmware via USB. Same thing for fridges, etc?.... I hopE?!??!?!?

[soundman98]

it's extremely inconsistent. some stuff works fine minus a couple extra useless features, other stuff will barely run without it, even in the same brand name...

[MuseChaser]

Well...it looks like I'll have to do a lot of research if one of our appliances' parts demands can no longer be fulfilled. Sigh. Thanks.

[soundman98]

i'm still running a mechanical-timer washing machine, and intend to keep it for as long as ereplacementparts.com has parts for it... but then, my 2 yamaha recievers are connected to the internet for skynet updates..

priorities. i guess? it is nice to control the stereo's from my phone. i just try not to think of all the 'dialing home' stuff they do. i've already sold my soul to google and amazon...

[Sapphireho]

TIL my MPSS are 5 years old. Ordered new rubber today.

[soundman98]

more carb learning.

i could spend years of my life doing factory tours. don't even bother with the proprietary stuff, just show me the packaging machine!

[cjd]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i believe the entire sub-z/wolf line these days is wi-fi enabled/computer controlled.

i know the last 6 houses we've installed those appliances, the fridges have a cat3 internet port built into top assembly for internet access. and the wolf/kitchenaid ovens have all had wi-fi connections that must be made..

these days, better off with a 'rental-spec' appliance than anything above $500...

I was poking around today and didn't see that. I want Blue star for the cooktop, and their ovens look pretty good too. No frills, "made" in the US...
And I doubt there's good reason to ditch the subzero we have. Itwworks. They're reportedly built like tanks and are repairable.
We're down a dishwasher at the moment. Heater broke, half the cost of new and the newer ones have MUCH better rack layouts. Desperately need a proper vent hood. And the ability to have someone at the stove and the sink at the same time would be nice. We cook though, and rental grade stuff works but the real stuff is so much nicer.

[soundman98]

i could be wrong. i haven't been asked to run a data line to any of these appliances yet, but there's a cat3 ethernet port up behind the grille on the top, by where the electrical connection, water filter assembly, and compressor setup is. i was told by the general contractor that it's for internet connectivity, but it could be a diagnostic port as well for all i know.. it's located in an area that is very easy to get to, so that leads me to believe it's more for customer access than service access--most mfg's generally hide the service ports, or very well label them as service-only ports when using a bog-standard connection port type, so people aren't jamming their own plugs in there and expecting things to happen...

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by MuseChaser

OK... so here's the question... do the new appliances that "feature" wifi connectivity for smart phone control or other functions, or ethernet connections, REQUIRE one to use those "features" in order to for the appliance to function, or can one simply ignore them? For instance, an Onkyo receiver I have has wifi built in, but I don't have it connected to our network, and updated the firmware via USB. Same thing for fridges, etc?.... I hopE?!??!?!?

Our Samsung stove works fine with connectivity turned off. I do miss it setting the time though but you can't pick and choose. It's either on or off.

For the most part all it's IoT functionality gives you is the ability to control the oven from anywhere, and to turn it off. Now if it would have let me flip an omelet from the couch, I might have left the feature on.

That's the only appliance we have. I do like our Nest thermostats, and our Rachio sprinkler controller.

[Ultramaroon]

I have a Maytag laptop. It's nice but sometimes it can be hard to type during the spin cycle.

[Captain Snooze]

I think it was Samsung that released smart TV a couple of years ago where part of the end user agreement said that users gave permission for the TV to send voice data back to HQ. That is, not only was the TV listening for commands to change channel/volume it was listening to everything.