I recently reviewed Belkin's WeMo Insight Switch
(January 2, 2015) and LED Starting Kit and am continuing to review other
products that I have purchased. This
review is about the Google Nest, a programmable and learning home
thermostat.
From start to finish, the experience was
excellent. The packaging is straight out
of the Apple playbook of packaging. It
is clean, environmentally sensitive and protective (the Nest is really a small
computer). The parts were clearly
labeled and well thought through. Now,
one might think that installing this may be a problem, complicated or
scary. But the Nest support team takes
that all away. The company has a sleek
inquiry system. If you are unsure of
installing the Nest computer to your furnace (HVAC – heating, ventilation, and
air condition system), you simply remove the existing thermostat (make sure
that the system is off), take a picture of your thermostat wiring, and email
the picture to their support site.
Within a few minutes, you will receive an email back with rewiring
instructions. The faceplate, wiring
plate, screwdriver and screws are all included in the box. It goes together in 5 minutes. It’s that simple.
The setup software and instructions are equally
simple. They were clear and easy and the
instructions come in English, French or Spanish (North and South American
markets). I was able to set it up to my
furnace in no time. The
iPhone/iPad/Android Nest apps make it easy to build your on and off schedule
for the whole week in an easy to view screen.
The Nest is equipped with a temperature sensor, a
humidity sensor, a near-field sensor, a far-field sensor, and an ambient light
sensor. There are not RoHS (Restriction
Of use of Hazardous Substances). And it
is arsenic free, mercury free, and PVC free.
There are several cool features to the Nest: 1) There is internet access through your
Wi-Fi. This allows it to retrieve the weather
information from the point nearest to your Nest. 2) There is a motion detector, so that as you
walk by it, it will illuminate to show the temperature setting. The motion detector will also notice your
absence and adjust the furnace settings that you programmed. What I mean by that is, if you have
programmed the Nest to have the heat set at 68 degrees F while at home, but you
step out during that period, and the device detects no movement; it will
automatically lower the temperature to its lowest default temp. Hence, it achieves more energy savings. 3) It connects automatically to its companion
product Protect, an integrated smoke alarm (reviewed in the next blog). 4) It is expandable. This means, that numerous companies are
adding new products that will integrate to the Nest. For instance, there are programmable LED
lights, door locks, garage door openers, etc.
There are several appliances that will connect to the Nest. This learning computer eventually will be
able to monitor and adjust your energy usage based on your presence or absence,
thus saving more energy.
If you have ever been to a European hotel, the
newer hotels use your key card as the on off switch for all of the electricity
in the hotel room. I think that this is
where the Nest is headed.
Product review: Google Nest
Cost: $249 plus tax (price may be lower, as some
utilities will rebate a portion of the cost – my utility, CenterPoint Energy
did not).
Rating: 4 out of 5, would be a 5 if cheaper.
Pros:
- The Google Nest is sleek looking – developed by a former Apple designer.
- The Nest is simple to install.
- It is simple to program.
- The iPhone/iPad software is clean, straightforward and easy to use.
- The Nest is expandable – they have opened up their software so that it may be integrated with other energy savings devices.
Cons:
- Cost is the biggest con, though because it is a computer from which other devices will eventually be attached, it can, in part, be forgiven.
- Google Nest sends each user a monthly statement of the customer’s energy usage. I find it not as useful as it could be. I would like to see line graphs depicting the outside temperature versus the energy usage over time.
- I hope that the software that is on my iPhone will include the expandable devices. What I don’t want to see is software from each expandable device manufacturer. I want to it inside of the Nest software, so that I can access all of the devices at the same time, in and from the same screen.
Conclusions:
I love this device – its simple looks, its solid
feel, its simplicity of use, its programmability and its expandability.
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