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Since 2012, the Nest Learning Thermostat has been making waves in the smart home technology sector. Now owned by Google and onto its third generation, the latest model repeats the earlier successes of its predecessors and adds a few extra features that make the pricey thermostat worthwhile. Here is everything you need to know about the third generation Nest Learning Thermostat.
What’s in the box
Whe you get the Nest Learning Thermostat, you get the thermostat unit, which is a sexy looking circular faceplate with the brains inside, plus the base where your wires will go into. There’s a couple of options for wall mounting it, and screws and a screwdriver are included.
Installing the Thermostat
Let me start off by saying I’ve tried to install plenty of smart thermostats into my home. I’ve only had success with one: this one. My home and my furnace are older and use a 2-wire connection which is incompatible with a lot of thermostats. The Nest is the only one I’ve been able to connect.
If you follow the instructions in the Nest app, the installation is truly easy; essentially all you need to do is take note of where your wires are connected now, and copy that to the Nest base. With your wires connected, just pop the faceplace on and it will boot up. I had this thing installed in about 5 minutes. And I couldn’t be more thrilled.
What Nest Learning Thermostat Promises To Do
One of the reasons why the Nest thermostat has become popular is thanks to its Auto-Schedule feature that learns your daily cooling and heating habits and then creates a schedule for you. You’re welcome to make changes if it doesn’t quite get it right of course, but it is perfect for people who want to leave their thermostat on auto without having to tinker with the temperature constantly.
Similarly, you can create your own schedules using the Nest App. If you want to save some energy, set the thermostat to turn down while you’re asleep, then come on shortly before you get up. If you’re going to be away for a week, you can also lower the temperature. The great thing about Nest is that even if you forget to turn the thermostat down before you leave, you can adjust it from anywhere with the app.
Smart connectivity and voice control
If you have other Nest Devices like the Nest Cam Indoor and Outdoor security camera or the Nest Protect smoke/CO alarm, the Nest Learning Thermostat can automatically communicate with them. You can issue voice commands to turn the heat or air up or down using either the Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa commands.
Take things a step further if you want. Create a movie watching routine where it turnes the heat up a notch, adjusts your smart lights, and turns on the popcorn maker.
How It Works: The Basics
While you can control every aspect of the Nest Learning Thermostat inside the app, there’s also physical on-devie controls too. You use the outer ring to adjust temperature or change settings too.
As the name indicates, the Nest Learning Thermostat learns about your home and your habits and can help you save energy. In its learning period, it takes not of when you raise or lower the temperature or when people are home or away. That data is then aggregated to help optimize your energy use, keeping you warm or air conditioned when you need it, and adjusting for lower energy use when you don’t.
What’s the leaf all about?
When you see a green leaf displayed on the device, you will know you are at an energy-saving temperature level. On the Nest device, the screen display can be set to the current or target temperature, the weather, a clock, or be off. You can also keep track of your past energy usages through the Nest Home Report that is sent to you each month.
Results
So what have I noticed after several weeks using the Nest Learning Thermostat in my home? To be honest, not a lot yet. The truth is this is a long term play for most homeowners. You’re not going to notice dramati energy savings in a week or even a month. Over a year, maybe. A couple of years, sure, it will add up. But there are a lot of other reasons a Nest Learning Thermostat is a good idea: the Safety Mode is a biggie. The automatic adjustments and Eco Mode mean you don’t have to micromanage your heating and cooling. Plus the ability to remotely access the Nest Learning Thermostat is a huge plus.
Final Thoughts
The Nest Learning Thermostat third generation is a small step up from its predecessors. With improvements like geofencing in the Home/Away feature, Safety Mode to keep your family safe, and energy reports, you can monitor the energy consumption of your home more effectively or let the Nest automatically do its thing!
In short, I’m very glad to have a Nest Learning thermostat I my home. It feels like a solid insurance policy and one that should pay dividends in the long run. I’ll have to report bak in a year or two.