The Internet of Things is here, light bulbs, thermostats, outlets, microwaves, fridges, dishwashers, meat thermometers, grills, and more are now “smart.”
But here’s the problem: most devices add complexity to life instead of making life easier.
My possessions should serve me. I should not serve them. - Adam Ragusea
With many IoT devices, you end up serving them:
- Updating firmware on light bulbs … no thanks.
- “Smart” thermostat schedules … an analog schedule works just fine.
- Wi-Fi cooking thermometer … I can get up and check an analog one.
- Smart grill … see this Reddit gem about a Thanksgiving Traeger software update.
In addition to the hassle factor, add the privacy and security concerns, and I generally avoid IoT devices.
The One IoT Device I Swear By
There is one exception: my smart water sensors.
The brand I use includes a central hub and individual sensors placed around the house. The companion app can send alerts via email. I set it up so alerts route through my personal PagerDuty account, ensuring both my partner and I get notified immediately.
About a year after installing the sensors, PagerDuty woke us up at 2 a.m.
The water hose had failed. My guess is the leak had been running for no more than 5 minutes before the alarm went off.
In that time, 2 - 4 gallons of water hit the kitchen floor. Without the alert, we would have woken up to a much bigger disaster.
Worth Every Penny
Smart water sensors are the rare IoT device I’ll happily maintain.
- I’ll update their firmware.
- I’ll test them.
- I’ll replace their batteries.
Because they’ve already paid for themselves and potentially saved us thousands.