this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025

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xkcd #3109: Dehumidifier (imgs.xkcd.com)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) by xkcdbot@lemmy.world to c/xkcd@lemmy.world

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xkcd #3109: Dehumidifier

Title text:

It's important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.

Transcript:

[A store salesman, Hairy, is showing Cueball a dehumidifier, with a "SALE" label on it. Several other unidentified devices, possibly other dehumidifier models, are shown in the store as well.]

Salesman: This dehumidifier model features built-in WiFi for remote updates.
Cueball: Great! That will be really useful if they discover a new kind of water.

Source: https://xkcd.com/3109/

explainxkcd for #3109

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[–] oyzmo@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago

But does it have AI?

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 5 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

If I can turn it on remotely, that's a good feature. I have solar, I want it to work when the sun is out and I'm producing excess energy.
Yes, I know I can use other peripherals to do this (sometimes) but its always nicer if its just built in so I don't need to waste carbon on other things.

The only thing I want when manufacturers add wifi to these things is to appeal to open source principles like allowing us to connect to it and communicate with it openly and not tie it down to some cloud service they run.

[–] nef@slrpnk.net 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Why not plug a dumb dehumidifier into a Home Assistant controlled outlet?

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Yes, this is generally what can be done. Disadvantages include:

having to buy yet another device
knowing which dehumidifier will start working as soon as it gets electricity. The ones sold in my country are all no name brands with little information if they will work or not and few spec sheets.

[–] pedz@lemmy.ca 20 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Do they have a model with AI?

[–] Iron_Lynx@lemmy.world 9 points 13 hours ago

Shh shh shh, don't give them ideas.

[–] normalexit@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

Or Alexa?

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 41 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

I got new appliances a couple weeks ago and they're all "smart". Turns out a smart microwave just sends you a phone notification when it's done. By default.

As someone with multiple people living in the house, I can confidently say this is the dumbest "smart" feature ever. Promptly disabled.

[–] JordanZ@lemmy.world 7 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

My appliances are ‘smart’ but I didn’t bother actually connecting them to my WiFi. I guess preheating the oven remotely could be cool(?) but nah.

The stuff I do use…

The microwave above the stove can talk via Bluetooth(no app or phone involvement at all). Turn on a burner and you can set it to turn on the light and/or vent fan. Another nicety is being able to set the clock on the stove with the full keypad and it just syncs to the microwave.

[–] ApatheticCactus@lemmy.world 5 points 9 hours ago

The only smart thing I'd want an oven to do would be to turn itself off. That's it, really. Did I leave the oven on after I left the house? Easy fix. Otherwise everything else is pretty much useless.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 hours ago

My stove won't preheat, I guess because it's a safety issue. Apparently you can set a remote start capability ahead of time that gets reset if you open the over door. But I've never tried it, since that seems like a lot.

[–] veni_vedi_veni@lemmy.world 18 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Any appliance with IoT is a value-subtract.

They do it so in the future they can monetize you in perpetuity in some way

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 6 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

I can see value in HVAC IoT. Away from home and there's a cold spell? Turn up the heating so your pipes don't freeze, but also run it higher when electricity is cheaper (if you have variable pricing).

I don't think I'd want my microwave, washing machine, or toilet to have IoT features though.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

My toilet sings when I lift the lid or sit down. I kind of wish I could upload a new song after all these years

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 1 points 5 hours ago

Wtf

[–] ShouldIHaveFun@sh.itjust.works 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Any decent heating system will have a thermostat which will activate the heating when it's getting cold. Also no need for internet to be able to setup the time when electricity is cheaper. It's not like it's something you need to do regularly. Setting this all up directly on the heating system works well enough.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 1 points 5 hours ago

With day ahead pricing it changes... Daily.

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 11 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Most people tend to stay in the same room (or a neighbouring room) when they're microwaving something. They could probably save on the cost of having a full-blown computer with wifi inside the microwave by just having the noisy thing from an alarm clock. But, ah, the fuck do I know?

