Geeky thermostat

[Mitch Buchannon]

That is a cool looking thermostat.. Im starting some renovation work on a property I just bought and that would look fantastic in it. I now have to see if its compatible with Irish/UK systems. Fingers crossed

[yakmeister]

Just got mine. As an aside, I know why people on this forum like this thing so much. It comes with a box and papers.

Took me about 20 mins to install. Haven't hooked it up to my router yet though, hate typing in WEP keys... I love this thing for one reason above all others. Unlike every other thermostat I have ever had, you do NOT have to manually flip back and forth between heating and cooling. It just adjusts the temp. What a concept!

[bayerische]

It looks great indeed! Saw it some months ago on Beoworld.

[dbelle7]

Ok. Thanks a LOT. Now I must have one. Three actually.

[FeelingTheBlues]

Originally Posted by dbelle7

Ok. Thanks a LOT. Now I must have one. Three actually.

Add a fourth one for me please.

[dbelle7]

Originally Posted by FeelingTheBlues

Add a fourth one for me please.

now I know what to get you for Christmas, Carl

[kilyung]

Just got my energy bill after a month. It was actually lower than last month despite being the hottest July on record (lower than same period last year). Yes, I did have my previous thermostat programmed as well. This is just a bit smarter. Not just fun but useful!

[roadcarver]

Does it have 'Circulation' mode? Most thermostats only have On / Auto / Off.

I want circulation so that the fan motor is not always on.

[kilyung]

Originally Posted by roadcarver

Does it have 'Circulation' mode? Most thermostats only have On / Auto / Off.

I want circulation so that the fan motor is not always on.

It controls the fan and compressor separately. In fact, it has a function called Airwave that's pretty cool. From Nest.com:

Your air conditioner is made up of two energy consuming parts: the compressor and the fan. The compressor uses a lot of electricity while the fan uses very little. Other thermostats keep the air conditioner running until your target temperature is reached, then turn it off. They ignore the fact that the compressor coils can generate cold air for 5-10 minutes after the compressor is off. Nest’s exclusive Airwave technology takes advantage of this fact.

Airwave turns the compressor off a few minutes before reaching your target temperature. It then runs the fan alone till it reaches the temperature you want. What makes Airwave a Nest exclusive is its ability to learn exactly how much cooling can be done with the compressor off. Only Nest automatically shuts off your compressor at the right time to maximize your savings.

While Airwave requires the humidity level inside your home to be low, it works throughout the US - even in areas with high outdoor humidity. This is especially true if your home is relatively new and well-insulated.

The reason Airwave doesn’t activate in high indoor humidity is to keep you comfortable. If it’s very humid, Nest will run your compressor throughout your cooling cycle to lower the humidity and prevent mold.

Nest automatically turns on Airwave when interior humidity falls below a certain level and your compressor has been running long enough to remain cold even after it turns off.

When Airwave activates you’ll see it on the Nest.

[GothamG8or]

Looks like Nest will be updating & coming out w/ another model to handle more complicated systems soon

IPhone Creator Challenges Honeywell Anew With Thermostat Upgrade
2012-10-02 13:00:00.0 GMT


By Adam Satariano
Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- As one of the creators of the iPod and iPhone, Tony Fadell raised eyebrows when he announced last year that, for an encore, he’d start working on thermostats.
Fadell, along with fellow Apple Inc. alumnus Matt Rogers, founded Nest Labs, the maker of a device that automatically adjusts a home’s temperature based on user behavior. A year after announcing the company’s flagship product, Fadell said he’s not getting that bewildered response as much.
Nest Labs sells the thermostat at retailers, including Lowe’s Cos. and Amazon.com Inc. Even Matthew McConaughey is getting into the act, with Texas utility Reliant Energy Inc.
using the actor to help market the product. Now Fadell’s company is announcing the second version of its $249 “learning thermostat,” adding features to accommodate higher-end systems, Bloomberg.com reported on its Tech Blog.
The new model adds the capability for more advanced cooling systems, floor heating and other features that are common in more affluent neighborhoods. A new design makes the stainless- steel device 20 percent thinner.
“Our customers were saying, ‘I want to buy Nest but it doesn’t work in my home,’” Fadell said in an interview at the company’s offices in Palo Alto, California. “The more complicated and more efficient systems, typically in the higher- end demographic homes, we couldn’t cover.”
While the company won’t disclose sales figures for the first version of its device, Rogers said, “we’ve exceeded our own expectations.”

Innovating Thermostats

Fadell unveiled the round-shaped Nest after spending nearly a decade at Apple, where he worked closely with co-founder Steve Jobs on building the original iPod and iPhone. He and Rogers, who was also part of the iPod team, saw the thermostat business as ripe for a technical upheaval that would help customers save money and manage power consumption.
The device includes a motion sensor to determine when people are home so it can turn up the heat or air conditioner.
Over time, the device learns a user’s patterns, such as what time the heat gets turned up each morning, and automatically sets a schedule for that. Likewise, after somebody leaves in the morning, the device may learn to the lower the heat because a person isn’t likely to return for several hours.
Another feature turns off the air conditioner just before it reaches the appropriate temperature and then blasts the fan to push the last gust of cold air in to the house, a move that saves energy. The system can be managed remotely from apps that can be downloaded onto an iPhone or handheld device that features Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
“We have tons of interest,” Fadell said.

Honeywell Sues

That interest hasn’t escaped the incumbents in the thermostat business. Honeywell International Inc. filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Nest earlier this year. Nest denies the allegations. Fadell, who hired former Apple patent attorney Chip Lutton to join him at Nest, said he’s confident the matter will be resolved soon.
Lutton is one of several former Apple employees who have joined Fadell at Nest, which now has 130 employees. That has many wondering what Nest may be up to besides thermostats.
“This is a really deep team,” Rogers said. “You don’t assemble a team like that just to do one product.”
He declined to elaborate on the company’s plans.
Nest Labs investors include Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, LightSpeed Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures Inc. and Generation Investment Management LLP, which was co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who is also on Apple’s board of directors.
Fadell, who said he doesn’t have a non-compete agreement with Cupertino, California-based Apple, is careful to add that he doesn’t want to battle his former colleagues.
“It would be hell on earth to compete with Apple,” he said. “I’m not that dumb.”

For Related News and Information:
For new-product news: NI NP <GO>
For Internet industry research: BI INET <GO> Top Stories: TOP <GO> Apple earnings: AAPL US <EQUITY> TCNI ERN <GO> New energy-efficient products: TNI NP NRGEFF <GO>

--Editors: Marcus Chan, Tom Giles

To contact the reporter on this story:
Adam Satariano in San Francisco at +1-415-617-7204 or [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tom Giles at +1-415-617-7223 or
[email protected]