Home Nest Products and Ecosystem with Apple Products

[OutGolfn]

Just wanted to let anyone know that is contemplating going the Nest route. Just finished installing Nest products through out the house. It all just works and setup is a breeze! The brand new Nest Yale lock for the front door is phenomenal! It's not cheap, but it's worth it.

I use HomeKit mostly for lights and switches etc, but Nest's ecosystem and their one app is the best solution right now in my opinion after tons of research. Homekit support is one of their highest requested features, but as mentioned its not on the roadmap for anytime soon. Never say never!

However, their Nest app supports iPhone, iPad, Watch, Apple Tv.

The high ratings/reviews truly support the Nest products. The way Nest provides over the air/wifi updates for their products is great. From my experience they listen to their customers and incorporate features into the future updates automatically. Within the Nest app you have the options of turning on or off the new features if you do not like them. They are owned by Google, but truly seem to want to be the best on both iOS and Android for the benefit of the entire ecosystem.

So going this route you aren't locked into one mobile OS system should you decide to make changes down the road.

Hope this helps in your research!

Nest Thermostat
Nest cameras
Nest Secure which is the home security system
Nest Detect wireless sensors with Pathlight is great for the family at night!
Nest Yale Door Lock
Nest Doorbell
Nest Protect CO/Smoke Alarm

Update: see my post below about the new Starling Home Hub to seamlessly bring together your Nest Products and Apple HomeKit together for $89 plus shipping. It’s plug and play, You do not need to learn how to install Homebridge because the developer Adrian has created this product for ease of use! See post #16 below for more details!

 

[rillrill]

My house came with two nest thermostats. I want to get into home automation, and my first purchase is the nest hello doorbell. I looked into video cameras that work with HomeKit, but I didn’t like any of them. With the ring being bought by amazon, I decided to stick with nest. I might try that home bridge thing maybe, but I think for a lot of doorbells, what would I need HomeKit for?

 

[OutGolfn]

My house came with two nest thermostats. I want to get into home automation, and my first purchase is the nest hello doorbell. I looked into video cameras that work with HomeKit, but I didn’t like any of them. With the ring being bought by amazon, I decided to stick with nest. I might try that home bridge thing maybe, but I think for a lot of doorbells, what would I need HomeKit for?

Now with HomeKit Authorization/code being able to be Software based it opens the doors for developers to implement it should they desire. HomeKit is a highly requested feature on the Nest Community website. They acknowledged it’s not on the roadmap right now, but who knows. For right now the Nest iOS app is great. Sure HomeKit and Siri would be nice. Hopefully with time Nest delivers HomeKit if the demand is large enough!

I’ve just read briefly about Homebridge and looks like it’s doable but definitely takes multiple steps/trouble shooting.

 

[Nell]

I think the only Nest products I’ve seen here are the cameras, thermostat and smoke/CO detector. I don’t have any cameras but I do have the thermostat and Nest Protect and think they’re great. I’m quite happy with the Nest app so not too bothered by the lack of HomeKit support.

I do need to sort out some outside lighting with motion sensors so I’m hoping something suitable comes along soon; either Nest or Philips Hue would suit me but I haven’t started investigating yet as I’ve had too much work done in the house recently so need to save the money up first!

 

[Toonartist]

Just finished setting up HomeBridge on a QNAP NAS drive and now can control my Nest Central heating through Siri / HomeKit. You can ask what the temperature is, humidity, tell it to increase by X number of degrees or tell it to set it to XX temperature.

Also, using HomeBridge I've been able to set up Harmony Hub on HomeKit as well.

Until these companies official provide a link in, HomeBridge is a good option, especially if you already have a NAS drive.

 

[AdamA9]

I also have Nest on HomeKit via Homebridge. It wasn't the simplest to do and took me about an hour to setup from unpacking a Rasberry Pi to being able to say 'Hey Siri'.

I'm not technical at all, so you might be able to do it quicker than me.

