Launched last October to much fanfare, the Nest Learning Thermostat is the brainchild of two ex?Apple engineers. Their idea was to bring HVAC controls into the computerized, networked 21st century. The Nest?s biggest brag is its purported ability to learn your home heating and cooling needs and program itself accordingly.
Setup
Nest does everything possible to help with a DIY installation. It includes stickers in the installation guide to label which wires go where, and the Nest?s LCD display will even alert you to any wiring faults. That said, no thermostat can instantly educate a user on the eccentricities of 24-volt HVAC wiring. It took me 3 hours of research to discover I needed a C (or common) power wire before I could clear a wiring fault.
Performance
The Nest really is unlike any other thermostat. You just set it at whatever temperature is comfortable for you via a simple dial and color-screen interface and the device adapts to your schedule. Within a week, my Nest devices had started tuning my home?s temperature on their own. The Nest also has several sensors that can determine if you are in the house and active; if you?re not, it will automatically switch to Auto-Away or the nighttime mode.
The device has a proximity sensor, so its screen illuminates only when you approach it?a clever energy saver. And when you do interact with the Nest, it gives you helpful feedback. For example, when you adjust the system, it estimates the time required to reach that temperature. The Nest also connects to your Wi-Fi router and can be accessed via a Web portal or on iOS and Android devices, so you can monitor or change the temperature in your home from afar.
Conclusion
The Nest?s user interface is as elegant and simple as any thermostat this capable could (or should) be. And the amount of control you have over your thermostat via Web or mobile interfaces is truly mind-boggling. But it?s worth quibbling over the price. At $250 a pop, Nest units are five to 10 times the price of standard programmable thermostats. My dual-zone house actually required $500 worth of devices.
The premise of the Nest system is an efficient home-climate-control system that you don?t need to think about. But in three months of my experience, the exact opposite is true. Because the device is constantly and autonomously tinkering with the temperature in my house, I find myself frequently checking in on it and second-guessing its intentions. When I hear the heat kick on, I run to the Nest and examine its current setting. Do I really want the temperature to dial up to 72 degrees F? Now I?m not sure.
The Nest is a beautifully designed device that is supposed to intuit and implement my wishes. But now I find myself submitting to its digital will.
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