Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Really cool new thermostat

Bet you've never heard anyone say that before.

http://www.nest.com/index.html

Only problem is it's $249, so I won't be running out to get one any time soon.

I saw that while browsing tech blogs during breakfast this morning. Self adapts to your patterns, figures out how long it will take you to reach a certain temp and if you have two of them, it will even figure out on it's own how to heat the upstairs most efficiently via the two talking wirelessly.

I would probably be tempted but with in-floor heating, adjusting the temperature for short periods is not always optimal as it can take so long to get you up to your desired constant. Sounds like it can even figure that out as well but for the few times I'm away long enough for it to matter, I can self adjust.

Yet, deep down. I still want one if only because it reminds me of HAL from 2001.

Here is the article.
iPod fathers unveil thier next project

Neat-o. Yeah, the price is a BIG factor.

I know someone that needs 2 of these. Always complaining about the temperature adjustments. She lives downstairs, and her mother lives upstairs. The thermostats she uses now are too complicated.

I e-mailed her this link. Let's see where it goes from there.

pretty cool

or hot....

or anywhere in-between.

It's certainly stylish. Looks like it should be called the iTemp!

I'm not sure it really accomplishes much beyond saving 5 minutes to get another programmed.

My current one "learns" in that, for example, if you want it to be 68 degrees when you wake up at 5am, it "learns" how long it takes the system to get it to that temp. So, you set it for 5am, and it really kicks the heat on at 4:35am or what have you. It's also programmable with four "events" during the day and seven days a week.

What it DOESN'T have, and I would like, is the ability to be adjusted via the web.

If I turn it down before going away for a weekend, I want to be able to bump it up an hour before I arrive home...via a smartphone in the car.

Reminds me of Hal in 2001.

So... if this thing malfunctions, instead of locking you out of your house, it'd either fry or freeze the animals in the house, correct?

The hot side stays hot and the cool side stays cool.

Will it learn that there are a couple of very curious kids in the house that love to fiddle with dials to see what happens?

No, but it might make the monkey's hair stand on end.

(Not as funny when you can't see the monkey avatar from last message.)

I am not sure but I think one of my friends has one or at least very simialr from what he told me; I know he can adjust his thermostat with his iPhone. He also has some locks/dead bolts for his house that he can control with his iPhone as well.

A learning Thermostat at 249$ wow !!!! expensive,

a wise & cheap trick to save energy,
I try ( i say TRY ) to learn my teens
to:
-shut the door of the fridge
-take shorter shower
-close the light
-etc...etc...etc...

Here's a nice little Zombie proof house to go along with your new thermostat Peter...



http://whatsupkuwait.com/2011/05/22/worlds-most-secure-house-zombie-apocalypse-approved/

The woman I sent this link to the thermostat responded back and said, "That's all I need, another appliance that's smarter than I am."

After we got one of those grind 'n brew coffeemakers, I used to tell Joyce that our coffee maker was smarter than I am....

"What it DOESN'T have, and I would like, is the ability to be adjusted via the web."

Here you go: Ecobee

Thanks Shawn! I'll check into it!

Somewhere I read (and now I have found a link) that all programmable thermostats lost their Energy Star rating due to the fact that more people lost money than saved money after implementation.

Sounds more like people just didn't know how to use them to me but here is the article I found.
Programmable thermostats no longer part of Federal Energy Star program

I read the article, but still don't understand how they don't save some people money. You'd have to be a complete moron to make it use more energy than a manually adjusted one, I think. Perhaps the people that are losing money, didn't turn up their utilities when they needed them turned up to begin with.

The Ecobee's street price seems to be about $400. At least, it was that price when this review was written a year ago: http://stevejenkins.com/blog/2010/11/product-review-ecobee-smart-thermostat/

I just bought a gen2 Nest. Only took a few minutes to install and get it online with my iPhone. I love it.

I can adjust the temp from anywhere now and it has sensors that will notice if nobody is home. I don't know how long it will take to earn back the $250 I spent but I know someday it will and it is SUPER SUPER COOL.

I use a Honeywell FocusPRO 6000 thermostat. It communicates with a 18 seer two-stage KeepRite air conditioner and a two-stage 96% AFUE KeepRite furnace. Installed by an industrial HVAC installer that installs systems at hospitals, factories, universities etc (not a typical home installer).

Cream of the crop. I talked to a HVAC guy at a wedding recently and he almost splooged in his pants when I described our heating and cooling system.

The understanding I got from the guy that installed my system is that you don't want your system to short cycle or have large swings in temperature programmed from one period to the next. People with digital thermostats like to alter their temperatures a bit too much. He told me just to set it and leave it alone. Furnace and air conditioner will automatically switch over. Ideally with a system like mine to get maximum efficiency from the air conditoner you actually want it to run pretty much all day in the lower stage. It will kick on to stage-two to "catch up" briefly but that doesn't last long. Constantly altering the temperatures can hurt more than help. In this case would cause the air conditioner to run at the higher stage more than it needs to.

Hey Chris-
I was looking at those the other day at Home Despot. I meant to go to the website for more information, but forgot to.

Are the lights blue? If so, I should buy one!

Hi Mark,
I really stressed over buying this thing. $250! But that remorse melted away immediately upon unboxing it.

You could do really mean things to your family with one of those and an iPhone.

The thermostat isn't the area that saves you money. It's bottlenecked by the quality of your heating and cooling system, the quality of its installation, and the homes build quality. A quality thermostat is the final piece that should be examined.

Ken,
I can't wait to turn the heat down while my wife is home and I am out.

I remember reading articles when the Nest first came out. I appeals to me and I like how if you have more than one zone (upstairs and downstairs zones) that it will eventually learn the best way to maximize the effeciency of heat between the two areas.

That being said, my contractor put way too many zones in the house for this to work with my in floor heating system. I could pick and choose zones I suppose but it would still prove expensive as just having one would not make any sense.

My whole house is one, big, square zone.

The first generation Nests where pieces of junk. They couldn't do multi-stage heating and cooling systems, no humidity control. Not sure about the fan control. Really just a basic thermostat with wifi capabilities.

If I were to go with a wifi compatible thermostat it would be a Honeywell for sure.

A basic thermostat doesn't learn your heating and cooling habits and optimize itself to save money on your energy bill. That's the main selling point of the Nest. It's a bit harsh to call it a piece of junk just because it doesn't have the features you want.

For a "high end" price tag thermostat, the first gen couldn't even run a 2-stage air conditioner. The air conditioners that are highly efficient and will actually save you money on your energy bill. It didn't have the basic features of a $60 thermostat of that time. I would consider that junk. The "learning aspect of the nest" is much of a gimmick IMO and not needed. Constantly adjusting temperatures might not be a good thing (short cycling is bad), where its placed is crucial or it will give false adjustments (like a hallway). In Canada we are also on peak rate hours. It can't learn that.

The Gen 2 Nest is MUCH improved with features, but I would still be afraid of the compatibility issues with the more complicated ultra-high efficient HVAC systems. In this case I would go with the Honeywell Prestige IAQ.

Thanks for clarifying. Now we can agree.