I think the only Nest products I’ve seen here are the cameras, thermostat and smoke/CO detector. I don’t have any cameras but I do have the thermostat and Nest Protect and think they’re great. I’m quite happy with the Nest app so not too bothered by the lack of HomeKit support.

I do need to sort out some outside lighting with motion sensors so I’m hoping something suitable comes along soon; either Nest or Philips Hue would suit me but I haven’t started investigating yet as I’ve had too much work done in the house recently so need to save the money up first!

The other new products, like locks etc. are not available in the UK yet.

 

[BillGates1969]

I too use HomeBridge for Nest amongst other things. As @AdamA9 says it is relatively easy to setup on a Raspberry Pi. I also have a program called Home Assistant and Node Red set up on various Raspberry Pis that I also 'expose' to HomeBridge to bring more to HomeKit. There is nothing that Siri can't do now that Alexa can

Feel free to PM me anyone if you need a bit of help as I am about 2 years into my Home Automation journey and have got everything working with Siri that I need - officially supported or not

I even have a nice automation that triggers an alarm when the washing machine is done - not using a smart washer, but just a WeMo plug on the end of it with energy monitoring

 

[InfiniteJoules]

I’ve had Nest Protect smoke & co alarms for years now. I absolutely love this product because of the automation I’ve been able to build out with IFTTT. The only thing I don’t like is that it doesn’t work with HomeKit. As a 9-1-1 dispatch supervisor, 911 Division Chief and Accreditation Manager for 11 years, I can’t tell you how valuable this product is. So far I have six installed in my home with continued plans to place one in every room in the house.

My suggestion for guys if start getting these is to place them in all of the bedrooms first. After that place them in this order. This suggestion just comes from years of taking 911 calls and the most likely places for fires or CO leaks to start.
2nd: Kitchen
3rd: Laundry Room
4th: Location of Water Heater
5th: Garage
6th: Location of air conditioning unit
7th: Attics
8th: All other rooms with electrical wiring in them.

Here are some of the recipes or now called applets I have IFTTT for these.

I’ve also been in talks with IFTTT about adding the ability to send a SMS message to 911 if there’s a certain type of activation. Many but not all 911 centers in the country can receive Text-2-911 calls/messages. With having the ability to prebuild a text message to send to a 911 Center, Nest Protect would be able to notify them of a fire or CO emergency whether or not your home. There are many questions that we ask that you could prebuild the answers to and the 911 center would immediately have that info to pass along to EMS/FD/LEO before making any calls. Info that could be prebuilt are:
*Location of Fire or CO within the structure
*Address
*Cross Streets
*Garage Code
*Nearest Hydrant location
*Size of structure
*If pets reside there
*Emergency contact information

Anyways just some ideas for you guys if you’d like to make your homes safer with Nest Protects.

 

[AdamA9]

I’ve had Nest Protect smoke & co alarms for years now. I absolutely love this product because of the automation I’ve been able to build out with IFTTT. The only thing I don’t like is that it doesn’t work with HomeKit. As a 9-1-1 dispatch supervisor, 911 Division Chief and Accreditation Manager for 11 years, I can’t tell you how valuable this product is. So far I have six installed in my home with continued plans to place one in every room in the house.

This might be a stupid question, but why do you need one is every room in the house? Seems a bit overkill? I have three, one on each floor of the house in the hallway. Why would this not be enough?

 

[InfiniteJoules]

This might be a stupid question, but why do you need one is every room in the house? Seems a bit overkill? I have three, one on each floor of the house in the hallway. Why would this not be enough?

Your question is in no way stupid. Fire spreads very quickly! For example if you have a fire that starts on the first floor in a corner room and the door is locked. How long is that fire consuming your home before you know about it? Before it reaches that smoke detector.

The more smoke detectors the quicker you can respond to it to put it out with an extinguisher. Same principle for the fire department. The sooner the fire department is notified of a fire the sooner they can arrive and put it out before it extends to other parts of the house.

