Nest's $39 Room Temperature Sensors Now Available to Order

[AustinJerry]

I don’t understand how this works. How can these sensors control the individual temperature of rooms when there’s a centralised heating system controlled by the Nest thermostat.

Does it keep heating/cooling under the highest/lowest temp of all sensors has been reached? Or is it smarter than that?

Not sure whether your question has been answered to your satisfaction or not. Typically, the HVAC system has one thermostat that controls the entire area served by that unit. For example, I have one HVAC system for my upstairs, and one for the downstairs, each controlled by a Nest thermostat. The upstairs thermostat is located in the hallway, which results in my bedroom being at times warmer or cooler than the hallway. By placing a sensor in the bedroom, my Nest control system is now monitors the temperature in both locations. You can then program which time of the day which of the two sensors (bedroom or hallway) is used to establish the temperature set point. I programmed the unit to use the bedroom temperature as the set point during the night, and the hallway temperature during the rest of the day. My bedroom is no longer too cool or too warm during my sleep time. IMO, the Temperature Sensor has been a very welcome addition to the product.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Also needs remote vents. Then you'd have the ability to shut off air flow to rooms that are already hot/cool enough and direct it more to the rooms that need additional heating/cooling.

 

[RobNYC]

With a central system, it can make one room comfortable and other rooms uncomfortable, such as multi-story structures. I could see this freezing the lower level to make the upstairs comfortable during summer. I would prefer implementing a zoned system that actually does what this wants to do.

A zoned systems is great, but what you're talking about is basically replacing your heating system. This is an option for people who may not want to spend that kind of money.

Basically what this is, it allows you to prioritize what sensor the whole heating or cooling system should read from and at what times. So for example, if you work from home in a home office that's either too hot or too cold during the day and no one else is home, you can put a sensor in there and it will heat or cool according to temp readings of that sensor. It's basically just copying a feature of the Ecobee. If that isn't something you need or are interested in, great. You don't need to buy a sensor.

 

[hagar]

A zoned systems is great, but what you're talking about is basically replacing your heating system. This is an option for people who may not want to spend that kind of money.

Basically what this is, it allows you to prioritize what sensor the whole heating or cooling system should read from and at what times. So for example, if you work from home in a home office that's either too hot or too cold during the day and no one else is home, you can put a sensor in there and it will heat or cool according to temp readings of that sensor. It's basically just copying a feature of the Ecobee. If that isn't something you need or are interested in, great. You don't need to buy a sensor.

Why would you need to replace your heating system? If you use the EvoHome, it's possible to install controls on each heater and have zones very cheaply. I don't know how good it works as I'm stuck with Nest, but it does look very promising: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Evohome-HR924UK-Wireless-Radiator-Multi/dp/B01L4P4YKQ

 

[avanpelt]

As someone with two Nest thermostats in my home already, I wish this new sensor was useful for me. My home office is above our garage and the room is not insulated very well. I'm in there 8+ hours a day and it's warmer than all the other rooms in our home by a significant margin in the summer and cooler than all the other rooms in our home in the winter. If I were to put one of these sensors in my home office and allow it to dictate the upstairs A/C and heat, the rest of our upstairs would be burning up in the winter and freezing cold in the summer. As someone else said, these sensors would be much more practical if "smart vents" were also available to restrict airflow in other rooms.

 

[bluespark]

Have had similar functionality through my ecobee for a couple years. Does a good job of regulating temperature. You can basically set up zones for where you want the temperature read from, what days or time of days to ignore, etc. Very helpful.

Another cool feature: It's an occupancy sensor that you can tie into other automations.

Unless this also has an occupancy sensor, it won’t do what Ecobee does. Ecobee allows you to use remote sensors in ways configurable around occupancy. For example, averaging in the temperature readings from a particular room only when that room is occupied, changing the mode from “away” to “home” if certain sensors detect occupancy, etc. The occupancy sensor is all-important for something like this to be “smart” in any meaningful sense.

 

[AustinJerry]

As someone with two Nest thermostats in my home already, I wish this new sensor was useful for me. My home office is above our garage and the room is not insulated very well. I'm in there 8+ hours a day and it's warmer than all the other rooms in our home by a significant margin in the summer and cooler than all the other rooms in our home in the winter. If I were to put one of these sensors in my home office and allow it to dictate the upstairs A/C and heat, the rest of our upstairs would be burning up in the winter and freezing cold in the summer. As someone else said, these sensors would be much more practical if "smart vents" were also available to restrict airflow in other rooms.

