NEST Thermostat Review – Home Remote Intelligence – FREE iPhone App

nest-thermostat

Fadell, Nest’s co-founder and CEO, was an adviser to Apple CEO Steve Jobs Then Fadell quit Apple in early 2010, wanting to make a thermostat that would be beautiful as well as functional. As with Apple products, design was crucial.

“You can buy a beautiful refrigerator; you can buy a beautiful stove; you can buy a beautiful vacuum cleaner, but you can’t buy a beautiful thermostat,” Charlton said.

Nest started in a Palo Alto garage about 18 months ago, before quietly taking offices in a Palo Alto shopping center. Explaining Fadell’s zest for secrecy — Maris said he was forbidden from uttering the word “Nest” over the past year — Charlton said, “We wanted a focus on the product and the team. Tony said, ‘Let’s not go out and talk to people; let’s just build a great product.’ ”

At Apple, Fadell led the teams that developed the first generations of the iPod and iPhone, and is generally credited with the idea of linking a digital music player with an online music store — the concept that became Apple’s iPod and iTunes. Rogers, Nest’s other co-founder, oversaw iPod software development from concept to production. The Nest team also includes Yoky Matsuoka, the vice president of technology, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient who was formerly Google’s head of innovation.

FEATURES WE LIKE:

1. Bright and Large Display especially for people with weak eyesight.

2. Very convenient to see the thermostat display and make adjustments sitting on your couch (or from another room) with your iPod, iPhone instead of having to walk up to the thermostat each time. A convenience which quickly becomes addictive.

3. Energy History on PC or remote as a bar graph lets you see the total time your HVAC is ON each day. Clicking on a bar graph gives you the precise time and intervals during which it is on. In addition compares with your average usage and provides comments on whether any change was due to outside weather or your settings.

4. The App provides a much easier way to program settings than the thermostat itself.

5. Not limited to 4 settings / day but can accept settings as fine as 15 minute intervals.

6. Learning Mode to adapt settings to changing patterns in your thermostat setting, but can be turned off to keep fixed manual settings

FEATURES WE DISLIKE OR ARE MISSING:

1. Does not have manual Fan Only Mode if heating/cooling is turned off.

2. While Auto Away, ignores activity at night while you are sleeping, there is no way to tell it your sleeping times. If you are a retiree who sleeps till 11 am and find Auto Away has kicked in and heated the room. So you have to keep it off.

3. No Hold temperature till cancelled. If you change the temperature manually, it will hold only till the next schedule point.  You would have to delete the entire schedule and reprogram (or learn it). There should be a “Suspend Schedule” without having to delete it.

4. It would be great if their Energy Display had a way to estimate dollars for the usage using input Cents/kwH or something. Maybe they can add it in the future.

What’s Included

• Nest Learning Thermostat
• Nest screwdriver, mounting screws, wall anchors, optional mounting kit
• Owner’s manual