I finally decided some time ago to replace the original thermostat that was installed when my house was built with the2nd Generation Nest Thermostat. I must say that I waited for the second generation and the idea of spending $249.00 for a thermostat was not easy to swallow, but if all of the reviews that I have read are true then I expect with one year I will have recovered the cost of the thermostat and at that point the monthly savings will be money in my pocket. First let me say that the installation was much simpler than I expected and I am not mechanical by nature, in fact I will call a repairman before doing anything myself. If I can install this thermostat, then anyone can. If you have any doubts about this device working in your home or office be sure to use the Nest Compatibility Tool.
The unboxing itself makes you feel like you have a shiny new tech gadget to play with and in many ways you do.
My next step was to shut off my power and remove that five year old thermostat and get the wires ready for the Nest. Trust me, it is really simple and within 15 minutes I had the installation wrapped up.
At this point all of the hard work is completed and the next steps are the setup and configuration of the thermostat. The device is absolutely easy to use and the interface is extremely user friendly. The first thing that I did was added it to my home network in order to obtain any updates and access or control the device from any device that has network connectivity. For example, with my Galaxy Nexus I can control the temperature of my home and drive my wife crazy.
The biggest thing that I have found after having this thermostat for some time now is that my wife and I are no longer walking behind one another adjusting the temperature, which all know is the worst thing that you can do in terms of your monthly bill. In fact after setting my schedule and the learning that the Nest performs, we have not touched the temperature at all. Believe it or not I find that I am even sleeping better because the temperature lowers at midnight until six in morning while in bed under the blankets. When I wake up in the morning the Nest has already begun working heating the house for me.
Once you access your account online there is a great deal of information available that includes:
- Energy
- Schedule
- Settings
- Support
Here with the at a glance you can see that the outside temperature is 57 degrees, the indoor temperature is 70 degrees, and the humidity is 46%.
One of the best features in my mind is the auto-away. Think about it for a moment and you will understand why this is important. Why would you want to heat or cool your home with the same temperature that you are accustomed to while you at home? Lower the temperature and use the money you save to enjoy that vacation.
Monitoring the energy use is simple also. The web interface tells you exactly how long your heating and cooling ran on any given day. If you have been thinking about purchasing the 2nd Generation Nest Thermostat, I urge you make the move and I am sure you will have no regrets. For those of you that may not have heard of the Nest Thermostat, be sure to give the following video a watch.
