After nearly 25 years my washing machine gave up the ghost.  I replaced it and the dryer today,  no problems until I went to wash a load.  I actually had to read the quick start guide just to get it started.  I work in tech but I still wonder why doing laundry has gotten so sophisticated.   They even had Smart wi-fi Enabled units.  I also replaced the water heater and they also come in Smart wi-fi Enabled units.  Why?  It's all in the house and I don't need an app for any of them.  I really like my smart garage door opener and thermostat so I am not a luddite.  I'm all for improvements but some of it is just silly to me.   

This is the 1st home I have lived in where the water heaters are not easily accessible. In California, slab foundation homes, they are either in the garage, or in a small outside closet size room next to the bathrooms.  Not on a half basement/half crawl space home.  Under the house, where who knows what kind of Troll's or Orks live, I aint going underneath there.  So it would be great to have a water heater I can turn down in Summer and up in Winter on my phone, how Sweet would that be!

I'd say for 95% of people, it's marketing. Having said that, there are folks out there that like nothing else than to waste use their time trying to optimize every minute aspect of their life. Also having said that, I could see a situation where one could remotely crank up their water heater before they got home from work after it being off all day. I used to do the same to my water heater when I was poor and living in an apartment; flip on the breaker to the water heater when I got home, waited an hour, took a shower, and flipped the breaker off after I was done.

Our washer and dryer aren't wifi enabled but I have a hard time using them.  They are a little too fancy for me and about a year old now.  All I'm allowed to do is turn the washer on after my wife sets it up and then put the stuff in the dryer.  You wash one red cashmere sweater in hot water and then put it in the dryer right after you get married and you ain't allowed the privilege any more   Just saying...

When we lived int Texas, I bought a new Maytag washer & dryer. One of the new HE energy efficient ones.
When I tried it the first time, it took over 20 minutes for it to figure out how much water to put in the tub.
And then, parts of clothes were sticking out on the water during the wash cycle. Never got wet.
I loaded them in the back of the pickup and took them right back to HD.
Bought a normal GE set.

A year ago the GE washer died (disappointed it only lasted 5 years) so went to buy a new one.
No more normal ones can be sold. Dang government.
Bought a new GE which isn't near as bad as the Maytag was, but depending on load size, my wife will pour water into it from a bucket to trick it so it starts sooner.

Our washer and dryer aren't wifi enabled but I have a hard time using them.  They are a little too fancy for me and about a year old now.  All I'm allowed to do is turn the washer on after my wife sets it up and then put the stuff in the dryer.  You wash one red cashmere sweater in hot water and then put it in the dryer right after you get married and you ain't allowed the privilege any more   Just saying...

Very smart move on your part.  My wife says I can't use our washing machine or dryer as they are to complicated for me.  I think it is her ulterior motive to keep me in our kitchen cooking and baking.  Boy have I fooled her.

Our washer and dryer aren't wifi enabled but I have a hard time using them.  They are a little too fancy for me and about a year old now.  All I'm allowed to do is turn the washer on after my wife sets it up and then put the stuff in the dryer.  You wash one red cashmere sweater in hot water and then put it in the dryer right after you get married and you ain't allowed the privilege any more   Just saying...

When we got married 15 years ago, I immediately volunteered to handle the laundry.  Now, anytime I want to take a nap, drink a beer on the patio, or watch a game on TV all I have to do is get some laundry started.  As long as those machines are running a cycle, I get to claim to be "doing laundry" even though I'm really doing other things.

I suggest this this to all of my married friends.

Our washer and dryer aren't wifi enabled but I have a hard time using them.  They are a little too fancy for me and about a year old now.  All I'm allowed to do is turn the washer on after my wife sets it up and then put the stuff in the dryer.  You wash one red cashmere sweater in hot water and then put it in the dryer right after you get married and you ain't allowed the privilege any more   Just saying...

When we got married 15 years ago, I immediately volunteered to handle the laundry.  Now, anytime I want to take a nap, drink a beer on the patio, or watch a game on TV all I have to do is get some laundry started.  As long as those machines are running a cycle, I get to claim to be "doing laundry" even though I'm really doing other things.

I suggest this this to all of my married friends.

+1. 

We also recently replaced our washer and drier from a high efficiency Whirlpool - cleaned good, but started needing frequent repairs. Bought a GE (made by Haier). So far so good, uses a little more water, but gets the job done sooner..  Also had the Wi-Fi option. Read up on the Wi-Fi modules @60 or 80 each, and there was little gain of function.  So we use the standard - end of cycle beep.. Sometimes simple is better. Wife says we have too much technology already.  Hate to admit it, but sometimes I have to agree - it hurts a bit - but yes.

As far as water heaters go..We have an ‘on demand’ natural gas tankless unit. Only runs when there is a demand - stone cold otherwise.  If you have extremely hard water - maintenance can be a pain - descaling etc.  Ours is softened water, so maintenance is minimal. It also has a power/thermostat control that can be remotely mounted - wired - just mounted ours to the outside of the unit for simplicity.

Energy costs are going through the roof here, with electricity prices in the region of £0.25 per kWh. As it happens, I am luckily locked into a contract with a fixed price of £0.15 per kWh, for the next year, by which time, things may have calmed down.

But that is just background. Because I have a smart meter, my electricity comes down to £0.05 per kWh between half past midnight and 4:30am. That's a third of my regular tariff, and a fifth of what some people are paying. So being able to switch my washer on from my bed, just before turning out the light, would be wonderful. Instead, at the moment, I am using my current washer's count down timer and doing the "It's 10 o'clock now, so if I set this to..... then it will start at...." game.

(I am also in the process of buying an EV. The car may be months away yet, but the charger is already installed and is app controlled. So that 5p rate is going to be well used)

Our power company is offering an energy saving service for things like water heaters and home heating that adjust levels during the course of the day based on historical usage.

We just got a notice on it. Using historical usage data to adjust optimize energy costs sounds like a good thing, but it requires some sort of interface with the appliance.

Over here things are moving quite fast. We are now on our second generation of "Smart Meter", which allows for remote meter reading. This is fast becoming real time - my moving to my current tariff required I consent to automated readings taken every 30 minutes. This is leading the way to dynamic electricity pricing, where the price may rise and fall during the day, according to demand. It is not with us yet, but that might be when allowing household devices to sit in standby until "the price is right", controlled via WiFi from a central hub, could be advantageous.