Smart thermostat – Smart Home Geeks

Nest launches lower priced smart thermostat model

Henry McLean-Low — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Update 31/08/2017

Nest have been in touch and updated us, this model is exclusive to the USA market and will not work or be released in the UK.

This is due to the fact:

“Heating systems in the USA are very different to those in the UK, not just in terms of voltage, but most homes have boilers that provide heat through radiators, whereas in the USA forced air systems are more prominent“

Nest has just announced their first new model smart thermostat since 2011. The Nest Thermostat E.

This model is much cheaper than any previous model. A standard, latest generation, Nest Thermostat in the UK costs £200, the Nest Thermostat E costs $169 (£130).

Looking at the design you can instantly understand how the cost saving has been achieved. Gone is the large glass high resolution screen with metal casing, in comes cost effective material and a discreet design.

This model will have nearly all the same smart features, including its energy saving learning algorithms and remote connectivity. This includes Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, unfortunately they did not take this opportunity to integrate Apple HomeKit.

The only main differences, design and cost aside, is the lack of ‘FarSight’. This feature turned on the display when you walk into the room. Also this model will have slightly less compatibility, instead of 95% of systems this will have 85%.

The non-compatible systems are not your everyday mass market systems. Generally these are high end setups. We can’t help but wonder if this was by design so not to cannibalise their premium models sales where budget would allow.

It is very clear Nest are targeting a different market with this model. Moving out of the niche ‘premium smart home’ and into ‘mass market technology’. Hoping to entice those consumers into the smart home arena.

Nest commented they hope to sell three times as many of the Thermostat E over the next 4 years.

PS. You can buy Nest products from Amazon UK.

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Microsoft Smart Thermostat

Henry McLean-Low — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 13:00:52 +0000

Microsoft is partnering with the company that made the first ever electrical thermostat Johnson Controls to make a smart home thermostat. It will be called the slightly ugly ‘GLAS thermostat’.

The thermostat will have a translucent touch screen and looks stylish, you can tell they are trying to compete with Nests stylish looks.

At the heart of the device will be Microsoft’s voice assistant Cortana, its version of Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri.

The initial market for the thermostat appears to be commercial, however as Microsoft announced earlier in the year the development of Cortana in home tech we expect it to be released for domestic use as well.

We have emailed Microsoft for a comment about the UK and home use – follow us for an update.

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Nest Learning Thermostat Review

Henry McLean-Low — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 15:25:41 +0000

Nest Learning Thermostat

Smart learningEndless integrationsGreat design Save energy & money!

Lack of Zones

4.0Great bit of kit

How it works

Cost

Connectivity

Setup

Reader Rating 0 Votes

This is a We Own it review!

Nest learning thermostat is the flagship product of Nest. It is now part of Alphabet, the same company that own Google.

They first launched the learning thermostat in 2011 and it is now on its 2nd generation in the UK. The UK. version of Nest is different to the American due to the way heating systems work here. For example we normally don’t have cooling functions.

Nest has three gadgets in the Nest family (Nest Protect / NestCam / Nest Outdoor Cam), in this review were only looking at the Nest Thermostat.

What does the Nest Learning Thermostat do?

Nest Thermostat is a modern thermostat, if you already have one this replaces it.

One of the the first thing to say about Nest is the stunning design. It was designed by Fred Bould the same designer who designed the first iPod, hence the beauty and tactile nature, you can tell thy have really thought about how users will interact with it.

Form wise it is a metal and glass disc with a screen that’s either wall mounted or stands in its stand:

Our Nest in it’s stand

It connects to your internet and then allows you to control your heating from your phone.

It also goes one step further by learning what temperature you like your house, how long it takes to heat your house, a feature they call True Radiant, and monitoring when you are in and not.

It then creates your optimal heating schedule for you – much easier than any other heating controller we have ever seen. You can of course edit this if it get it slightly wrong – this can be done via the app or on the Nest itself.

A recent update added weather checking functionality – so if it’s hot tomorrow the heating is adjusted.

All this intelligence means more energy efficiently so saving money on your heating.

It also has built in gamification and awards green leafs when you turn down your heating. It emails you a monthly report showing your usage against a benchmark as well as how many leafs you have been awarded that month.

Nest Learning Thermostat, 3rd Generation

Check the Price on Amazon UK Check the Price on Amazon US

How does it work and What is the tech?

Nest learning thermostat comes in 2 parts:

Nest Thermostat – Is the disc you control
Nest Heat Link – That connects to your boiler

Nest does not offer zones and the temperature is for the entire house, at present the only solution is to have a nest in each room you want to separately control, not a cheap option!

You also need additional Nests for different heat sources, we have underfloor water heating and a combi boiler so have two.

Our Nest Wall Mounted

How easy is it to set up?

You need a qualified person to connect the heat link to the boiler. We had ours installed for £75 but price depends on your installation – ours was simple as a new boiler.

What’s the connectivity?

The connectivity is brilliant – connecting to:

IFTTT
STRINGIFY
NEST PROTECT
NEST CAMERAS

See their full program of connectivity here: https://workswith.nest.com/uk/

How much does it cost?

£200 plus installation (Installation is approx £75)

What’s it like living with it?

We really like it! We have had one annoying fault where True Radiant meant the heating came on at 3am so the house got very hot!

We made a call to the customer service and impressively they could see what caused it and fixed it with me. For them to access my account I had to pass security and all they can see is heating on, off times and settings.

One nice feature is Family – allowing you to add family members to the App so they can have their own login and fully control it. They also get their own copy of the monthly report.

What are our final thoughts?

There is nothing nicer than being able to turn on your heating on your way home, especially cold evening. That combined with saving money and energy efficiency we a big fans of Nest. The only drawback is the lack of zones, meaning one nest controls the house not rooms – there is a solution it’s just not cheap.

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