When it comes to structure fires, timing plays a massive role. I have unfortunately taken many structure fire calls where either the home didn’t have smoke/CO detectors or didn’t have enough.

For example:
I received a call of a structure fire at a residence from a neighbor. A fire had started in the kitchen area and had extended to the living room. The smoke detector in the living room went off but by that time it was too late for the home owners to get out. The entire home was filled with smoke and unfortunately the family couldn’t get out in time. They passed away.

Another call was for a lightning strike on a residence. Lightning had struck this residence during a storm and the home owners weren’t aware of it. They thought it had struck a tree or the ground somewhere nearby. By the time the owners called 911 because they had smelled something burning. They’re entire attic of the house was on fire. When the fire department arrived all they could basically do was an exterior attack because the house was to fully involved to make an interior attack. They ended up losing their home.

Another was for a car that had caught fire in the garage. The home owners had gotten home and parked in their garage and went inside. For whatever reason their car caught fire in the garage and they weren’t aware of it until smoke had made its way inside the house. They lost that entire section of the home.

I can go on and on with examples.

Doing this job for so long and living in Florida I’ve learned a few things.

1. Put smoke detectors in as many rooms as possible.

2. Clean out your entire dryer vent tubing using a dryer duct cleaning kit. I bought on Amazon called Cyclone and it’s what professionals use and won’t damage your duct work.

3. Spend $1500 and have a lightning rod system added to your roof.

4. Reinforce your exterior doors to reduce burglars from getting in. $90 per door at Lowe’s. (https://www.homedepot.com/p/StrikeMaster-II-Door-Frame-and-Hinge-Reinforcement-55724/202076114)

5. Add motion LED flood lights to each corner of your house.

6. Inform your County/City/Parrish/State 911 Coordinator the location of any hidden keys. The fact that your doors are reinforced. Garage door codes. All of this information will be added to their CAD system. So heaven forbids there’s an emergency at your residence. The first responders will be giving all of that information at the moment they are dispatched.

Also remember that not all fire departments are paid fire departments were personnel are sitting around waiting on a call. Some departments are volunteers. So those firefighters have to respond from their home or work to the fire station to pick up the apparatus and wait for additional fire fighters to show up before they can respond to your emergency. Again this is were timing is everything. Literally, every second counts.

 

[AdamA9]

Your question is in no way stupid. Fire spreads very quickly! For example if you have a fire that starts on the first floor in a corner room and the door is locked. How long is that fire consuming your home before you know about it? Before it reaches that smoke detector.

The more smoke detectors the quicker you can respond to it to put it out with an extinguisher. Same principle for the fire department. The sooner the fire department is notified of a fire the sooner they can arrive and put it out before it extends to other parts of the house.

When it comes to structure fires, timing plays a massive role. I have unfortunately taken many structure fire calls where either the home didn’t have smoke/CO detectors or didn’t have enough.

For example:
I received a call of a structure fire at a residence from a neighbor. A fire had started in the kitchen area and had extended to the living room. The smoke detector in the living room went off but by that time it was too late for the home owners to get out. The entire home was filled with smoke and unfortunately the family couldn’t get out in time. They passed away.

Another call was for a lightning strike on a residence. Lightning had struck this residence during a storm and the home owners weren’t aware of it. They thought it had struck a tree or the ground somewhere nearby. By the time the owners called 911 because they had smelled something burning. They’re entire attic of the house was on fire. When the fire department arrived all they could basically do was an exterior attack because the house was to fully involved to make an interior attack. They ended up losing their home.

Another was for a car that had caught fire in the garage. The home owners had gotten home and parked in their garage and went inside. For whatever reason their car caught fire in the garage and they weren’t aware of it until smoke had made its way inside the house. They lost that entire section of the home.

I can go on and on with examples.

Doing this job for so long and living in Florida I’ve learned a few things.

