Why are these pucks so expensive?
I have checked what Puck offers, Comparing to similar products in the market I feel this is expensive.
Justifications:
- Its not very responsive.
- The screen is decade old
- Its a vanilla router with Wifi.
- The only other thing it offers is RF signals (for vents) but then again 1/3rd price we have units with Zigbee/Zwave/etc. on top of Wifi so this point is moot.
- Its wireless and RF signal propagation and receive is ridiculously low/bad. I am seeing threads where folks are complaining of dropped connections (especially for vents) barely 20 feet away!
- The hardware used is also low end.
- No battery backup if connected to power (gateway must be connected to power)
- No motion sensors to act as occupancy sensor.
- No outdoor weather capability.
- Finally - many use it as a gateway only. Having all the TStat controls is effectively redundant. Not sure why there's no alternative like a LITE version.
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Official comment
Hi All,
Pucks are multi-functional. Gateway Pucks connect to WiFi. Smart Vents do not. Pucks collect data from and transmit commands to Smart Vents and Sensor Pucks using RF (radio frequency) signals.
(A Sensor Puck is used if you want to use batteries in the Puck. Sensor Pucks do not connect to WiFi.)
A room with Smart Vents needs a temperature sensor for the automation to work.
A temperature sensor can be a Flair Puck, an integrated smart thermostat, or a room sensor from ecobee or Honeywell (Nest doesn't open their room sensor data to 3rd parties).
As long as you have a good RF signal between Gateway Pucks and Smart Vents, you don't need a Puck in every room. Instead, you can use the smart thermostat or appropriate room sensor.
If you don't have a good RF signal between Gateway Pucks and Smart Vents, then you need to add another Gateway Puck to extend the mesh. This Puck can be used in a room as a temperature sensor, or it can be used as a "dedicated networking device" placed somewhere else in your home to facilitate the RF signal to Smart Vents (and any Sensor Pucks).
This article explains how to check the signal strength of Flair devices. This will tell you when your Gateway Pucks are optimally placed.
Home Statistics: Signal Strength, Set Point, Room Temperature
All the best,
Finn
Comment actions -
Interesting you bring this up. I thought the same thing since I made my first Flair purchase last week. I use Ecobee sensors all over the house in every room. I don't use the Puck for anything except a gateway, since I only plan on using the Flair vents to balance the house / room temperatures. I literally only need a gateway, even if it was needed as an extra purchase. The price of the puck is OUTRAGEOUS when used this way, and there are no other options.
Frankly, the price of the vents are also pretty high considering how they are designed, but I'm willing to pay for the overall look and metal structure. (Although I was surprised to find the air vanes themselves are made of plastic)
It would be great if they offered a simple gateway for those of us that have smart sensors from smart thermostats already. The cost of the vent would also be more reasonable if it had more options like you described. Why doesn't the vent itself have occupancy sensors and a room thermostat like smart sensors from Ecobee? The room thermostat design could be a challenge because it's connected to the vent itself that gets air blown across it, but the app could just be written to disregard the temperature reading unless a certain time has passed since the air was blowing through the vent and across the sensor.
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I agree that the pucks seem fairly cheaply made for the price.
I do however like the e-ink display, I think its a great way to save battery power.
I only wish that the pucks had a stronger 915 MHz signal so I wouldn't have to buy so many. I need 3 gateway pucks to get the range I need... In my kitchen the vent and puck are 15ft away line-of-sight and I still have poor signal. A Gateway puck plugged in to USB should have plenty of power to run a strong signal.The vent itself as occupancy doesn't make sense for a lot of people, as vents are frequently not in good line-of-sight positions. Flair reports the vent temperature - and you can see how its affected by the HVAC system running. If you compare the room sensor and vent sensor, its a big difference. Espeically in a basement (where the ceiling can be 4 C hotter than room temp). Also, how would the vent know when the room is a the correct temperature? The entire vent is heated/cooled significantly (i.e. my vent temperature goes down to 15 C when the AC is running.).
All in all, I think the only change I would recommend is stronger signal strength for gateway pucks.
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