Nest - The thermostat Apple would've created...

[bhaveshp]

So this looks to be a pretty cool product that hopefully saves energy & pays for itself.

It's designed by a couple of former Apple engineers (Tony Fadell - designer of the iPod) and their design style evokes definitely evokes Apple.

At $250, it's pricey compared to the typical $50 programmable thermostats, but the techno-ecogeek in me will get this.

http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/index.html

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/10/n...stat/all/1

[Chakravartin]

A thermostat that needs babysitting.

Just what I've always wanted.

so Mac-like.

[Winston]

Sounds neat. I have a friend who runs a home automation company. Sent the Wired link to him. Will be interesting to see what he says.

I've thought for a long time that the companies that make thermostats need a shakeup. The whole home automation industry in fact. Because they sell mostly to builders, the products are as boring as dry toast. Maybe this will shake up the industry a little.


Good luck.

- Winston

[graylocks]

Chakravartin wrote:
A thermostat that needs babysitting.

Just what I've always wanted.

so Mac-like.

right. i mean, instead of setting up the timing when i first install it i now have to get up at 5:15am the first day and tell it to turn on, then be home around at 8am when i want it to go down a few degrees and home again a 6pm when the heat should go up and then get up again at 12:15 am since i go to bed at midnight but i don't want the heat shutting off until i'm in bed, and since that's a weekday setting, saturday morning i have to get up at 5:15am to tell it not to kick in until 8am...

i'm not getting the convenience here...

[Fred_Also]

As long as it doesn't run Lion - turn the heat up & it would get colder in the house!

Fred

[Winston]

graylocks wrote:
[quote=Chakravartin]
A thermostat that needs babysitting.

Just what I've always wanted.

so Mac-like.

right. i mean, instead of setting up the timing when i first install it i now have to get up at 5:15am the first day and tell it to turn on, then be home around at 8am when i want it to go down a few degrees and home again a 6pm when the heat should go up and then get up again at 12:15 am since i go to bed at midnight but i don't want the heat shutting off until i'm in bed, and since that's a weekday setting, saturday morning i have to get up at 5:15am to tell it not to kick in until 8am...

i'm not getting the convenience here...
I think the idea is that the algorithms are smart enough that if you, say, get up at 7 am and adjust it up to 72 degrees from 67 degrees, it learns that at 7 am you want it to be 72, so it starts warming things up an hour or two before that. I'd be surprised if they haven't also thought about different schedules on the weekend.

You adjust it when you are warm or cool, and it's supposed to then anticipate what you want from learning your schedule. My guess is that there will be a computer interface that also lets you tell it when your schedule changes. The Wired article discussed turning on the heat at a vacation home remotely before you arrive, for example.

Part I don't get is the motion sensor - what if the thermostat is in a spot where people don't walk regularly?


- W

[deckeda]

A few of you are having trouble seeing the whole product page. It's a learning device. You program it indirectly.

And when you aren't there to babysit it for the first week, edit it online. Are we sure this is such a problem?

[bhaveshp]

Winston wrote:
Part I don't get is the motion sensor - what if the thermostat is in a spot where people don't walk regularly?

:agree:

Maybe they'll have remote sensors that can be placed in better spots and communicate over Wi-Fi.


I hope the next product this company makes is a Wi-Fi Sprinkler controller - Save water! Program from phone, Auto adjust on rain days etc.

[space-time]

feel free to vote wiyh your wallets. Just like you did with iPods for the past 10 years.

[Acer]

I poo-poo. Other than being a button-pressing-nightmare the first time, my old-fashioned programmed thermostat has fulfilled its duties with little adjustment for the five years it's been on the wall.