Nest thermostat

[MikeYC]

Anybody using one? Supposed to save $$$ on the bill with the initial cost at 249.00.


Their website says I cant use it cuz i have a Heatpump with Emergency heat but i thought you could put Emergency heat on a seperate switch. Any ideas?


TIA


Mike C

 

[lzenglish]

I don't have one of these "Nest" Stats, but in checking there site, it appears someone dropped the ball with the emergency heat switch. They recommend you tie it in with the aux. heat, as shown in the link below. I would think they are probably working on a revision to correct this, but not sure.http://support.nest.com/customer/portal/articles/368114

Wayne

 

[broman78]

I want one.

 

[Falcon67]

Our wireless t-stat can do most of what they show there except the learning and it was $99. We pretty much let it run on the schedule we set. And there's an app for it, so we can change things away - or from the couch because I'm that lazy sometimes.

 

[VHF]

The manual 'emergency heat' setting on most heat pump thermostats typically makes it run only the electric backup heat strips and disables the heat pump. I've known of more than one case of folks accidentially selecting this and getting a $400+ electric bill!

The time to use this would be if you know conditions aren't suitable for heat pump use (extream cold or freezing rain) and you want to save the wear-and-tear of the heat pump trying in vain to extract heat from the air outdoors.

But in this case, couldn't you just flip off the 240V breaker for the outdoor unit? The air handler should either get power from it's own 120V breaker or from the 240V breaker that supplies the heat strips. The thermostat is will eventually call for aux heat, kicking in the heat strips.

 

[VHF]

BTW, the Nest thermostat looks really cool!

 

[gatchel]

Seen one at the local Lowes store. Kinda pricey. I'll let others "save $$$$$" before investing in this one.

 

[BigE]

Anyone have any issues with one of these? Looking at reviews on Amazon, there were some folks who had some significant problems with theirs and in some cases, the manufacturer was pretty much useless to remedy the issue. I'm wondering if this may be a consequence of older home/HVAC system, etc. Just trying to learn before I plop down hard earned cash on one. For reference, my house was built in 86, but a new HVAC system was installed in 2006. It is forced air, A/C, gas furnace.

Thanks

 

[Strouty]

They do look really cool, I saw one at loses, but have been interested for a while now. I guess the apple store will be selling them too.

 

[BoostAddiction]

I have an Ecobee, and really like it. Not as fancy a UI, but clear, easy to use, accessible from my iPhone, etc.

Pricey, but worth it.

 

[shoot summ]

I had looked at the Nest, co-worker had one, decided since I need 2 I would hold off, and they were sold out at the first of the year. In a conversation with my neighbor he indicated he was interested as well. He told me he ordered one, for me to try out, get a feel for it, so I could install the one he ordered for himself(yes, he is a great neighbor). It showed up, I had it installed in about 10 minutes, and 20 minutes later I had ordered the second one. They are way cool, the ability to control it remotely from a smart phone or PC is great. It did a good job learning our schedules, with a little tweaking I don't do much with the schedule now as it is spot on. The energy usage charts are nice to have, and the time to temp has now made it so my wife understands that turning the temp lower doesn't make it get there faster.

I would absolutely buy them again.

 

[alecmcmahon]

Looks real cool, but my schedule isnt consistent enough for it to actually learn anything.

 

[justsam]

I was one of the early adopters for the Nest. Something I told myself I would no longer be but thermostats have always been one of those things that I kept waiting for someone to do right.

What the Liftmaster 3800 is to door operators, the Nest is to thermostats. It is just done right, and of course it is not cheap.

The remote operation, the occupancy detect, the stored history data, and apps for it are all Apple UI intuitive. It even updates itself with latest software/firmware.

I am not an HVAC expert so there may be some less then ideal technical issues for some applications, but for my system it is great. I have had several far more complex home automation integrated thermostats, and this beats them all.

Now if we can just get this type of think tank to do the same for remote controls! And yes I have tried iPad apps, Pronto, Creston, with IR, RF and now IP control. Still not where it needs to be.

 

[maxspeed96ct]

I want one bad aswell but just can't justify the cost.

Hopefully within a few months they have some competition from another brand or two for something similar and the price drops ..

 

[64coupedeluxe]

I picked one up when I saw it at lowes.

Then I did some research and it seem's there are a lot of people that have had problems with it. It also isn't easy to just switch on the fan and have it run for circulation which we do a bit. You can do it but have to go through a bunch of menu's.

