I asked a similar question about Arlo cameras and got some very honest feedback on how good they are (or aren’t in some cases). We’ve just had a brand new boiler installed with wireless thermostat so thinking of purchasing a Nest thermostat to complement this and integrate with SmartThings.
I was just wondering what current owners thoughts were on them? Do you find it effective? or is it just cool to be able to turn the heating on from accross the world? Has it saved you money? Any other cool stuff you can do with them?
My general thoughts about smart thermostats (nest and ecobee), they saved me money on energy. I don’t use the full learning features because I am like some folks that are control freaks
I switched to the ecobee3 this year when the new AC was installed. I like that you can get multiple sensors and have the system use it for average or for following you where you are in the house.
Like @eibyer I don’t use the learning features. I have two different homes, each of which has its own requirements that don’t fit into the current automatic learning capabilities of the Nest.
In my Mesa AZ townhouse, peak-period pricing is in effect from 3pm-6pm on weekdays. The peak prices are 4-6 times the off-peak prices, so you want to avoid running AC or heat during that time window. The “Away” feature of Nest only allows you to say “heat if it drops below X degrees and cool if it rises above Y degrees”. So basically I just use the Schedule feature, which is pretty much like any “dumb” programmable thermostat. During cooling season, I keep a certain temperature (80 degrees) from 6pm-1:30pm. At 1:30pm I set the temp about 5 degrees cooler (75 degrees) and pre-cool before the peak period. At 3pm, the start of peak period, I set it up to 87 degrees, and the A/C rarely goes on, even when it’s 120 outside. at 6pm it drops back to 80 for the next daily cycle. Only difference is on weekends I just let it stay at 80 all day because Sat/Sun are non-peak rates all day. I don’t have a SmartHub there yet but will be adding one later this year or early next year, and I may let the hub handle the schedule based on the hub’s “home” or “away” status.
At my Puget Sound home I have a heating-only system. “Away” mode will work here because basically when I’m not at that home (for extended times) I just want to make sure it doesn’t drop below 50 degrees. But I don’t use Auto-Away because it kicks on and off when I’m coming and going during the periods I’m there, when basically what I want is for it to stay at 67 degrees when I’m in town and 50 degrees when I’m out of town. I do have a SmartHub there and basically will use its “home” and “away” status to switch the Nest out of or into “away” mode.
Our bill runs $60/month, SRP says the average for our square footage with no pool is about $250/month. Now, I know I have to take that with a grain of salt, but still . . . . .
I set us up on the budget plan (we’ve only had the townhouse since 4/1) and they initially put us at $173/month - but my most recent bill told me not to pay anything this month now that they’re “learning” our usage history.
My utility gives me a rebate for each new Nest thermostat I buy. Currently it’s $100, so the total cost of the thermostat (retail) is $150.
My utility pays $40 each summer for me to join their “rush hour rewards” program, wherein my Nest pre-cools the house outside of peak hours on a handful of days. Combined with the rebate, it will take 2 years for the Nest to be cheaper than the CT100.
I’m not reliant on Smartthings for heating and cooling, but I can still integrate it perfectly into my system.
My wife likes (and actually uses) the Nest app (unlike the Smartthings app).
My wife likes the way the Nest looks.
The Nest provides separate control of my humidifier, which is critical in cold climates.
I do agree that every situation is different, but for me, I’ve never regretted my Nest purchase for a second.
I’ve bought this house about 14 months ago. About 12 months ago I installed the Ecobee3 and sensors in each room. I cant say for sure that it saved me a whole lot as those two months were mild late spring early summer. I can say this. My apartment I moved out of, was built in 1990 I think and was 800sq/ft. I kept it about 70ish in there, and my elect bill in the summer was $175 or so, ±20 bucks. This house was built in 2007 and is 2200sq/ft. My elect bill in the summer is about $150, ±10 bucks.
I value my comfort over the savings, but at the same time I dont want to spend a whole lot. So I’ve kept the house set somewhere around 71-73 this summer. Its been more days over 90 than we ever had, high humidity with ‘real feel’ every day over 100. So yea its done its job.
I do let it do all its fancy things. It is pretty darn smart. Only time I kinda scoff at it is on Friday’s when I work from home. It sometimes takes about an hour to realize I’m still here and stay in ‘temporary at home’. I dont like messing with it and overriding the setting just because I have forgot to undo that and left it set for a day or more. I dont try to be super controlling over it but I like watching the numbers. It might take a while for it to go into away mode when I leave but at the same time, I dont want it switching over and over when I just run down to Krogers and back.
I dont have it tied into ST at all. It does its job very well and I’m happy with it. Id rather it just be a t-stat than anything else. I can get temp readings from numerous other sensors in my ST network so I dont care about that. I dont change the temp like ever. Maybe once a season, like when we had 95* days for weeks I upped the temp a degree just to keep it from trying to cool for hours on end. But it is smart and like my house is the right temp when I get home from work, cooler when I sleep, and warmer in the mornings.
We dont have smart billing here so no benefits for cooling based on time, which sucks. I’m not sure of any rebates, but they will give you 5 compact florescence bulbs meh. So I got my ecobee just for comfort… with some savings as an added benefit. I’ve preached them to everyone I can as they are super nice to have. If you want to integrate the ecobee will do that, if you want alexa control it will do that, if you want to just set it and forget it it will do that
I feel it is more expensive than TADO or Ecobee. Also, it don’t display the current temperature unless you stay very near to it that too shows in small size.It has no option to display the current temperature in a bigger size.
I have to agree that some of the Nest features are fluff and can be handled by scripts in SmartThings. If you have the money to spend, and have the correct system, get the Nest. I have a single gas fireplace for heat in my house, millivolt system. Nest wouldn’t work directly and frankly would be overkill. I have the CT100 and am very happy with it. I don’t think Nest could manage it as well as ST does for me. (Turns down when the bedroom door is closed and the lights are off, turn off when the doors are open, etc.) We don’t have a schedule that could be programmed in, so active sensing is better for us.
I’ve owned Nest 2nd and 3rd Generations and can say for sure that it saves you energy and money annually. Compared to Ecobee3 and Ecobee3 Lite, Nest Thermostat is a more advanced and a complete product.
It works better, it’s smarter, looks better and functions more effectively. I’ve also had interactions with the Honeywell Lyric and it’s really problematic.
Today, if anyone wants to own a functional smart thermostat, Nest Thermostat undoubtedly is the best product on the market.
