Any of you guys switch to the Nest or another automated home system? Been kicking the idea around and wanted to get input if it really is saving a decent percentage and maintains your ideal climate.
Nest Thermostat
- Thread starter Screw-Rice
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Have a nest thermostat and 2 dropcams, which is now owned by nest. I love my thermostat. As far as savings. i have no idea, im very wasteful. But if you let it do its job, it can save you money.
I do like the auto away feature the most
I do like the auto away feature the most
I'm considering getting one just so I can turn the AC off without having to walk upstairs.
The savings would be a bonus, but according to the power company, I'm a top user. I like the away feature, and working outside, I want to come home to a comfortable temp instead of having to screw with it to get it where I want.
Cameras are on my list too, thinking at least a couple for the garage and front door.
Lazy ass, lol.
Had one in our old house. Was nice with great features. Now living on a farm in a old farmhouse and would be useless to us now.
I have one, love it, not sure about the savings. But as said above. Its nice to set intelligent controls so you can change temps before you get home.
And proud of it.
Seriously though, our basement is freezing cold whenever the AC is on, which lately is pretty much nonstop. I hate coming down in the evenings and turning on the TV, then realizing that I'm freezing and having to go back upstairs to shut it off. I'd gladly pay $200 or whatever the thing is to have the ability to adjust the temperature from my phone.
I couldn't bring myself to spend that much, bought a programmable Honeywell for around $100. Don't use the scheduling too much but you can change settings using the app which is nice
OP, do you turn the AC off or way up when you leave in the AM? Everything Ive read is that is more efficient/cheaper to keep the stat at 78. I turn mine down to 76 when I get home and kick it up a couple degrees when I leave.
When I moved to CA a ways back my boss told me to never turn off the AC for extended periods when you leave town thinking youll save money. Guess he did it, then it took a couple days for the house to cool back off and he had the highest power bill ever.
I've got an Ecobee and love it. The remote sensors have been a game changer for me considering whoever set up the whole HVAC system in our house was a complete idiot.
I used to fight all night with the thermostat to try and keep our kids rooms on the other side of the house balanced. In the summer they'd get super hot before the AC would kick on and super hot in the winter before the heat would kick off (terrible balance of vents and thermostat placement).
Being able to tell the system which sensors to use at night time and having it follow you during the day has been awesome. Kids rooms stay within 1-2 degrees of where I want them all the time.
Someone's always at my house so the "away" setting is kind of worthless but the control through an app is nice.
Have seen an approx. $10-$15 per month saving since installing (had about 9 months). 3% to 5% savings per same month last year with Ecobee being only change.
I've been so impressed with it I'm going to install one on our other AC system upstairs which is yet another victim of horrible thermostat placement.
There are some "odd" settings from the factory that need to be changed though.
I used to fight all night with the thermostat to try and keep our kids rooms on the other side of the house balanced. In the summer they'd get super hot before the AC would kick on and super hot in the winter before the heat would kick off (terrible balance of vents and thermostat placement).
Being able to tell the system which sensors to use at night time and having it follow you during the day has been awesome. Kids rooms stay within 1-2 degrees of where I want them all the time.
Someone's always at my house so the "away" setting is kind of worthless but the control through an app is nice.
Have seen an approx. $10-$15 per month saving since installing (had about 9 months). 3% to 5% savings per same month last year with Ecobee being only change.
I've been so impressed with it I'm going to install one on our other AC system upstairs which is yet another victim of horrible thermostat placement.
There are some "odd" settings from the factory that need to be changed though.
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I learned of that trick years back to keep it set to maintain an average thought the day instead of trying to lower the temp all at once. I like the idea of lowering the temp through my phone an extra few degrees when I'm heading home.
I completely forgot about EcoBee, the room sensors are a nice touch. Going to have to compare the two some more.
And proud of it.
Seriously though, our basement is freezing cold whenever the AC is on, which lately is pretty much nonstop. I hate coming down in the evenings and turning on the TV, then realizing that I'm freezing and having to go back upstairs to shut it off. I'd gladly pay $200 or whatever the thing is to have the ability to adjust the temperature from my phone.
Sounds like you need someone who knows what they are doing to balance your vent air flow. This required a little more air piping in a house I lived in a while back. Did solve the hot and cool spots.
I hate our Nest. It changes the temperature all on its own despite turning off every setting that allows it to. Basically we aren't in control of our house temperature. For instance, it's 11pm and the house should be at 74.... Nope, then nest decide 76 is a better temperature. The schedule is cleared, auto features are turned off, and support doesn't have any answers.
Literally the only thing I like about it is that it's tied to the Amazon Echo. It's been three years and we're looking for replacements
Literally the only thing I like about it is that it's tied to the Amazon Echo. It's been three years and we're looking for replacements
I noticed zero savings when I installed it. It looked cool, had some interesting features and reports, but ROI was not there.
I have one and love it! its neat setting up everything via your smart phone on online. I also have Chamberlin "MY Q" garage door openers that communicate with the nest which creates a custom algorithm to know what time we leave / come home and adjusts to our home/away temperatures.
It probably needs new ducting but it's not worth the cost to me. That Ecobee thermostat looks really cool and the remote sensors would probably help to fix the temperature difference, I might try it out.
This sounds really cool, but help me understand it a little better. So if my thermostat is downstairs and my upstairs typically runs 5-7 degrees warmer than downstairs, I could put one of the remote sensors upstairs and I could set it up so the AC runs off of the upstairs temp? Sounds great, but then I'd think my downstairs would be freezing. How does it help keep your house balanced since you can't really change the actual AC temp from room to room or push more air to one room than another?
the house we just bought has a Nest that was installed by the previous owner. I like it for the controls, even though I have also turned off all the "auto" controls. There's only about 4 hours out of the day where no one is home at our house, so I turned the Away feature off... figure I'll just leave it a nice 72* to keep my husky mix dog comfy.
The Away feature was set to 76 or 77 when we first moved in. But the problem I observed was that the A/C had to run it's balls off all evening to finally get back down to 72* around bedtime. Screw that, I'm just leaving it 72* all day.
The Away feature was set to 76 or 77 when we first moved in. But the problem I observed was that the A/C had to run it's balls off all evening to finally get back down to 72* around bedtime. Screw that, I'm just leaving it 72* all day.
Appreciate all the input. Going to keep researching it since I have been considering going the full automation eventually. With smart vents, regulating temperature should be fairly easy. Been looking at the Keen vents, but $70/vent isn't quite justifiable at this point.
I was going to buy the Nest, but instead I'm cheap and got this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Honeywel...mable-Thermostat-Free-App-RTH6580WF/203556922
It's nice being able to change the temp when needed where ever you are.
It's nice being able to change the temp when needed where ever you are.
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