1. Put smoke detectors in as many rooms as possible.

2. Clean out your entire dryer vent tubing using a dryer duct cleaning kit. I bought on Amazon called Cyclone and it’s what professionals use and won’t damage your duct work.

3. Spend $1500 and have a lightning rod system added to your roof.

4. Reinforce your exterior doors to reduce burglars from getting in. $90 per door at Lowe’s. (https://www.homedepot.com/p/StrikeMaster-II-Door-Frame-and-Hinge-Reinforcement-55724/202076114)

5. Add motion LED flood lights to each corner of your house.

6. Inform your County/City/Parrish/State 911 Coordinator the location of any hidden keys. The fact that your doors are reinforced. Garage door codes. All of this information will be added to their CAD system. So heaven forbids there’s an emergency at your residence. The first responders will be giving all of that information at the moment they are dispatched.

Also remember that not all fire departments are paid fire departments were personnel are sitting around waiting on a call. Some departments are volunteers. So those firefighters have to respond from their home or work to the fire station to pick up the apparatus and wait for additional fire fighters to show up before they can respond to your emergency. Again this is were timing is everything. Literally, every second counts.

Thank you for the detailed reply. I should probably point out that I live in England, so probably makes a little difference as I believe there are structural differences here, plus it is regulation for me to have fire doors internally throughout the house.

I have a open plan lower floor and every room in the next two floors has fire doors. Would you still deem this unsafe? It seems this is always one of those things you think about before it is too late.

 

[InfiniteJoules]

Thank you for the detailed reply. I should probably point out that I live in England, so probably makes a little difference as I believe there are structural differences here, plus it is regulation for me to have fire doors internally throughout the house.

I have a open plan lower floor and every room in the next two floors has fire doors. Would you still deem this unsafe? It seems this is always one of those things you think about before it is too late.

Do you guys have Text-2-999 there in the U.K.?

Having internal fire doors is an excellent thing to have inside of a structure.

I would not deem it unsafe. I would just recommend having smoke detectors in every room. I know that the Nest Protects are expensive as heck but I would at least put cheap ones from a local hardware store in the meantime.

Yep, typically it's not thought about until it happens to you, a family member or a friend.

Just remember that the smoke detectors are there to alarm you of a fire in your house and your going to want to have as much time as possible to get you and your family safely out.

 

[Nell]

I only have one alarm at the moment (in the hallway just outside the kitchen door). I know I need to get more. Must get on to it.

 

[AdamA9]

Do you guys have Text-2-999 there in the U.K.?

Having internal fire doors is an excellent thing to have inside of a structure.

I would not deem it unsafe. I would just recommend having smoke detectors in every room. I know that the Nest Protects are expensive as heck but I would at least put cheap ones from a local hardware store in the meantime.

Yep, typically it's not thought about until it happens to you, a family member or a friend.

Just remember that the smoke detectors are there to alarm you of a fire in your house and your going to want to have as much time as possible to get you and your family safely out.

Yes, we do have text-2-999 here, which is for all of the emergency services.

 

[DNichter]

Just finished setting up HomeBridge on a QNAP NAS drive and now can control my Nest Central heating through Siri / HomeKit. You can ask what the temperature is, humidity, tell it to increase by X number of degrees or tell it to set it to XX temperature.

Also, using HomeBridge I've been able to set up Harmony Hub on HomeKit as well.

Until these companies official provide a link in, HomeBridge is a good option, especially if you already have a NAS drive.

Hey! I have a QNAP NAS. How did you do this? Do you have any sort of instructions to follow??

 

[OutGolfn]

Have a cool update for everyone using Nest Products with iOS and HomeKit! Please check out Starling Home Hub which is a plug and play hub to seamlessly bring your Nest Products and Apple’s HomeKit together! With out needing to learn how to install and run Homebridge on a Pi or other device. Very cool and setup is a breeze! The developer Adrian is responsive and has a great road map planned! It costs $89 plus shipping. Allows the google two factor authentication for security or the standard Nest login.