The Nest Thermostat Review

After a review of the Nest Thermostat it is pretty safe to say that this is a revolutionary device in terms of design, remote energy management and ease of use. It is the first thermostat able to learn from your heating needs as you change the temperature at different times of the day. The pupil then becomes the teacher as it then, via its display face and energy charts on your free internet account, teaches you where and how you are saving energy and so how to optimize further. The bottom line is that this thermostat can take around 20 percent off of your energy bill.

Getting to Know Your Schedule

After replacing your old thermostat the Nest takes about a week to learn your heating and cooling habits. It remembers each time you alter the temperature and by the end of the first week can already map out a schedule. It is important to “teach” your Nest your best heating habits so that it can quickly build the most optimized schedule in keeping with your personal comfort and energy saving policy. The first week will, in short, give it a template to work from so it is wise to teach it well. That said, even if you forget certain temperature changes, don’t worry, it will fill in the gaps.

If your house occupancy changes for any reason—for instance, because you have an elderly aunt staying with you for a time—the device will figure out the new pattern by itself, although it will take it a few days to catch on. In this way, your “normal” schedule won’t be affected by one-off temperature changes.

However, you can modify your schedule at any time manually. You can do this either directly from the thermostat itself or by using the Nest app.

Away and Auto-Away

The Away feature sets your heating to energy-saving mode. This is useful when you are away for long a period of time such as a vacation. The Away feature will keep your heating at the fixed economic temperature even if movement is detected say from a neighbor watering the plants.

The Auto-Away feature turns your heating down automatically when the activity sensors, thanks to their 150° wide-angle view, no longer detect any occupancy for a certain amount of time. As soon as the device detects movement it will turn the heating up again.

Time to Temperature

Cranking up the gauge won’t heat up the room any quicker, but if you forget to turn it down not only will you reach an uncomfortable room temperature but also waste energy. The Time to Temperature feature will tell you how much time is required for the heating system to reach the desired temperature so that you won’t be tempted to overshoot.

During the initial learning period, however, the thermostat will only display whether it is heating or cooling. Once it has learnt how quickly your system heats and cools your accommodation it will be able to give you an estimation of the time required to reach that target temperature to the nearest 5 minutes. The more it learns the more accurate it becomes.

Nest Leaf

The green leaf will show up when you have set the Nest to an energy-saving temperature compared to your normal schedule thus encouraging you to save energy. Remember, setting the temperature to just 1 degree towards a more economical level will reduce your fuel bill by as much as 5 percent!

Multiple Nest Thermostats

You can use your Nest with other types of thermostat. You can also install as many as 10 different Nest thermostats in two homes on a single account, and manage them remotely via internet using a Nest app. The information is brought together to give a more refined picture of your heating habits and consequently enable even better heating management. You can teach each thermostat a specific schedule according to the zone it covers.

In short, combining your schedule with data from humidity and movement detectors, plus weather conditions and forecasts, means that this smart and elegant thermostat saves you time, improves your comfort, and saves you money.