Nest Thermostat Now Available in Apple Retail Stores

[drummingcraig]

Originally Posted by coolspot18

Except I think it's all a gimmick, a forced air system without zoning isn't that effective in managing temperatures across multiple floors. Also, not to mention, the Nest only has a single sensor and cannot effectively monitor a whole house.

Basically these features are gimmicky targeted towards the tech user.

Now, if homes had zoned HVAC and the nest could control each room independently that would be amazing.

The nest does support zoned systems, however the drawback is you have to install a Nest in each zone, and then they can all communicate via wifi.

[britboyj]

Originally Posted by drummingcraig

The nest does support zoned systems, however the drawback is you have to install a Nest in each zone, and then they can all communicate via wifi.

Yep. I do this in my house. One Nest upstairs, one downstairs. They talk to each other.

[Quirinus]

This made me giggle :

In some homes, the presence of pets may end Auto-Away mode before users have returned home. Whether or not pets affect Auto-Away depends on Nest’s location in the home and the size of the pet(s)

[Mike Valmike]

I can't tell you precisely where the differences are in Nest operations vs a normal programmable thermostat. What I can tell you is this. I live in the suburbs of Phoenix, AZ, where we spend basically March through October with temperatures higher than most regions experience all year. It is particularly brutal in July and August. 110+ degrees every single day. I have a one-story, 2000sf house. I had a Honeywell programmable thermostat set to keep temps at a tolerable level during the day and somewhat more pleasant at night. From 2008 when I bought the house through 2011, my summer power bill was never less than $400/month. In March 2012, I bought and installed a Nest and just let it do its thing. This summer, I never had a power bill that was more than $300/month. In one year it more than paid for itself. This is such a no-brainer that it touched off a flurry of Nest purchases among my family and friends. The numbers don't lie.

[mrfoof82]

I live in a high-end 1 bedroom apartment that's less than 5 years old, and is south-facing (bathed in sunlight all morning). I'm pretty frugal with the heat and A/C, and the Nest still saved me ~$180 in 2012 (11.5 months), reducing my overall electricity usage by ~25%.

No finicky setting schedules manually either, and occasional spiking the temp in one direction or the other. Really saved a bundle, and looks a lot better than the Honeywell thing the place came with.

[dinggus]

Originally Posted by burnside

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.

If I set my house temp. low before I leave, it'll be running all day. It doesn't get 70F outside until later in the evening in Miami.

My buddy asked why I leave the temp. at 80F when I'm out of the house, and I told him so I'm not running AC all day, so now we're wondering, does it cost more to leave it at 80F and then turn it on when we get home, or leave it running all day. Only reason we ask is because if it's 90F out, and 80F is still hot, we'd like to be around 74F usually, so it would take the house that much longer to get to 74F. Where as, if we kept it running all day it'll keep it at 74F and that's that.

[greenyoga]

Interesting...

[Lil Chillbil]

I still don't have an iphone

[dec.]

Installed our Nest yesterday - and I love it. The build quality is great, the interface is very smooth and neat and the installation was a breeze, I replaced our thermostat sometime last year and could have only wished for a clean wiring solution like the Nest has. I'm extremely impressed. Details like the motion sensor, the built-in level for installation etc. really are spot on. The price tag might appear slightly hefty at first but it's absolutely worth it, imho.

[Oracle1729]

Originally Posted by dinggus

so now we're wondering, does it cost more to leave it at 80F and then turn it on when we get home, or leave it running all day. Only reason we ask is because if it's 90F out, and 80F is still hot, we'd like to be around 74F usually, so it would take the house that much longer to get to 74F. Where as, if we kept it running all day it'll keep it at 74F and that's that.

The fact that you even wonder makes me weep for the quality of the American education system. Americans have no analytic abilities anymore.

I suppose if you were going away for a month, the answer would be obvious to you, but why is 8 hours or 2 hours any different. When it's 90 outside, why would leaving it at 80 somehow be more efficent than turning it off but leaving it at 74 is less efficient? Is the system on for more hours keeping it at 80 all day or brining it from 90 to 80?

The only reason it makes sense to leave it at 80 all day is if the system takes too long getting the temp back down to something comfortable (and then you're still wasting energy to reduce your wait to be comfortable), which is a preferential choice everyone can make for themselves.

[cdavis11]

Bought a Gen 1 Nest in November 2011, just after they came out.

I've been extremely happy with it so far. The latest system software updates have taken it from good to great.

I'm very pleased with it.

[Mike Valmike]

Originally Posted by Oracle1729

The fact that you even wonder makes me weep for the quality of the American education system. Americans have no analytic abilities anymore.

The fact that you don't understand the concept of heat transfer makes me weep for the quality of the education in whichever wannabe country you reside. The OP asked a legitimate question: does it use more energy to maintain a 10-degree reduction, or to reach it again after leaving the HVAC turned off all day. Residential buildings are subject to temperature fluctuation due to normal environmental conditions.

[Oracle1729]

Originally Posted by Mike Valmike

The fact that you don't understand the concept of heat transfer makes me weep for the quality of the education in whichever wannabe country you reside. The OP asked a legitimate question: does it use more energy to maintain a 10-degree reduction, or to reach it again after leaving the HVAC turned off all day. Residential buildings are subject to temperature fluctuation due to normal environmental conditions.

When you get a chance, google Newton's Law of Cooling, it's a good start on heat transfer.

Residential building HVAC really isn't that complicated, but insofar as it is, it's a red herring to this discussion.

The fact that you feel the need to defend such a silly question with such venom speaks volumes.

[scarred]

Originally Posted by Oracle1729

The fact that you feel the need to defend such a silly question with such venom speaks volumes.

You ought to read what you posted before criticizing others. Well, thanks for the laugh anyways :P

[dinggus]

Originally Posted by Oracle1729

The fact that you even wonder makes me weep for the quality of the American education system. Americans have no analytic abilities anymore.

I suppose if you were going away for a month, the answer would be obvious to you, but why is 8 hours or 2 hours any different. When it's 90 outside, why would leaving it at 80 somehow be more efficent than turning it off but leaving it at 74 is less efficient? Is the system on for more hours keeping it at 80 all day or brining it from 90 to 80?

The only reason it makes sense to leave it at 80 all day is if the system takes too long getting the temp back down to something comfortable (and then you're still wasting energy to reduce your wait to be comfortable), which is a preferential choice everyone can make for themselves.

Whoa there keyboard tough guy, sorry I have interests in other things besides learning about heat and cooling transfers.

The fact you need to question my silly questions and make statements on my knowledge of analytic abilities with such venom speaks volumes.