[–] kadup@lemmy.world 17 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Some 90's microwaves actually used some chips to measure humidity and using a little reference table adjust how long certain foods need to cook for, for instance, popcorn can be popped perfectly without burning and almost without leftover kernels if you can measure how much water is being released. The same goes for cooking frozen meats, vegetables, and so on.

But what we get in modern ones instead are horrendous touchscreens, simple timers that never quite match the food they promise to work on, and Wi-Fi.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

You gotta spend for the moisture sensors and other fancy shit that actually works. We moved into a place with one of those microwaves and we are dreading when it breaks (I think it's like 3k for a new one)

[–] lowered_lifted@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 17 hours ago

a full blown computer, depending on how one defines the term, is so cheap that they are available in disposable pregnancy tests. This shouldn't be a thing because of the E waste and inefficiency but it's how things are.

[–] ClydapusGotwald@lemmy.world 42 points 20 hours ago (6 children)

I’ve looked into many WiFi dehumidifier’s and the one thing I wanted from it was to notify my phone if it’s full. None of them do that. All they do is let you change speed and stuff. Nothing that is important to me. I just want to know if I need to go to the basement and empty it or not.

[–] LilaOrchideen@feddit.org 20 points 18 hours ago

I put mine on a zigbee plug into my home assistant (docker on nas), and created an automation to notify me when the power consumption drops below 1 W or so (lower than when it's only running the fan when the hunidity is near setpoint). All local, works so far.

[–] TeddE@lemmy.world 26 points 20 hours ago

Right? Like half of what I want from these things is when is the battery low? When is the outbox full? When is the feeder empty? And metrics to verify the device is generally operating safely.

Controlling the device? We've known how to do that for 50+ years. Help me maintain the device.

[–] alekwithak@lemmy.world 15 points 19 hours ago (4 children)

I feel you, trying to find a smart gadget that is actually smart in 2025 and not just a data collector is nearly impossible. Learning to DIY a lot of these projects. Throw one of these or similar in there with a little control board set to email you if 0 changes to 1 or w/e

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[–] NotJohnSmith@feddit.uk 11 points 16 hours ago (8 children)

I feel like I'd benefit from a smart dehumidifier.

I'm on a Time Of Use tariff where my electricity is very cheap at night. I'd like to be able to schedule for it to come on for those 5hrs in the winter to take the moisture out of my shed-office. It achieves nothing to put it on a smart meter as you have to physically press go on the dehumidifier

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 6 points 10 hours ago

Just use a smart timer with a dehumidifier that either doesn't have a switch, or has an analog one that can stay in the on position when power is off

[–] Shayeta@feddit.org 11 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Unless you have an even dumber dehumidifier that starts working the moment you plug it in.

[–] NotJohnSmith@feddit.uk 1 points 11 hours ago

Yeah, I wish I did but alas not

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[–] yucandu@lemmy.world 54 points 22 hours ago (10 children)

Meanwhile here I am installing ESP32C3's into everything in my house to automate everything.

I can turn on my floor heat, hallway light, or even open a vent from an app on my phone. And bonus, no shady manufacturers to spy on me. Just China.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Can you flush toilets tho

[–] yucandu@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago

I can do that but I don't wanna - Bart Simpson

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[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 80 points 1 day ago (33 children)

welll........ devils advocate.. i could see the wifi being used so the device can be incorporated into the home automation system [climate control]. its not about dehumidifying, its solely about engaging the dehumidifying as needed.

[–] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 129 points 1 day ago (12 children)

Yeah, or the manufacturer bricks the device bcz they want to sell you a new one.

[–] Badabinski@kbin.earth 29 points 22 hours ago (10 children)

That's why projects like this are great: https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-midea-dehumidifier

My Midea Cube dehumidifier can never be bricked and will never send data outside of my home. It talks to Home Assistant via MQTT and nothing else.

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[–] blackbelt352@lemmy.world 47 points 1 day ago (21 children)

Dehumidifiers already do that. They're equipped with hygrometers that kick the machine on or off depending on the relative humidity. It's old tech and it's pretty reliable, wifi isn't really necessary for it.

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