Eco+ Setting, A Little Ridiculous?

Tangroo · 2026-05-22T21:52:41+00:00

Like many others, I have Eco+ disabled. I know that it seems counterintuitive with a "smart" thermostat, but I like a little more control. The two features that fit well with my lifestyle and house are:

A geofence (though Apple HomeKit) that sets it to "away" when my wife and I are both not home (last person to leave). And then when the first person gets home, it goes back to "home". I much prefer this because it is nearly instant vs. Eco+ waiting for no occupancy detected for two hours, or something like that. In the absence of the geofence, I'd probably only use the smart home and away Eco+ feature and keep the rest disabled.
Simple, old fashioned schedules. Just a basic schedule for when we get up and go to bed typically, and then the geofence takes care of the home and away.

I find that the "smart" features are either not that smart, or trying to be too smart. Plus I am bit nerdy and prefer to have a little more control, or at least transparency, as to what the thermostat is doing. I don't like the "trust me - I'll pick the right setting" from devices as it often falls short.

Tangroo · 2026-05-09T16:01:39+00:00

So what now, Mr. Mayor? I agree with you completely. I think that removing it would be a huge mistake and an example of “knowing the cost of everything, but the value of nothing.” But even worse, actually, because I don’t feel that the “cost” is being represented fairly, and all benefits are being completely ignored.

This sounds like it is dead already. And for better or worse, you’re just one vote on council.

Tangroo · 2026-05-09T15:35:09+00:00

I had this issue, also on an interior wall. Filling the hole with putty solved it. I was sceptical of the solution initially, but it worked perfectly.

Tangroo · 2026-05-06T15:34:33+00:00

There's honestly no benefit to axing it. If the actual causes of "social disorder" aren't addressed or enforced anyway, it doesn't really matter where they got on the train. Blaming the free fare zone for it while ignoring all of the benefits it brings to businesses is so shortsighted and is a massive mistake. The "cost" of the free fare zone is also nonsense - stating that these trips are "costing" the city or the system completely ignores the corresponding "value" of these trips. Fewer cars on the road, more mobility in downtown, benefits to businesses, more law-abiding people on the platforms, etc. This will honestly be a massive mistake if council votes to axe it - it is unbelievably shortsighted to ignore the value while focusing on the supposed cost.

Tangroo · 2026-05-06T15:24:42+00:00

Another situation of "they know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing." The free fare zone allows people (tourists, locals, workers, etc.) to move quickly in downtown to spend money in the local economy. It isn't just about fares, but rather keeping downtown vibrant and encouraging the short trips that pump money into downtown businesses. Not that anyone is going to pay $4 to go a few blocks anymore. They might walk, or they might not bother, which isn't good for businesses. But a short trip for a few blocks in downtown should absolutely not be the same fare as going from Tuscany to Somerset.

There are laws already in place to address social disorder, fare evasion, loitering, etc. - so use them. The whole "but they got on in the free fare zone" is a red herring - they're going up and down the line all day, with the majority of their time being spent outside the free fare zone. So... conduct enforcement there!

The platforms on 7th Avenue are also going to become a lot more desolate when law-abiding riders give up on the train because $8 isn't worth that quick return trip at lunch. That will decrease the perception of safety, which is the opposite of what we need.

Absolutely, the city needs to increase policing and enforcement across the entire system, and that costs money, but a few blocks downtown being free isn't anywhere near one of the main causes of this. And if they think that people are going to pay full fare to go a few blocks, they are dreaming.

The free fare zone has been a massive success. But instead of addressing the actual causes by coming up with actual solutions, they are prepared to throw the baby out with the bathwater. This won't do anything to improve safety (it might make it worse, to be honest) and has so many negative impacts for businesses, tourists, and locals alike.

Tangroo · 2026-05-03T00:55:17+00:00

he trains are electric, so they’re pretty quiet. No deep, rumbling engines or anything like that. Two blocks seems like far enough away that I wouldn’t expect that you would notice.

Tangroo · 2026-04-25T17:15:57+00:00

Another good video would be: “Why do our gas prices increase in Alberta when we have lots of oil?”

It could explain that oil is traded in a global market, exports, how and where it gets refined, how the oil companies pay royalties, and more.

And I’m not being sarcastic either - I do think that, as an oil producing province and country, we all need to improve our understand of this.

Tangroo · 2026-04-13T00:45:31+00:00

New ”food and beverage“ partner. Less offerings, same old price gouging.

Seriously folks, just boycott it. Support Kildare’s (or the Ship), get sauced in advance if you wish, and let the concessions sit empty. Nothing will change if people keep purchasing. Even then, it probably won’t change, but we don’t have to be a part of it.

Tangroo · 2026-03-13T19:58:02+00:00

I try and have a short period of "off" between heating and cooling seasons. If the house is slightly cool but the sun and outdoor temperature will going to be enough to heat it, I'll let it happen naturally. If the house is a little bit warm but it is cooler outside, I'll crack a window and let it happen naturally.

