Everywhere we turn these days there are things that need updating. Some just for aesthetic reasons. Some for functional. Some for both.
Enter our old timey, first floor thermostat in our office. We figured with our new furnace system it’d be a good time to update this to something more energy efficient.
We made the swap to a programmable thermostat in our first house, so this time around the tech geek in me begged Sherry to let us take this upgrade a step further – especially since so many of you have commented about loving your Nest. To my surprise, she agreed. And that’s how I found myself holding one of these babies.
But let me back up for a second. Nest is a “learning thermostat” that keeps a record of your habits (when you turn the heat or AC up, when you’re home or away, etc) and creates and adjusts a schedule for you. Meaning it can be even more intuitive than a typical programmable thermostat – and therefor can save you more money. It can even sense when you’re home (and turn itself down if you’re not). It was designed by people who helped make the iPhone, so it has a bunch of other cool features I’ll get into later. I’ve wanted one since they came out in 2010, but they’ve been priced fairly high. But with the recent release of their 2nd generation thermostat, prices on the 1st generation dropped…
In fact they dropped so much that I had trouble finding them. I finally found some across town at a Lowe’s about 30 minutes away. So I ran over there with a change of address coupon that we received after we moved.
We decided to buy two Nests since we have two systems (one upstairs and one downstairs). So with the reduced sale price, the additional $25 off from my coupon, and the 5% discount that I got for using my Lowe’s credit card (which the cashier was happy to give me despite it not working initially with the coupon) it took our price per unit down to $158. Still a lot for a thermostat, but considering the new ones are $249 it was a we-saved-$180-on-two-of-them victory. And the fact that our downstairs furnace was replaced by our home warranty helped us rationalize spending $300 after we saved around $5,000 on the new furnace.
Update: First generation Nests are now marked down on Amazon, so here’s an affiliate link to the same one we bought for anyone interested.
As for the installation, I’ll admit it had me a little worried. I’d heard that it’s not compatible with all HVAC systems (and our upstairs unit is pretty old) and generally I worried about breaking this expensive little thermom-o-robot in the process.
I started downstairs. The first step was removing the old unit, which was pretty straight forward. First I pulled off the face. Then (with the power turned off at the breaker!) I unscrewed the inner plate so I could reveal all the wiring behind it. Nest kind of thought of everything, so they even included a small screwdriver that made this easier. (PS: Nest isn’t paying me to gush – they don’t even know we bought these – I’m just kind of in love with this thing).
Here’s the inside of our unit. It looks kind of like you’re about to defuse a bomb. But following the installation instructions eliminated just about any fear that this project was going to blow up in my face.
In addition to a handy installation video, they have this cool “Compatibility Check” online that helps guide you through how your wiring works (or doesn’t work) with Nest. Admittedly, I probably should’ve done this before I took so much trouble to buy the darn things…
But good news. We were compatible. And not only that, the instructions included a personalized guide for how I should connect my wires to the Nest unit. Seriously. If only all instruction manuals were this easy.
Also filed under “thought of everything:” the paper manual that came in the box included these wire labels so you wouldn’t risk confusing which red wire went where once everything was removed from the old unit. I didn’t use them since mine were so straight forward, but this still earned points in my tech-nerd handbook.
I detached all of my wires and then removed the last bit of the old unit from the wall.
Then I just slid the Nest base back in its place.
I was also crazy for the fact that there was a tiny little level built into the base so you could be sure it was hanging straight on your wall. Genius.
Then, based on my personalized wiring guide, I just popped my wires back in place using the little tabs. Super easy.
For the grand finale, I snapped the face into place and…
…turned the power back on. There were a few set-up steps to get Nest going, like telling it what type of heating we had and connecting it to our wi-fi. This was perhaps my only gripe with the whole thing – entering in a long alphanumeric password was a bit tedious. #firstworldproblems
The wi-fi is cool because it allows me to access our thermostats from my phone. Nest always touts this as a feature to use when you’re traveling so I didn’t think I’d find much use for it. But on the first night I found myself turning the AC up from bed because it was too hot in our bedroom. Yup. Felt like I was sleeping in my fancypants.
