It appears the precision cooker does not self restart after a power outage. Do we have to wait for the phone application to set that up?
In short, yes. We don’t support power outages.
One thing to say !! This is a major fail!!
If you are so worried about power outages then plug it into a battery back up. Cant think of very many appliances that come with battery back up built in. Except for maybe a respirator in a hospital .
I already suggested a UPS in another thread. It’s cheaper to buy the more expensive units that can deal with power interrupts themselves, than buy Anovas and an expensive UPS to power them. I think this is what dutflip is going to do, or at least he indicated so in another thread.
@mbaileybend i dont say keep running when there is a power outage !! But at lease restart when the power comback on !!! Just like any other cheap appliance you left on in a power outage
It’d have to be at least slightly intelligent to know how long it was off for and whether that compromised food safety. I don’t like the idea of coming home to a long-term cook with a little icon that says “I lost power at some point” if I’m unsure if/how long the water dropped below the safety temp.
@dutflip , @jshannon , @mspeleoto , @canugghead I am investigating ways to provide persistence in my app ANOVA Remote. No guarantee yet, but it seems to be doable. You can join the G+ community to provide your ideas, and/or to keep abreast of the development.
Just had a power brown out, lasted a couple seconds. The Anova Precision did not restart!!! Ouch, this should be so simple to correct in firmware, so disappointed. To be fair I will check the other vendors to see how they handle this.
Honestly, I don’t think people should be expecting it to restart from a power outage. If the temperature has dipped dangerously low, providing opportunity for bacterial growth, you’re going to want to be very aware. Everyone really should be investing in UPS units for their PC’s. Anytime you’re doing multi-day cooks, you’re going to want to have that reliability.
@dutflip said:
One thing to say !! This is a major fail!!
Why is this a fail? Simply buy a UPS battery backup and plug your Anova into it. Having said that Anove should have a warning / alarm pop up - in their app - when the power is disconnected. Those that buy the Wi-Fi version could then simply restart their cooker remotely if they wanted.To accomplish what you want would radically raise the price of the unit, all for one seldom used feature. It would need a battery to retain the information locally. Batteries and water do not mix, so it would need to be waterproofed. This would also make the unit bigger. Also, as mentioned bacteria growth would be a big concern (another reason why a warning / alarm should be in the app).If I was cooking something and the power went off I would want to know. Not so that I could continue cooking it, but so that I could throw the food away and not get sick. That would all depend on how long the power was off. Lots of things to consider.
@dutflip Why would it need a battery, never mind a big one?, and why would the battery be in the water instead of in the top housing which possibly has some non volatile memory already. Maybe not though.
The battery would allow it to remember the settings while the power was disrupted, similar to how an alarm clock uses one so that you don’t have to reset it after the power is lost. Physical size of battery is not the issue. The battery wouldn’t be in the water. It’s a safety measure to protect it since the device is designed to be in the water.
I don't think the battery is any more susceptible than any of the other electrical/electronic components?
Power outages are common in parts of the world. In Lebanon, the state power plants infrastructure is not able to provide electricity 24/7, and so we rely heavily on private power generators to feed the gap. This leaves a 1 minute power outage gap for electricity to be back up, regardless of its source.
The ability for appliances to power back on and continue their operation is an expected feature for us. For example, our washing machine continues its cycle after a power outage; I can’t imagine having this any other way. Similarly, it would be very convenient for the Anova device to power back on and continue its operation. To address safety concerns, this feature can kick in say only after a safe power outage duration (e.g., 5 minutes or a predefined setting in the App). By doing so, it would address the described power outage scenario while ensuring that the water temperature doesn’t fall dangerously low.
@Rafic said:
For example, our washing machine continues its cycle after a power outageYour washing machine doesn’t have to worry about bacteria growth entering your digestive system…
About that bacteria growth thing… you are talking about multi-hour cooks, here, and a power blip isn’t likely to be a problem. Look at pasteurization time/temperature, and for virtually any long cook your food will be definitely pasteurized after a couple hours. Unless the temperature stays at temperatures below about 120F (if I recall correctly) for several hours, you will not have appreciable growth taking place.
A power blip of (say) an hour or less isn’t going to be an issue, unless you are forced to comply with the anal/retentive guidelines published by USDA.
And you don’t need a battery… all you need is for the settings to be stored in non-volatile memory so they are available when the power comes back up.
This is a particular issue for me, since my home suffers quite frequent power “blips” that don’t affect cooking, but reset all the digital clocks.
I suspect the real issue here isn’t customer safety, but instead “corporate safety” from product liability lawsuits.
I would have thought this was an included feature😭 i would have thought the smartphone app could manage it…the anova sends temp data constantly in case of power outage have a trigger in app that sends the app into emergency mode. In case of outage why not have app restart the anovo automatically if less than x amount of time…and or send an alarm if power outage lasts more than x amount of time. The fact a 1sec power event can stuff a 2day meal now has me rethinking its use. But I already bought it so I guess my opinion wont be an issue…
It’s an often voiced comment. The reasoning behind not having the unit turn back on is that there is no guarantee that the bath temperature did not dip low enough during the power outage to allow bacterial growth in the item being cooked . The assumption is that by not having the unit restart by itself they are “playing it safe”. Opinions vary in the community here, but I think most are okay with the decision to lean towards safety.
The quality of domestic power delivery in Western North Carolina is such that we experience frequent momentary interruptions. It would not be difficult, or expensive, to have enough capacitance reserve to maintain programming for the short blips, so that the nano could resume its cook. A long-term outage would of course be dealt with differently. The capacitor should be such that program would not resume after some defined time. I cook in a covered 12 quart igloo cooler, and if I’m at a 135 cook, 5 hours after a power blip the temperature is still at 120.