My love affair with a Nest thermostat never runs hot or cold — it’s just right
This Valentine’s Day, I celebrated a brand-new relationship — with my Nest Learning Thermostat.
She — I call her “Nestasha” — came into my life just after the first of the year, and I’m almost ashamed to admit that my heart has been doing a happy dance ever since. It’s important at the outset to note that the blame here rests squarely with my wife of 13 years, who gave me the one Christmas present I wanted. It’s also important to note that my wife is not cool with it (well, unless Nestasha decides to kick on the A/C, anyway).
What makes Nestasha so hot? Well, technically, she’s a steady 69 degrees Fahrenheit because I can check her status online. But here are five reasons why my new crush deserves a heaping handful of conversation hearts:
•She lights up when I enter the room — literally. The third-generation of the Nest includes a feature called Farsight that can sense activity up to 20 feet away and respond by coming to life and displaying the current temperature. With Nestasha installed across the living room from our front door, a warm greeting is guaranteed.
•She anticipates my every need. Nestasha is what’s known as a learning thermostat, which means she not only keeps track of the interior and exterior temperature but also when and how it’s adjusted. After about a week and half on the wall she was helping me stay warm at night and keeping me cool during the day on her own, with only a few gentle nudges of guidance since.
•She adjusts to my hectic schedule. After about 10 days of paying attention to her when I left for the office and when I returned home, she started lowering the temperature several degrees automatically so as not to be heating an empty house. This initially made things a bit frosty between Nestasha and my wife — who works out of a home office several rooms away. “I had to put on Ugg boots today,” she said a few weeks into the new relationship but before I’d had a chance to explain that it was more than OK for the two of them to interact when I wasn’t around.
•She gives me positive feedback. Whenever the thermostat is adjusted to an energy-saving temperature, a small green leaf appears on the display.
•She saves me money. According to Nest, adjusting the thermostat to save one degree can result in up to a 5% savings on the heating and cooling bills.
Last week I received the first email about our energy use. It noted that the house had been warmed for a total of 62 hours in January and the subject line read: “Off to a strong start.”
This feels like the beginning of something special.
Additional information about the Nest Learning Thermostat ($249) can be found at www.nest.com.