It says it takes a couple of weeks to learn your schedule, so we’ve yet to experience the beauty of that. But I’m especially grateful to have it in this house because we’re already finding that temperatures fluctuate a lot in here thanks to the intense afternoon sun we get. Hope you catch on quick, Nest-dog.
Oh, and part of me worried I’d regret not spending the extra dough to the 2nd generation version, but besides working with more HVAC systems (which isn’t an issue for us, luckily) the differences are apparently mostly cosmetic. The newer version is a little slimmer, doesn’t have the small grill at the bottom, and has a shinier side so it better reflects your wall color. Those all sound like nice-to-haves, but not worth the extra $180. So personally I’m glad we got the units we did. Perhaps I’ll bite my tongue when they release the 3rd generation that babysits your kids and folds your laundry too.
Oh, and before I end this lovefest (lovenest?) I have to share one more anecdote about installing it upstairs, where we had a less ancient thermostat already in place on the wall. I expected it to be the easier install, but when I went through the compatibility check I got this alert. Ruh roh. .
But I followed instructions and in like five minutes I was already getting off of the phone with a Nest representative who had looked at the photo I emailed and described how I should hook up my wires. Brilliant.
So I think overall it took me less than an hour to install both units – which is a miracle for any project where I’m also stopping to take blog photos. I couldn’t be happier.
Well, I could be a smidge happier I guess. Apparently a lot of localities offer rebates to reward Nest owners for making an energy efficient choice (Nest has a list of them here). Our area isn’t doing that yet, so after a few phone calls to our electric company and gas company I struck out at getting any sort of money back. Oh well, at least I’ll get a tiny write off for donating our old units to Habitat for Humanity (along with actually saving money by heating/cooling the house more efficiently).
Anyone else out there have a Nest? Got any tips for me? Or has anyone else made a tech-y upgrade lately? Wait, maybe forget that last question. Sherry probably doesn’t want you guys giving me any more ideas…
Kristen says
We love our Nest! The one thing I would say is that it takes a little getting used to it turning itself down when you have been away for a while. I would suggest setting a reminder on your phone or something when you are going on a trip so you can adjust it a couple hours before you get home. We froze our butts off after the first trip we took with it because we totally forgot to turn the heat back up!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, good tip Kristen!
xo
s
Lulu M says
Correction! Designed by those that were the brains of the iPhone! (Have to claim my cousins fame!) Dude, John, check out the electric imp! You’ll be in geek-gadget heaven! Ps-we LOVE our nest. It saves between $20-30 per MONTH! And it’s good to know our greyhound doesn’t set off the sensor. But we still keep it cool for our fur-dude. :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Correction noted! Thanks Lulu. Off to check out the electric imp.
-John
Courtney says
we LOVE our Nest!!
linda says
another nest lover here! it’s the ultmate remote control! if i’m watching tv and get cold or hot… i just grab my phone or ipad and adjust the temp. when i leave work i make sure the remove “away” so that it gets a head start on cooling down for us! i love getting leafs…. they send a monthly report and tell you how many you got for the month and how you are in comparison to others (before this month i got a leaf for every day! WOOT! not too sure what the july report with bring with the heat wave we had earlier!)
Amanda says
You just sold me on this thermostat! I didn’t know they exist before today but, if I ever need to replace a thermostat, I will definitely be buying this one. Maybe they’ll have created the third generation that babysits your kids and folds your laundry by then!
Emily says
I didn’t think I could come up with a more boring blog post subject if I’d tried but OH MY GOD! It has a built-in spirit level?? Seriously, that’s AMAZING. I rent so the best I can do is compare energy providers and go for the cheapest one (or the one that offers me £££ for signing up for a fixed term) but if I ever find myself in this situation (and indeed these things are on sale in the UK) I am so there. Fan-bloody-tastic.
xx
Emma says
I’m so jealous you got some Nests! (I’m a huge energy efficiency nerd, both in my personal life and professionally.)