True. But a $39 temperature sensor is a useful solution for some, whereas to solve your specific issue, you will need to spend considerably more. While I have never looked into it, I suspect a "smart vent" solution would be considerably more expensive. And then there is the issue that closing off some vents may affect the static pressure in the HVAC system, potentially causing wear or damage.

 

[jmgregory1]

A zoned systems is great, but what you're talking about is basically replacing your heating system. This is an option for people who may not want to spend that kind of money.

Basically what this is, it allows you to prioritize what sensor the whole heating or cooling system should read from and at what times. So for example, if you work from home in a home office that's either too hot or too cold during the day and no one else is home, you can put a sensor in there and it will heat or cool according to temp readings of that sensor. It's basically just copying a feature of the Ecobee. If that isn't something you need or are interested in, great. You don't need to buy a sensor.

It will be interesting to see if people using these individual sensors with their Nest thermostat see an increase in energy use - specifically for those running single HVAC systems. The concept behind remote monitors / controllers for heating and cooling is fantastic, but when you're using a central HVAC system, if you have a sensor in say an upstairs bedroom, where it's naturally hotter due to heat rising, that sensor is would signal the system to run the AC more to get the temp drop, therefor using more energy than what the main floor Nest thermostat would otherwise call for. Sure, it's giving the homeowner more control over their own comfort, but it will very likely come at a cost of additional energy use.

If Nest / Google really wanted to change the HVAC market, they would be working with furnace/ac unit manufacturers as well as creating smart wall / ceiling vents and controllers, so that you could have a system that is integrated and would open / shut vents in individual rooms based upon homeowner need. You might actually be able to use a single HVAC system, if you could direct heating or cooling to specific areas of a home, adjusting for fan speed based upon those needs.

 

[redneckitengineer]

So why are we talking about a non-Apple compatible device owned by a competitor on an Apple specific website? Does it benefit this sites core mission to report this news?

Save yourself the headache, buy an EcoBee 4, works with Apple, has Alexa, and supports cheaper remote thermometers that have been available for years.

 

[Paleworm]

Can’t resist @ “...silently monitor how warm or cold it is.” Is there a product out there that monitors these things loudly?

 

[WilliamG]

Not sure whether your question has been answered to your satisfaction or not. Typically, the HVAC system has one thermostat that controls the entire area served by that unit. For example, I have one HVAC system for my upstairs, and one for the downstairs, each controlled by a Nest thermostat. The upstairs thermostat is located in the hallway, which results in my bedroom being at times warmer or cooler than the hallway. By placing a sensor in the bedroom, my Nest control system is now monitors the temperature in both locations. You can then program which time of the day which of the two sensors (bedroom or hallway) is used to establish the temperature set point. I programmed the unit to use the bedroom temperature as the set point during the night, and the hallway temperature during the rest of the day. My bedroom is no longer too cool or too warm during my sleep time. IMO, the Temperature Sensor has been a very welcome addition to the product.

This is exactly what I use my Nest Temperature Sensor for as well. My house is zoned on all three floors, and my Nests on each floor are in the hallways. So now I do like you, and can set the heat based on my master bedroom rather than the hallway. Good stuff.

 

[Mike Oxard]

Can’t resist @ “...silently monitor how warm or cold it is.” Is there a product out there that monitors these things loudly?

My wife.

 

[Dormammu]

I have one of these sensors upstairs in my home, and it works great. Allows my thermostat to know the temperature in a specific room (which is prone to being warmer than most on those hot days) and adjust the AC/HEATER to keep that specific room within a certain temperature range.

 

[cerote]

Just curious to who the main competitors to Nest are. I'm looking to replace the 2 thermostats at my house in the next month or 2.

Another vote on Ecobee. I went from second gen nest to ecobee. House feels much better and had less issues with keeping temp right.

 

[WilliamG]

My wife.

Haha. But your wife isn’t a product!

 

[toph2toast]

Ecobee has a great product. At least that's what my research determined. Ultimately, I was unable to install one because of the proprietary nature of my system.

I agree with the ecobee. I have a '3' has been solid for several years.. Only main issue I have is that if you unregister it from your ecobee account (say for troubleshooting) you lose all of your historical data

I have an Ecobee 4. It's great. Comes with the temp sensor and is Homekit compatible, the lack of the latter being why Nest products are complete non-starters for me at this point.

