Cool Stuff: Nest Learning Thermostat

I’ve wanted a Nest Learning Thermostat ever since I heard about them last year. I admit, this  would be considered a luxury item for many and I agree that it’s not for everyone. But like many technology innovations, what starts out as a novelty can often become the new normal. Why do I need a mobile phone? iPads are just toys. What would I do with a camera in my phone?

So, what do you get with a $249 thermostat? What’s wrong with my existing thermostat? Well, that depends. Would you like a self learning and easily programmable thermostat? Internet remote control with easy to use phone app? Tracking of energy use and stats?

We are currently working on some small home improvement projects that necessitated relocating our existing thermostat. We had some funds available and I reminded my lovely wife that this was a good opportunity to try out Nest. There can definitely be some sticker shock about spending that much on something so mundane that most of never even think about. I have to admit, my wife wasn’t as enamored with the idea of a fancy schmancy $$$ thermostat but, as in any good relationship, she kept an open mind. She recently noticed they had a new Nest display Lowes Home Improvement. We decided to go out for a nice dinner together… and try out the working display at Lowes.

The Nest thermostat was designed by some of the same people who helped design Apple’s iPod and iPhone. They took something that most of use never think about, our thermostat, and asked the question “How can we make this better?” Heating and cooling our homes accounts for about 50% of the average homes energy bill and they wanted to see if there was a smarter way to keep ours homes comfortable. They are looking not only at energy savings but they are also paying attention to the whole user experience and it shows.

I am happy to report, we came home that night with a shiny new Nest. We have had it installed now for several weeks and here are my initial thoughts:

Easy Programming and Self Learning

Have you ever wished that your thermostat would kick up the heat on winter mornings and take the chill out of the house just before you have to get up? That’s just one of many perks of having a programmable thermostat that is flexible and easy to use. You can just adjust the temperature throughout the day and the thermostat will learn your preferences. You can also go in and manually create a schedule. For example, during the summer, my wife is perfectly happy with the house around 78 degrees while I am much happier at 76 or cooler. So, as a compromise, we set the thermostat to allow the house to be warmer during the day and then begin to cool down the house (automagically) starting an hour before I get home from work. Whenever we are both gone from the house, whether for an afternoon or a week long vacation, we can easily set up an energy saving temperature range that saves money and wastes less energy. Not sure when you will be home? You can log into the system via your smart phone or laptop and set it to heat or cool the house to your desired temperate when you leave for home.

Reporting and Stats

The nest keeps track of your energy usage throughout the day. You can see how long your air conditioner ran on a given day, what the humidity level is in the house,  and all sorts of interesting details. I think this feature has had the most surprising impact. As I mentioned above, my wife likes the house warmer than I do in the cooling months of summer. When it comes to the temperature of my home, I almost always choose perceived comfort over energy savings. So I set the schedule to cool to 78 for my wife during the weekday, but to cool to 76 for me during weekend days. I took a look at the stats the next week and was shocked by the results. The air conditioner ran about 1.5 hours while my wife was home during the week, and nearly 4 times that on the weekend when I was home. This has had a surprising side effect.I have found myself being more flexible about the temperature and experimenting with different settings to find the optimal balance between comfort and energy savings.

Installation

Let’s talk about the install process. Unlike most thermostats that are marketed to the HVAC installers, this thermostat is marketed directly to the consumer. They have made it as easy as possible for a homeowner to install themselves, or a quick and easy job if you need to bring in an HVAC professional. You can mount it directly to the wall, but they also offer two different sized mounting back plates to cover any holes that may happen from removing old thermostats or to fit your aesthetics.

I asked my wife to show me exactly where she wanted the thermostat on the wall.  Here is what she had to say about the decision process:

“I played around and could not find a spot that felt perfect. The round design is beautiful and unusual, but in our case, the round thermostat next to the rectangular light switch didn’t feel right to me aesthetically. That’s when Nate showed me the included mounting plate options. Immediately I knew that this square trim plate was the perfect solution. It is roughly the same height as a standard light switch plate and they look like they were meant to go together. I was surprised and delighted, which is the key to providing a great customer experience. The product designers were thoughtful enough to offer a few different options and saved us from having to go back to the store or come up with a custom solution.”