I just look at my bill which gives me those stats. It's not an hour by hour usage, but it's all I need. If you think about it, when you're in the house you're going to have the thermostat set at the temperature which makes you comfortable, so no energy savings there. It's when no one is in the house that you want the temperature down. So just set your thermostat to a low temp when you're out of the house and that's that.
Out of curiosity, has anyone used a Nest in a home with floor heating? I'd love to buy one of these but curious if it adapts to the 2-hour lead-time needed for the concrete slab to actually heat up.
No, that's normal. It has sensors and stuff below the line. I don't recall the line being quite THAT noticeable on mine. I mean, you see it, but I've never had anyone think it was a crack or anything.Is that thermostat in OP cracked?
By and large, it's not much different than a properly programmed programmable thermostat. In practice, there are some differences.
First, this is obviously a premium product, and you are paying for that. That's ok - if you have a well decorated house and the thermostat is prominent, that matters to some.
Mostly though, this is intended to be as user-friendly as possible. This starts with the installation - which they go to great lengths to make this do it yourself for the vast majority of people. As compared to the instructions for a regular thermostat, this is a huge improvement. Second, it is not a programmable thermostat in the traditional sense (although it can be used that way) - it is a learning thermostat. After you install it, you set your temperatures as normal for a couple of days. From that it learns your basic schedule. It has a proximity sensor so it knows if you are home, and adjusts accordingly. It learns your habits, and continues to adjust over time.
It's of course wi-fi connected, which allows you to interact with it from anywhere - which also greatly aids any configuration you want to do so. You can set your thermostat back when you go away for a few days (or it will automatically), and turn it on remotely on your way home. It shows how much time you system is running every day to help you monitor energy usage.
Finally, perhaps the biggest thing is that it offers all of that complexity in a device that is in general, as simple to use as any old-style dial thermostat. Turn the dial and set the temperature and you will get most of the benefit of the thermostat without doing anything else.
That answer the question?
So Nest would not be effiecient for a home with large dogs that run by the device every hour?
True. There's cheaper versions.I have a programmable thermostat which can be programmed for 4 different settings each day. I don't remember exactly what I paid for it, but I know it was less than $100 including installation by an HVAC professional...so if I could do it myself, it would have been less.
Serious question...what is the advantage of the NEST (aside from looking extremely cool ) over my thermostat?
In my house, the NEST sits about 5ft high on the wall. It lights up whenever someone walks in front of it. It's never lighted up when either of the three dogs have run in front of it.So Nest would not be effiecient for a home with large dogs that run by the device every hour?
In my house, the NEST sits about 5ft high on the wall. It lights up whenever someone walks in front of it. It's never lighted up when either of the three dogs have run in front of it.
But yeah, depending on how you have it mounted, a pet theoretically could be detected. Then the "auto away" feature would not be of much use to you.
There's still a few other ways that I think a Nest can be more efficient than a regular thermostat, so I wouldn't personally say it's pointless just because "auto away" doesn't work in your house.
Also, I wish they had remote temp sensors to get more even temp distribution.
I was thinking about purchasing The Nest so I read some of the blog postings. It seems that it uses an internal battery which would have to be replaced by the manufacturer every 5 to 7 years. Also, during the times inactivity of the heat and AC, the thermostat tries to cycle the heat to charge it's battery. I read several complaints about both. I've been using Honeywell programable thermostats in my home which work just fine. The latest model (RTH8580WF) now uses WiFi for programming and control. It gets it's power from the furnace, not a battery. Home Depot has them for $149.00 but you can get them on ebay for around $125.00 or so. I picked one up and it works great. The App opens fast and allows me to view and adjust my house temperature. Programming has to be done on a computer or the thermostat itself. Very easy. It even sends email alerts if temps go over or under your presets.
Just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents in case anyone was looking to buy a new thermostat.
Never. Unless somebody doesn't know how to work their heating.
Out of curiosity, has anyone used a Nest in a home with floor heating? I'd love to buy one of these but curious if it adapts to the 2-hour lead-time needed for the concrete slab to actually heat up.
Serious question...what is the advantage of the NEST (aside from looking extremely cool ) over my thermostat?
How is this that much different than any other programmable thermostat that either comes with your house already or can be easily bought for less than $50? Set your thermostat once and you're pretty much done. The only time I need to go to my thermostat is when I want it a little warmer/cooler than the present temperature and I don't need an app to do that.
Anyone know if the US product will work in the UK?