Nest Learning Thermostat

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xtremeflyer

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2010
Messages
313
Location
Orange, CA
I know this isn't solar specifically, but it reminded me of the Korean Energy Management System people that came to my house a few months ago.

It's called the Nest Learning Thermostat
http://www.nest.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's blue if you are using AC, its red if you are using heat. It supposively learns when you are home or away and how to save you energy. You can access it via your iPad or online, so you can change the temp in your house at any time. It'll even tell you how long it'll take to get you to that temperature.

It even has a little Leaf (get it, Leaf) thats kind of like the tree's in our Leaf, telling you when you are being good about energy.

Here's an article about it in Wired

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/10/nest_thermostat/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think I have to preorder one. It's just too cool.
 
The basic premise of this is self programing in a crude way vs leaving it on high, good as it accounts for lazy users but not accurate as it averages. In all that is a good improvement on the basic programmable unit since most people won't program them. I do quite a bit of home automation in my business and my T-Stats are in the basement with remote temp sensors hidden in the wall. There is a basic program and they know when I'm home via house motion sensors and I can control temp from any remote or touch screen or form my phone when gone to preheat. If I am away it knows if that is for the day or vacation based on my alarm status.
 
@EV Driver: Package that up in a $249 device and I buy it. Sounds way cool.

In the mean time I have the Nest on preorder. I mainly care about the sensor that knows when I am away.
 
dutchinchicago said:
@EV Driver: Package that up in a $249 device and I buy it. Sounds way cool.

In the mean time I have the Nest on preorder. I mainly care about the sensor that knows when I am away.


I think it's cool for the price. Let us know how it goes, nice if were Zigbee.
 
It's unclear, at least to me, from their website whether the proximity sensor is included and what additional temp/proximity sensors cost...
I have one of the very nice touchscreen driven Honeywell thermostats and I'm trying to decide what replacing it with this would buy me...

dutchinchicago said:
@EV Driver: Package that up in a $249 device and I buy it. Sounds way cool.
In the mean time I have the Nest on preorder. I mainly care about the sensor that knows when I am away.
 
It's amazing how inefficient home energy use is still. Automation to control heating/cooling, sensors for understanding where to heat/cool, computers to understand history. Smart automation on windows to opaque/clear them, or close/open blinds. Controlling water heaters in the same manner, etc. etc. It can mostly be done these days as a hobby project, but still you'd hope that manufactures would look to standardize some the good ideas so that they could be widely distributed and the necessary wiring, etc could all be worked into standard builds.

Of course, I thought the exact same thing back in the 70's, and we haven't made much progress from then.
 
Installed two of these Nest thermostats about a week ago. They work marvelously. The premise is this. 50% of your electric/gas bills are from the HVAC system. If it can be timed more efficiently, the cost savings are tremendous.

Proximity sensors, Auto-away, Zigbee support are all there. Beautiful web and phone apps work in conjunction with the Nest. Simplicity is elegance (following the google mantra). No wonder Nest beat out the iPhone 4S, iPad 2, Galaxy Nexus and Kindle Fire to win the Crunchies best new device award.

The Nest is still on pre-order (i waited for about 2 months). The hawkers might have it on eBay though.

The HVAC system(s) still heat/cool the entire house which is grossly inefficient. Why should the whole house be conditioned when we use only one or two rooms at a time. We have to think of house design more holistically.

There is the potential for lots of devices (appliances, smoke alarms) to be controlled this way. The Internet of things is here :)
 
I do it the old fashioned way by only turning on the HVAC when it becomes too hot/cold to bear and always turning it off when I leave. I did upgrade to a wireless thermostat though as it makes this process so much easier since you can place it in the room with you. That way you are only adjusting the temperature to where people actually are and also can make adjustments from bed without having to get up and go to the hall. I usually close the vents in rooms we're not occupying as well, although there are two vents which are out of reach without a ladder.

