this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025

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

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks 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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[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 86 points 3 weeks ago (15 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 140 points 3 weeks ago (15 children)

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

[–] Badabinski@kbin.earth 32 points 3 weeks ago (1 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.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 9 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

A dehumidifier that doesn't have any wifi can't be bricked either.

[–] kn33@lemmy.world 19 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

Yeah but I want to control it with the average humidity from sensors across my house

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[–] blackbelt352@lemmy.world 50 points 3 weeks ago (29 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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[–] Sibshops@lemmy.myserv.one 20 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

To steel-man the argument some more, if you have variable-rate electricity, it could turn on when electricity is cheap.

[–] dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (13 children)

This can be done with something like Zigbee. Or even simpler: you hook a non-connected device up to a "smart" power socket. No need for the device itself to talk to the outside world.

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[–] Stillwater@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

You could do all that without internet connectivity, just sayin.

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[–] yucandu@lemmy.world 61 points 3 weeks ago (5 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.

[–] odious@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

that vent thing is surprisingly clever, thumbs up 👍

[–] yucandu@lemmy.world 18 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

Hey thanks, I've got tons of cool projects and gifs like these, and I love to share them and read the comments, but I don't know where to post them on Lemmy. I used to post them to Reddit but they started shadowbanning my github for some reason. Didn't even find out until the ESP32 mod messaged me and was like "we can't even manually approve your posts".

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[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago

I just installed motorized dampers in my crawl space using Shelly smart relays! Now I have an automatic schedule so I'm not cooling rooms that aren't in use (like the bedrooms during the day and the lower level of the house at night). Already seen significant power savings!

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 3 weeks ago

It would be a lot more difficult to hide a backdoor on a bare ESP device, than a proprietary Tuya one, just putting that out there. Regardless, I still block internet access from my ESPHome devices, because I don't want to feel like I need to constantly be on top of updates, that can cause things to break at times. I do them every couple months when I have the time to sit down and make sure everything's still working, or roll it back where it's not.

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[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 48 points 3 weeks ago (7 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.

[–] veni_vedi_veni@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks 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 7 points 3 weeks ago (7 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.

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[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 13 points 3 weeks 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 19 points 3 weeks 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.

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[–] lowered_lifted@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 3 weeks 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.

[–] JordanZ@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago (6 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 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] ClydapusGotwald@lemmy.world 44 points 3 weeks ago (8 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.

[–] TeddE@lemmy.world 27 points 3 weeks 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.

[–] LilaOrchideen@feddit.org 22 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] alekwithak@lemmy.world 15 points 3 weeks 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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[–] pedz@lemmy.ca 25 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Do they have a model with AI?

[–] Iron_Lynx@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago

Shh shh shh, don't give them ideas.

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[–] oyzmo@lemmy.world 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

But does it have AI?

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[–] NotJohnSmith@feddit.uk 11 points 3 weeks 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

[–] Shayeta@feddit.org 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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

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[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago (2 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.

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[–] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

There must be some way to remove the "smart" controller from a device and replace it with a dumb one, like an arduino or something. I want to lobotomize these devices.

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