Nest Review
The Nest is not your average box thermometer. With an aesthetic usually reserved for new Apple products, and innovative features like temperature preference learning, the Nest Thermostat is ahead of its time.
The Nest Thermostat is created by Nest Labs, a leader of home automation products including smoke detectors and security systems. Although first introduced in 2011, I personally received a free Nest back in 2013, as part of a Texas Energy Rebate program. Many cities now have at least partial rebates for the Nest, which can be found on their website. For those who are not so lucky, the Nest retails at $249 and can be bought at most home improvement stores.
The Design
The most striking aspect of the Nest is its sleek circular design, void of any clunky buttons. The only way to change settings is to turn the circle like a wind up clock, and confirm changes by pressing the Nest down against the wall. While it may seem strange for new users, this system of using the Nest is actually quite intuitive and even fun to use. Any guest in my home immediately asked to check the Nest out and play with it, it’s simply that intriguing as a home device.
The backlit screen itself is sharp and readable from any angle. A cool feature is that the colors also change depending on your desired temperature. For example, a look at the Nest from far away might reveal a blue color, indicating the Nest is beginning to cool your house. I also found it quite useful that the Nest will tell you the amount of time until the desired temperature will be reached.
The Product
What sets the Nest apart is not only its design but also its ability to learn your habits. It took my Nest about a week of manual entry to start to learn my preferences. I set the Nest to 70 degrees when I was home, which the Nest then started to learn was my preference. Therefor, about an hour before I returned home from work, it started to heat the house to my desired temperature. Similarly, the Nest started to pick up on the time I usually went to sleep, and dropped the temperature down accordingly. There was no set schedule I made, it simply learned and then adapted to my preferences.
Another great feature of the Nest is the movement sensor. This allows the Nest to know when you are out of the house, so it can drop the temperature down. Similarly, it turns up the temperature when you return. The sensor even recognizes when you are walking near the Nest, so it can light up and tell you the time and current temperature. Very convenient!
Behind the display is a powerful system running many algorithms to maximize your energy efficiency. The Nest picks up on things like the time it takes to heat/cool your house based on its size and adjusts accordingly. Additionally, it will alert you if there are any unexpected changes in the temperature, say from a pipe breaking.
The Nest tries to take advantage of every idiosyncrasy with your home heating/cooling system. For example, there is a feature called ‘Airwave’ that takes advantage of that fact that compressor coils in your AC unit will generate cold air for 10 minutes after its turned off. Thus, the Nest will turn off your compressor, and just run the more energy efficient fan a few minutes before your desired temperature will be reached. There are many other similarly genius decisions that Nest makes, all adding up to savings for you.
Conclusion
Now the moment of truth: what I actually saved. In an 1100 square foot town home, my energy bill was usually around $250. After using the Nest, our monthly bill was closer to $150. That’s a whopping savings of almost 50%! Nest advertises that the average user saves and average of 10-12% on their heating bill, and 15% on cooling. That either means I was an exceptional user, or was terrible at setting my thermostat previous to my Nest purchase. I like to believe the former.
I highly recommend the Nest for anyone who is looking to save money on their electricity bill(everyone!). It was intuitive to use, and of course saved me money. The only reason to not buy one is the steep price tag. Yet, in only a few months, the Nest will pay for itself. For me, it’s a no-brainer.
– Greg Gerla