I get what you mean about the “convenience” sometimes making things more complicated. When I swapped out my old attic vent for a motorized version, I ran into similar headaches—especially after power blips. One thing that helped was plugging it into a small UPS (uninterruptible power supply). That way, minor outages don’t mess with the settings or force a reset. Not perfect, but it cuts down on the hassle.
Honestly, I still keep a manual window in the kitchen just because it never fails. Sometimes low-tech is just less stressful, even if it means a little extra effort now and then.
That UPS trick is clever—I hadn’t thought of using one for something like a vent. I get what you mean about low-tech being reliable, though. When I put in a fancy touchless faucet, it was great until the batteries died mid-dishwashing. Now I kind of miss just turning the tap by hand. I guess there’s a sweet spot between convenience and complexity… sometimes the old-school stuff just works, even if it’s not flashy.