My thermostat is smarter than I am...I think.

"mazda616" (mazda616)
03/17/2018 at 22:38 • Filed to: Houselopnik

Got a Nest thermostat tonight. Install with my friend took 15 minutes. My house was built in 2001 but the wires from my old thermostat hooked right up to the Nest’s base.

I had $105.99 in store credit to Lowe’s, so I put that towards this. And our utilities company gives us a $30.00 rebate for installing a programmable thermostat. I got the app on my phone and setup was a breeze.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Nest-White-E-Thermostat-with-Wifi-compatibility/1000295893

Anyone else have one of these? I have it partially on a schedule, I think. But it is supposed to learn our routine and adjust accordingly.

DISCUSSION (18)

E90M3 > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 22:47

A computer is only as smart as its programmer.

XJDano > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 22:49

i have a similar one from Honeywell. Just programmable & phone app. Although I haven’t used app much I did get an email that I used 15% more heating activity than this month last year (February). I guess I got it around this time last year.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 22:50

Have one myself. Recommend setting it on your own schedule as far as your home away, work, sleep, etc. That being said they’re pretty convenient in their controls, auto on when you walk by, etc.

facw > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 22:55

My parents have had them at their last two homes. They work pretty well. I much prefer having the ability for them to just learn when to run, as opposed to programming them. The biggest issue is that if your thermostat is in a low-travel area, it may get bad ideas about when you are actually there.

HammerheadFistpunch > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 23:01

I still don’t understand how this is smarter or better than a basic programmable. The ideal heat curve doesn’t change much and doesn’t really need to be micro managed

itranthelasttimeiparkedit > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 23:04

Yeah it is 100% better than a normal one but not much. Biggest thing for me is the app/website are easier to use and i do not have to walk in the other room. It sucks for us since we have 1 unit and thermostat is upstairs. So if we are downstairs for a few hours during the day it goes into eco mode...

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 23:05

Welcome to the future. My wife and I have had a nest for the last 4 years or so. Really useful

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 23:05

We like ours a lot. I haven’t noticed much of a drop in our energy usage, but once you set it properly, it does keep the house the right temperature at the right time. You can also control it remotely.

The only thing it doesn’t do properly in our experience is set it home/away properly. Like right now I’m out and it shows that it’s in home mode even though both of us are miles away right now and not headed that way. That said, we could change the state if we wanted to from the app.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 23:30

I have a nest and nest protects. Works great!

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > mazda616
03/17/2018 at 23:58

I love mine, mainly because I can control it from my phone, which is especially nice since my bedroom is a different floor than the thermostat.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > mazda616
03/18/2018 at 00:03

I’m tempted but I’ll probably go with some smart lights before I pull the trigger on the thermostat.

Wacko > HammerheadFistpunch
03/18/2018 at 00:20

To me they would be better because they are easier to program via app or webpage, and can have more than 4 temp settings in one day

Mine are all basic programmables since I got 12 baseboard thermostats and one low voltage that is also heating only.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > mazda616
03/18/2018 at 01:26

I actually just replaced my Nest with an ecobee because I wanted remote temp sensors (multiple floors), and Nest just announced that they are making remote temp sensors now. Great.

MM54 > mazda616
03/18/2018 at 10:27

Like many things, this is something I just don’t get it. Why? In what world do you need your thermostat connected to the internet? Is walking up to it to change the temperature too much these days?

Then again, I have an old-ass programmable one that was here when I bought the house. It has been set to “hold” since I moved in. If it breaks I’m getting a simple “Heat/Off/Cool” and “What temperature?” one...

Bruce116 > mazda616
03/18/2018 at 10:44

The benefits, not the smart learning, which ours also doesn’t also recognize when everyone is away and adjust accordingly, are the multiple time adjustments that can programmed; cool on heating nights, warm in time to take showers, then drop it back for the rest of the day. Now the factor I really like, that if you also happen to have the smart protect (their very user friendly and intelligent smoke/carbon monoxide detectors) they all link up so should there be a fire, the Next thermostat will shut our ventilation system down so as not to exacerbate the situation. With a forced air system, I like how Nest products link together to provide greater protection than any individual stand alone thermostat/ smoke detector.

Bruce116 > Bruce116
03/18/2018 at 12:09

I meant to say the home/away feature, not the smart learning feature in regards to what doesn’t work optimally.

The Compromiser > mazda616
03/18/2018 at 13:28

We have the previous model. Love it. The only concern we have is that it is very susceptible to dirty air filters. I don’t know why,but if we are having issues,we change the filter and everything goes back to normal.

Pistol Whipped Cream > mazda616
03/19/2018 at 17:39

We love ours. In the winter our heat only kicks on for a few minutes in the morning (AZ). In the summer, it saves us a bunch when we aren’t home because it doesn’t need to cool. The app can track you and kick the air on when you are close to home so it’s cool when you get there.