[kimixa]

I think this is already the "standard" interface for physical thermostats in the UK - the house where I was growing up in the UK, 4 timers (that can be selected based on "day of week"), a "1 hour boost" button, and a whole system "on/off".

This was at latest mid-90s, so not exactly "high tech". I don't think it's uncommon, as both random rented student house and the first place I rented while working had pretty much the same thing (though I think the student house only had 2 timers and no "day" functionality?). They didn't have air conditioning though, as that's not common residentially. And unless the allowed variance is also really wide (probably too wide for comfort in some situations), I don't really want the "same" temperature to be used for heat and cooling.

I'm surprised how many people I know IRL in the states that think this sort of thing is some fundamental tech limitation - like you need the latest fancy "smart" thermostat when 99% of what you will actually use it for is just "not the cheapest-possible" dumb one.