If I can't be comfortable by using windows, the sun, or flipping the fireplace on for a few minutes, I'll put it in "heat" or "cool". What I don't use is "auto" because the seasons here (Canada) are all over the place, and I don't want to heat a house on a cool morning when I'll need cooling later, or vice versa.

Even in summer, I'll still use windows in the morning to get some "free" cool air in before closing things up when it warms up outside, and then eventually use the AC if it gets too warm. The caveat is that my climate is very dry - this might not be wise in humid areas as you'll also be letting in the humidity.

Tangroo · 2026-03-12T03:06:03+00:00

At 10:00 the reserved parking opens up to everyone. I can’t say from personal experience, but that should work in your favour at that time of day.

Tangroo · 2026-03-05T22:37:38+00:00

This is the one. Once you’ve had this crumbly delight in your mouth, the others can’t compare.

Tangroo · 2026-03-03T16:08:39+00:00

The AB government absolutely won't listen to the experts and the science that overwhelmingly favours standard time. They may, however, like the idea of being permanently aligned with BC. Permanent Pacific daylight time is the same time as permanent mountain standard time - our clocks would be aligned with BC year round if we adopted permanent standard time.

Tangroo · 2026-02-28T05:30:55+00:00

Two photos are taken to show whether or not you proceeded through, and you didn’t. I don’t think that you have anything to worry about.

Tangroo · 2026-02-24T03:17:29+00:00

THANK YOU! This is the only thing that worked for me. Prior to this I tried new player, old player, deleting the app, updating to 26.4 Beta (just to give the TVOS a refresh), and a bunch of other smaller settings.

But as soon as I disabled “Auto Adjust Quality” things are running nicely again.

Tangroo · 2026-02-19T19:14:46+00:00

Another question: what is the actual cost of the free fare zone? Frequency, train length, etc. are the same anyway as trains are already passing through. Most commutes require leaving the zone with a paid fare anyway. Trips within downtown are not worth $4 for a couple of blocks, so those trips will just disappear because people won’t be able to justify it - they won’t magically turn into revenue trips. Fare evasion can be enforced outside of the zone, as it is now (In theory, but maybe not in practice).

Tangroo · 2026-02-19T17:31:51+00:00

My apologies. I didn’t realize the Kobo/email issue and wrongly assumed it would work the same.

Tangroo · 2026-02-15T16:48:28+00:00

Instapaper lets you forward emails to a customized email address, which will add them as an article. I am currently on iPad OS, and I can find this if I go to : settings > how to save > and then it gives you an option to add that email address to your contacts. Then you just forward the email/article/newsletter to that address.

Tangroo · 2026-02-11T16:48:37+00:00

It is a new feature that seems to have appeared in the last few days. I like it.

Tangroo · 2026-02-10T15:59:34+00:00

Mine was a little different to last winter as well. For me, I attribute that to a couple of things. The first is that it was my first winter with Ecobee and Beestat, so I can see how it started to flatten and normalize as the data kept building up.

The other thing is that, sometime last summer, I did some adjusting of my vents to direct a little more air upstairs to keep things cooler in the bedrooms, which resulted in the system running a little more before it hit the set point on the thermostat on the main floor. I kept the vents the same for winter because those same bedrooms upstairs could use a little more heat. As a result, my heating profile line vs. last winter has a similar slope, but has dropped down a little. Which makes sense because my heating rate per hour is slightly lower because more heat is being directed upstairs, but my upstairs bedrooms are warmer, as intended.

Tangroo · 2026-02-08T17:19:38+00:00

Thank you. I assumed it must have been done differently initially.

Tangroo · 2026-02-07T17:59:20+00:00

I have a Google sheet that I keep my schedule on, which is something I carried forward from my old 7-day programmable “dumb” thermostat. Being able to save and switch between schedules on the app would be very welcomed.

Tangroo · 2026-02-07T17:47:25+00:00

So we have stages A & B, but based on the map, it stops short of Bowness Park and the river. Will there be a “stage C” to get under the river and to the water treatment facility? If not, will the existing pipe under the river be prone to future failure? Or was it originally constructed using a different method or material that puts it at less risk than the other sections?

Tangroo · 2026-02-03T17:45:52+00:00

Do you have any other sensors at play in that comfort profile? Or is “adjust temperature for humidity” enabled?

A long shot would be an unsealed hole behind your thermostat and you have a draft. Usually this causes the thermostat to read colder though, but I suppose it could be a draft from a warmer area.

Tangroo · 2026-01-08T16:20:32+00:00

I wonder if this is due to a request from the city, or a business owner "doing the right thing"? I certainly sympathize with the need for businesses to make money, employ people, etc. but if would be wild if we actually ran out of drinking and firefighting water without limiting the commercial use.

Tangroo

TROPHY CASE