Nest Thermostat Review: 6 Months With a Smart Thermostat

The Nest Thermostat is an easy to install effective way to efficiently heat a home or apartment.

With good-looking design and smart power management, the Nest Learning Thermostat fits in with most home and office decor and is compatible with many home heating and cooling systems, even those without a dedicated power wire.

After using the Nest Learning Thermostat for half of a year, it’s easily one of the best connected home gadgets we’ve used thanks to ease of installation, reliability and convenience.

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This isn’t a light bulb you’ll change colors on once a month to impress a friend, it’s a smarter way to heat and cool a home or office.

The Nest Learning Thermostat includes everything needed for an average user to install it.

Installation and Setup

Nest installation is easy.

Installing the Nest Thermostat is easy enough for the average homeowner to tackle, but Nest offers connections to a professional installer.

Installation takes less than half an hour, including removing the old thermostat. The Nest comes with a variety of installation plates, a built-in level and a screwdriver,

Setup is swift, as there is no need to set temperature for times and days. The Nest learns from the actions users take during the first week or two, to understand the owner’s schedule and preferences.

The Nest sticks out from the wall more than many home thermostats, but it is not an issue, even when installed in a hallway.

Users can install multiple Nest Thermostats in a house to create zones if the house is set up in such a manner.

Using the Nest Learning Thermostat

The Nest offers controls and info at a glance on the thermostat.

The Nest connects to a WiFi network to enable remote control features. Once connected, users can adjust the schedule or change temperature from the Nest Website or with the iPhone, iPad and Android apps.

The apps offer an easy way to control the home temperature while traveling or just to turn the heat down more at bedtime.

Once the Nest learns the heating and cooling schedule, the app isn’t needed as often, but it’s a nice way to make adjustments when the outside temperature keeps the home warmer or colder than desired.

The Nest learns your heating and cooling habits.

Users can login to the Nest Website and view the schedule, energy usage and to adjust settings.

The Nest Thermostat also includes the ability automatically turn the heat or air conditioner off when no one is home with Nest Sense, so there’s no need to manually change things.

The Nest can also learn how long it takes to heat or cool a home or apartment and start the process in time to get the home up to the eight temperature before owners get out of bed.

Control the Nest Learning Thermostat with an iPhone, iPad or Android.

The Nest will even tell users when to change their air filter.

Sometimes the app can not connect to the Nest, but latest update helped with this problem. The Nest will cycle the heating or cooling system as needed to keep the battery charged, but if it gets too low users will need to wait.

In most cases, even when the app fails to connect users can control the temperature at the thermostat. During our review the house was without power for a week, once the power came back in the Nest recharged to normal within five to six hours.

Users can lock out control of the Nest so only select users can manage the temperature, handy for businesses or families with kids.

Energy Savings

Even after six months of use its tough to say if the Nest Learning Thermostat is saving on heating and cooling in a new house, but the leaf indicator, which shows up when the Nest sets the temperature at an energy saving level, is a nice motivator to keep the temperature at a reasonable level.

Nest emails monthly energy reports.

The system emails a report to users every month highlighting their use and comparing it to previous months and other users.

Nest Thermostat Recommendation

The Nest is a great gadget and that we would buy again.

Nest makes two models, the first generation Nest Thermostat we reviewed is available for $199 and the new Nest second-generation is $249. The apps are free to use with the app.

Nest takes an iPhone approach to software, rolling out new features to the older model so users don’t need to buy a new Nest for the latest features.

The Nest Learning Thermostat is an excellent thermostat that is worth the price for users looking for a thermostat that learns their schedule without my need to set it up and want the ability to control the heat or cooling with an iPhone or Android.