Nest

[HeK]

Since they were first unveiled, then immediately sold out, I was interested in the Nest learning thermostat.
A new batch is now available, and now with support for Canadians!

Basically, it's a thermostat developed by the engineers behind the Apple iPod, and it shows.


Simple stainless steel disc. It sits blank until a wave of the hand wakes it up.


It's basically a fancy programmable thermostat for the iPod generation. It has a number of other features, learning the changes you make and following your schedule.
It monitors activity in the house and goes into away mode automatically. It monitors the outdoor weather and forecast via wifi.

New features are added via firmware updates. It can now calculate time-to-temperature so it doesn't over heat/cool and monitors humidity to make best use of air circulation.


The interface is simple, basically a click wheel and push button. Easy, until you need to enter a 20+ char wifi key.


I will have to see how it performs in the coming months, as it takes a week or two to learn. I don't really expect it to be too different from my previous programable thermostat except style and the handy web/iphone/android app:


Now I can turn up/down the heat when I leave the house, or if I am lazy and don't want to get up from a several-hour long Diablo 3 marathon.

[at0m]

Is it wrong that things like this make me want to buy a house?

[Luinbariel]

Buying a house is kind of awesome, not gonna lie.

Only problem is now you have to fix everything.

But, the Nest! Even I like it. It's super cool, it looks really good on the wall and is super easy to use.

[CaffeinePowered]

Is it wrong that things like this make me want to buy a house?

Off topic, but it really depends on how you look at it


Pre-Bubble -> I buy a house to make money on it
Post-Bubble -> I buy a house to live in

The latter is how it always should be, if you are secure in your job and area you live (don't see yourself moving in ~3-5 years) it might make sense to buy, especially with how low interest rates are.

For myself personally, I don't think one should buy unless they can make a 40-60% down payment. That's definitely very high, and my views are a bit outside the norm, but just being about to get out from under grad school debt (that if I paid the "minimum" in would have lasted until I was in my late 30s - early 40s), I have no desire to take out another "30 year" term loan.

I would much prefer a 5 - 10 year mortgage which would be manageable with a high down-payment, I'd rather not have to wait until I'm in my 50s to say I 100% own my own and owe nothing on it.



On Topic

That's really cool, and I'm kinda surprised it hadn't come out earlier, but I'm sure someone's had some life-hack for this cobbled together for years.

[at0m]

Off-topic: That's the way I've always seen it, re: reasons for buying one. The finance end of things I was planning on worrying about if/when I decided to buy one.

On-topic: I'm sure there have been programmable thermostats (or people using arduinos to run their stuff and do the weather bit or implement a more complex PID control for the temperature and humidity), but I'm pretty sure this is the first time it's been combined together in a commercial package like this.

[Surf314]

Off-topic: I think I've seen math that shows right now buying does not make financial sense in most areas of the US. I personally wish I never bought, and pretty soon the fact that I bought might be a major problem for me.

On-topic: I want one but I will only be in my house for like another year and a half. Plus I just had to buy a new dishwasher so I think my home improvement budget is gone for a long time.

On/Off-topic: If you rent from an "investor" or a smart more hands on property manager you can usually work out deals where any improvements you make can partially count towards your rent or something. I know when my dad was younger he used to manage rental property and he said the best tenant he ever had was a guy that completely renovated the place just because it was something he enjoyed doing, I think he ended up giving him rental credit for projects he approved or something. It makes sense for the owner as long as it is something that adds value and is done properly.

[HeK]

but I'm pretty sure this is the first time it's been combined together in a commercial package like this.

At least this affordable. While programmable thermostats sit in the $30-$100 range, the more fancy ones sit around $200.
The Nest is $250, with features offered by the next cheapest models sitting past the $350-$400 mark but without the ease of setup or use.

[HeK]

Read about an other feature of the nest, it will email you if there is a problem detected.
If my heat goes out in the middle of winter while I am away on a trip, it will let me know.

That right there pays for it's self.

[Kor]

Read about an other feature of the nest, it will email you if there is a problem detected.
If my heat goes out in the middle of winter while I am away on a trip, it will let me know.

That right there pays for it's self.

Happy wife, happy life.

[HeK]

So they added a feature called AirWave.

Basically it works on the premise that your AC coil remains cold for a bit longer after the pump stops.

In normal systems, once the air temperature reaches the target, the pump stops and the fans stop.
With airwave, the system knows how long to keep running the fan after stopping the pump to make use of the residual 'coldness'.
It also monitors the air humidity and will only use this feature during certain ranges.

A firmware update just saved me more money.

[at0m]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/08/a...-the-nest/