As I staffed the Energy House at the Minnesota State Fair’s Eco-Experience, I got a bit more familiar with the Nest Thermostat, which is a smart thermostat developed mostly by former Apple employees.
Below you will find some useful information about how a device like this can save you gobs of energy without having to constantly set/change your settings, because it learns your habits as it gets to know you.
Basics about the Nest thermostat:
- What’s the advantage of the Nest over a basic programmable thermostat? The ideal candidates for owing a Nest are the 70% of households who currently have a programmable thermostat, and NEVER PROGRAM IT! When you say that to folks, nearly everyone says, “Yeah, ours isn’t programmed—too many buttons and screens…”
- Where can you buy them? Amazon.com, Best Buy, Apple Stores, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Nest.com
- How much are they? $249
- Is there an Xcel Energy rebate for them? How about other utilities? Some utilities may offer rebates specifically for the Nest, others may put it in the category of “programmable” and call it good for a rebate. It’s best to check with your gas utility.
- Can you use a smartphone with them? Yes, there’s an app for that! You can set the temperature from your smart phone.
- How do pets moving around the house impact the sensors when I’m not home? The sensors are at a fairly high elevation; unless you have a large dog that likes to stand on his back legs, pets shouldn’t be an issue.
- If it learns your habits based on an occupancy sensor, how does it learn if the thermostat is in a place with no traffic? It is fairly unusual to have a thermostat placed where there is no traffic. Thermostats should control temperatures where people are, and that is usually in a centrally-located room that people occupy or at least pass by. A poorly located thermostat could be pretty easily relocated to a more appropriate location.
Other Nest factoids:
- The company was founded by 2 former Apple employees. They have quite a few former Apple employees working there, but the Nest isn’t an Apple product—even though it can be purchased at Apple Stores.
- If you leave your house and forget to turn it down, it will do it for you.
- You can have multiple Nests in your house (zoning) and they can all work together to save you energy.
Here’s a little video intro:
To learn more, visit Nest.com >>
Have you tried a Nest or another smart thermostat?
Tell us about your experience in the comments.
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