The system I use is made by Venstar (formerly Totaline) and works great. I've thought of programming the thermostat but that'd still be more wasteful than my "on demand" system now. Also, I rarely set my heat above 62 degrees. Sweaters, people!

Here's a link to the Venstar system if anyone's interested: http://www.amazon.com/Venstar-T1100RF-and-T1100REC-Thermostat/dp/B006R6BN02/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329496953&sr=8-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can also buy multiple "Senders" (the remote part) and place them in different rooms but I've never tried that as our house is too small to bother.
 
I figured that this would be a good time to rehash this thread since the Nest is now available from the Apple Store. For those of you that have gotten one (or more), what has your experience been now that you've had plenty of time to live with it?
 
We've had ours for about two months and the wife and I both love it. I had a Honeywell Chronotherm III Touchscreen before, which is itself a very good thermostat, but the Nest is head and shoulders above it. It also does a much better job of temperature control, comfort control. and anticipation.

caffeinekid said:
I figured that this would be a good time to rehash this thread since the Nest is now available from the Apple Store. For those of you that have gotten one (or more), what has your experience been now that you've had plenty of time to live with it?
 
We have two Nests. One upstairs and one downstairs.

They are awesome! So easy to use. Great iPhone integration. Simple to program and adjust. Stylish. Smart! It can learn your schedule. It knows when no one is home and adjusts to save money. It also knows when you get home.

You can easily track past days usage to improve efficiency. Tracks the weather, too, and tries to factor that into usage patterns.

I've wanted something like this for a long time!
 
We have had ours for about 6 months and have loved every minute. It gives you plenty of data to maximize your usage and its easy to just use and forget if you want to, learning your behavior. I can't say enough about how much I have been impressed. In addition, android integration is great too (even on ICS).
 
Ditto. When I started reading this post, I thought I must have posted already.

Love 'em.

shrink said:
We have two Nests. One upstairs and one downstairs.

They are awesome! So easy to use. Great iPhone integration. Simple to program and adjust. Stylish. Smart! It can learn your schedule. It knows when no one is home and adjusts to save money. It also knows when you get home.

You can easily track past days usage to improve efficiency. Tracks the weather, too, and tries to factor that into usage patterns.

I've wanted something like this for a long time!
 
ksnogas2112 said:
Just curious, why two thermostats? Only have one heater and one a/c right?

We have two 3.5 ton A/C units for a house of 2800 sq. ft. I don't think one 5-ton HVAC is enough to cool that size of a house.
 
I saw on their website they say it can save $6,000 over 20 years, which is $300/year or $25/month. Seems decent, but does anyone have any proof that this works better/saves more money than a programmable wi-fi thermostat? I like the idea, but how long till it pays for itself and starts saving money?

Thanks
 
DANandNAN said:
I saw on their website they say it can save $6,000 over 20 years, which is $300/year or $25/month. Seems decent, but does anyone have any proof that this works better/saves more money than a programmable wi-fi thermostat? I like the idea, but how long till it pays for itself and starts saving money?

Thanks

Too early to have proof. It's only been installed for a month. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do an apples-to-apples comparison either. Last year in the Phoenix heat I did not yet have my solar panels installed. Now, I do.

They are, indeed, pricey, but a few features I think will help save money:

1) Airwave - basically after the condenser shuts off, there is still cool air in the vents. Airwave keeps the fan blowing for a few minutes afterwards to get that cold air in the house. Running the fan is low energy, while the condenser is an energy beast.

2) Auto away - even if you forget to adjust the temp when you leave and while you're out, the Nest's proximity sensor knows when you are gone and will adjust accordingly. It also senses when you get home so your regular schedule of temperature settings will resume when you arrive. If the A/C is running at peak rates all day by mistake, that can potential save a good amount of money. I don't know if it's $25 worth, but it's still savings.

Other than that, I just don't think they styling and simplicity can be beat right now.
 
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