Our thermostat is also in the hall so the sensing part wouldn't work out so well. There are also many days when we have the thermostat switched off.

I wanted to like it as it looks great but it just didn't make sense for us. Do some serious googling and you will get all the problems.

I ended up getting the $99 3M-wifi from home depot. It is great and the iphone app is easy to use. This thermostat will also work with just about any heating/cooling system where as the nest will not.

If you lose power the wifi needs to be re-set but it would still run any program that you already had.

It also requires a "C" wire from your fan/heater. To run properly nest also requires this. Its easy to do and there is usually a spare wire in the bundle that you can use.

That's my 2cents!

 

[gatchel]

Our wireless t-stat can do most of what they show there except the learning and it was $99. We pretty much let it run on the schedule we set. And there's an app for it, so we can change things away - or from the couch because I'm that lazy sometimes.

Link Please??? Help a brother out!

 

[pop pop]

Sounds like a Solyndra clone to me.

 

[64coupedeluxe]

Link Please??? Help a brother out!

Look on the home depot web site. It is made by Radiothermostat and Filtrete 3M is the brand it is being sold under(@HD).

It is being sold under different names from different companies. This is the same thermostat that comcast have re-branded as their own for the home automation they are flogging.

The app is by radiothermostat

 

[JimL]

Gimmick imo...

We never sell programable thermostats. If we do, we don't recommend using the programing feature.

Normally tell people, if you want turn it up or down a degree or two during the day or night, fine. Vacation feature is nice if your going to be gone a good while.

A lot of newer systems are 2 or more stages, in heating and cooling. 90% of the time the system just putters along in low stage. If you move the thermostat 2 degrees or more or the home goes up or down 2 degrees, you jump up a stage. More electric/gas usage. Those systems that are single stage just run longer cycle to make up for the temperature changes, not saving you a penny.

Doesn't pay to keep jacking with the temperatures.


Those thermostats learn about what temperature you want in your house. We put in systems that learn about your temperature, humidity, duct work, insulation, then put together algorithims to keep it the most efficient. Also do a ton of other things to keep your comfort level where you want it.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I saw our power company was offering a special rate if you used this thermostat. I think they might even supply you with it (requires a 1 year contract though)... Might want to check your local power companies and see if they offer similar.

 

[jeff000]

I saw our power company was offering a special rate if you used this thermostat. I think they might even supply you with it (requires a 1 year contract though)... Might want to check your local power companies and see if they offer similar.

Sounds.... odd.

Buddy has one of these Nests, it's been 6 months or so I think. But over last years bills there is no notable savings.
He said the bills are still within his normal +/-

One of the smart home t-stats is a far better investment.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Here is the link: Reliant Learn & Conserve Plan. I live in Houston, TX. They give you the thermostat but you have to sign up for a special 2 year plan.

Me personally, I like the plain old manual thermostats... If I'm hot I turn it down, if I'm cold I turn it up. If I'm gone I turn it off... Don't need a fancy thermostat to do that...

 

[jeff000]

Here is the link: Reliant Learn & Conserve Plan. I live in Houston, TX. They give you the thermostat but you have to sign up for a special 2 year plan.

Me personally, I like the plain old manual thermostats... If I'm hot I turn it down, if I'm cold I turn it up. If I'm gone I turn it off... Don't need a fancy thermostat to do that...

Ah, no special rate, just a perk to use them.

At one point one of the electric companies here wanted to put in a t-stat that they could control if you had an ac, in exchange you got a discount. So when it was real hot and power demand spiked they could remotely turn your t-stat up a couple degrees to ease the draw on the grid.

I think in Ontario they actually did do something like that. I remember something about not enough people having an AC here to make enough of a difference, or maybe it was just that none of us cared enough to save a buck at the expense of the climate control.
This year was the first time they used rolling black outs during the heat wave.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Yeah I actually just looked at the rates and ironically the price per kwh is no better than their others (and higher than some of the others too)...

When there is too much demand here they just do rolling brown/blackouts... lol. Of course those days when you know it is going to get extremely hot and I know nobody will be home I turn the thermostat waaay up along with making sure all the lights and stuff are off.

Even though this house was built in the 70's, according to the power company it compares to some of the more "energy efficient" homes. It's a 4 bedroom ~2,000 sqft. During cool / cold weather we only use about 800kWh or less, but in the summer that can spike up to 1,800+ depending on how hot it gets (105+F is not uncommon). Plus we have a pool and the pump runs every day for like 6 hours!