We personally use the Nest Thermostat in our smart home, and are partial to its design and features. In this post we’ll outline them for you in case it’s the right choice for you too. Based on our own research and experience, we’ve found the Nest Thermostat to be the best choice for smart thermostats. The main reason we decided to get a smart thermostat was to save money on our electric bill. The Nest Thermostat made this possible in so far as it is auto-programmable and also controllable from anywhere you are, using your smart phone.
The Nest Thermostat comes with everything you need to install it yourself. If you’re not particularly handy or don’t like dealing with electrical set-up, you can hire someone to do the install for you. We’re not particularly handy but were able to do it ourselves.There is an included screwdriver if needed. First you’ll need to switch all power to your current system by throwing off the switch on the breaker panel. When you remove your old thermostat, confirm that it does not say 120 volt or 240 volts. If it does, that means it is a high voltage set-up, which is not compatible with the Nest Thermostat. Label the cables with the names provided in the installation guide, and then detach the old thermostat. When removing the old set-up, make sure the wires don’t fall back into the wall. If your old thermostat was bigger than the Nest Thermostat, you can use the included trim plate to cover up the hole. Connect your labeled wires to the Nest Thermostat and attach the display by pressing it onto the base until you hear a click. The Nest Thermostat will take you through a quick setup. The outer ring of the device revolves left and right – just press gently when you get to the feature you want to select. You can add your location, language, and connect to your wifi network. After completing the setup, you can return to the settings menu at any time by pressing on the display. The display is blue when cooling and orange when heating. It not only shows you what temperature the thermostat is set to, but it also shows you the present temperature and an estimate of how long it will take to achieve your setting. The Nest Thermostat has a motion sensor built into it, so when you walk by the thermostat it will light up so you can quickly see the thermostat temperature. If you choose, you can also display the outside temperature or the time in digital or analog format.
One of the best features, is that after a few days, the Nest Thermostat reads your heating and cooling habits and automatically create a schedule for your usual temperatures throughout the day. After a while, you’ll have a week’s worth of programming according to your typical routines. If you have a routine that changes from week to week, this will not be as helpful, but fortunately you can go in there and customize the schedule at any time – or turn it off if you’d prefer.
To take full advantage of the Nest Thermostat, you’ll want to download the free smart phone app. Set up a free login account, and then you can begin to operate your Nest Thermostat from your smart phone. You can set up the app so that the Nest Thermostat automatically knows when you’re home and will adjust the temperature accordingly. You also get access to the same settings on the app that are available on the thermostat itself.
Another great feature is that the thermostat indicates with a green leaf when the temperature is at an energy-efficient level. You’ll receive a monthly emailed report indicating your energy usage and how many leafs you’ve earned, as well as how much energy you used compared to others in your area.
There is a lock feature; you can create a 4-digit passcode to avoid your settings being changed by anyone else. We haven’t needed this feature, but perhaps some might find a use for it.
We have gotten a lot of use out of the planning feature though, which allows you to set the temperature to be at a certain point by a certain time. For example, we like to set the Nest Thermostat in our bedroom so it’s nice and cool by the tome we’re ready to turn in.
Since the Nest Thermostat is connected to the internet, it will receive regular software updates as released by Nest. It is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, so you can adjust the temperature with voice commands. The Nest Thermostat comes in black, white, cooper, and stainless steel, so you can compliment your home’s decor. This is definitely our choice for a smart home thermostat. Hope this post helped you to see the benefits as well!