Another vote on Ecobee. I went from second gen nest to ecobee. House feels much better and had less issues with keeping temp right.

Thanks for the help everyone. I've been eyeing up the nest for awhile, but based on everyone's comments, and how the Ecobee sensors work, this seems like the best solution. Much appreciated!

 

[eelpout]

Just curious to who the main competitors to Nest are. I'm looking to replace the 2 thermostats at my house in the next month or 2.

Remote temp sensors are one of the reasons I went with a Honeywell system 4 years ago. Even the thermostats are wireless to the backend HVAC control as well. Works great.

 

[imola.zhp]

I'm glad to see these finally make it to market! Now I just need a year or so to pass so I can pick them up for $20 second hand.

Does the Nest work with Homekit yet?

The work-around is homebridge, google for more information. I still do not have mine working yet, but I just started on it a week ago and I have not had much time to dedicate to it. A few friends have it going, I sure wish they would come do mine for me, lol.

 

[budselectjr]

Thanks for the help everyone. I've been eyeing up the nest for awhile, but based on everyone's comments, and how the Ecobee sensors work, this seems like the best solution. Much appreciated!

You will be happy with it. I got a Ecobee to use the temperature sensors on another floor of our house to attempt to even out the A/C temperatures a little better(only one thermostat on my main floor) and it has helped out a lot.

 

[harriska2]

I would imagine these sensors are good for those mini split ductless heat pumps where each one is a zone but you want to automate it.

Personally we have a radiant water system under our floors. It is run with a plc controller that hubby programmed that takes outside air temp and determines how hot to run the water through the tubes.

What would be super helpful is to make it to where the system grabs the date (to determine if spring, fall, etc) and download the temps for the day to switch between our heating loop and cooling loop. Spring and fall can either end up being much hotter by the end of the day or colder depending on how much radiant heat from the sun and how warm it gets outside.

 

[MDF314159265]

Unless this also has an occupancy sensor, it won’t do what Ecobee does. Ecobee allows you to use remote sensors in ways configurable around occupancy. For example, averaging in the temperature readings from a particular room only when that room is occupied, changing the mode from “away” to “home” if certain sensors detect occupancy, etc. The occupancy sensor is all-important for something like this to be “smart” in any meaningful sense.

Exactly! Works like a charm too. I’ve had the Ecobee3 for years now and it has been wonderful.
Also, since adding Hue lights to my system, I can also use the occupancy sensors to automatically turn on lights when I enter a room.

Thanks for the help everyone. I've been eyeing up the nest for awhile, but based on everyone's comments, and how the Ecobee sensors work, this seems like the best solution. Much appreciated!

I was set on nest too, but the lack of HomeKit support (once I figured out what that really meant) made me reconsider. As mentioned above, I’ve had the Ecobee3 for years and am more than satisfied.
Also, if you’re in the US, check with your gas & electric companies for rebates. I bought my ecobee for $250, but got a $125 credit from gas & electric companies when I installed the product.

 

[toph2toast]

You will be happy with it. I got a Ecobee to use the temperature sensors on another floor of our house to attempt to even out the A/C temperatures a little better(only one thermostat on my main floor) and it has helped out a lot.

I have 2 thermostats right now, one on my main floor and one in the master bedroom upstairs. I have a 3 year old and another little one on the way, so I was planning to putting an ecobee thermostat in my bedroom, then putting a sensor in my children's rooms their room to help monitor/change upstairs temperature as needed.

 

[BWhaler]

Such a shame Nest is attached to Google the spyware data mining company. Amazing products, no way I’d buy one.

 

[bbotte]

Also these don’t work wih version 1 or version 2 Nest Thermostats. They only work with version 3. Pass...

 

[Piggie]

Or you buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Evohome-HR924UK-Wireless-Radiator-Multi/dp/B01L4P4YKQ
Not very good looking, but seems way more efficient if zoning is what you're after. And it's homekit compliant.

Thanks for that.
Whilst impressive, I'm sure for 99.999999999% of people it's way over-thinking the problem.

Simply having a cheap £15 TRV on each rad, which you set to the type of temp you wish the room to be, and just let it do it automatically is just a "It just works" method that nothing else will in reality become mainstream.