My partner and I were going to ask for one for a holiday present, but then were super bummed when we learned our wiring isn’t compatible even with the 2nd gen version. Since we’re renting, it wasn’t worth it for us to look into whether/how we could change anything to be able to use a Nest.
We heard, though, from a contractor friend who has one, that he turned off the “learning” mode, since it wasn’t really capturing his actual patterns. Also, he said that the energy savings are slim to none if you already have a programmable thermostat, and remember to turn off/down your HVAC when you’re out at abnormal times. But I still think it’s worth it for a fun gadget — especially if your area doesn’t have smart meters, and you want to be able to see/track your energy data.
Kara says
I just went out, bought one, and installed it all before my fiancé comes home from work. Surprise! Efficiency! Thanks for the heads up about the first generation discounts!
Allison says
So we have had a nest for a while and the controls are also hooked up to my husband’s phone. So while we were on a 2 week vacation and my brother in law was house sitting we decided it would be great fun to mess with the temperature of the house from 3000 miles away to make him think he was going crazy! It was genius and great fun. We didn’t do it a ton only for bill purposes later, but a great laugh none the less!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Benjamin says
The old thermostat looks cool. However, you should properly get rid of it, rather than donating it. It contains MERCURY! It’s hazardous/toxic material and have been phased out of thermometers/thermostats. Lump it together with materials like lead and asbestos that were widely used old houses.
The technician got rid of our old mercury based thermostat when we installed Nest 2.
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip!
xo
s
Ana says
Well, I’m back to comment again. :)
I just saw Nest promote today’s post on their Facebook page and thought you guys would like to know:
https://www.facebook.com/nest?ref=stream&hc_location=timeline
YoungHouseLove says
No way! Thanks for the tip Ana! We’d love if they offered up a giveaway for you guys. Here’s hoping…
xo
s
Jeff Flowers says
I absolutely love my Nest!
Living in the Texas heat, it has easily saved me hundreds of dollars over the last year or so I’ve had it. Not to mention that their customer service is pretty awesome and will troubleshoot any problems you have. I just recently took my Nest off, because I was moving, and was having trouble getting the new thermostat to work… I called Nest’s customer service, and they even walked me through the issues I was having with a different brand. I was amazed.
Seriously, this is a must-have gadget for every homeowner.
Amy says
Congrats and welcome to the nest! We love hours and have found that it runs so efficiently, we keep the temp. higher than we did with our programmable unit and feel very comfortable. Not sure how but the AC at 72 felt colder than it did with our old thermostat. We have a dual system like you and save about $20 a month from last summer!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome Amy!
xo
s
Amy says
Ours not hours*
Victoria says
We got one at the beginning of the year and I have told all my friends about it!! We’ve set our schedule for work and when we’re home, and it’s the best invention ever! As far as other tech-y things, we just finished adding on to our house, and my husband installed a home automation system. We have speakers in most of the rooms and a main portal that allows us to stream music (from playlists or Pandora, wherever) directly to whichever room is “turned on”. I especially love it because when I’m cleaning or working (editing photos), I’ve GOT to have music on! He did all the wiring himself, which didn’t seem to be that difficult, and I’m sure it’s a “manly” thing that a husband would enjoy doing. :) Oh, it’s also nice when we have people over or an upcoming bridal shower that I’m throwing will definitely benefit from it, too! Sorry Sherri!! Haha!
Vanessa says
SOOO jealous of you guys – I’ve been wanting one for a long time! Maybe if we can get an energy credit, I could convince my husband!
Judi says
I had to chime in here, even though it’s late in the game. We have two Nests and we love them more than almost anything else in our house. One was put in about a year ago, and I put the second one in myself (in less than ten minutes) eight months ago. They have about paid for themselves already–and this is in Vermont, so you can imagine the workout they get in the winter. I love the automatic software updating; the Leaf feature; and, well, everything else. I agree with you, the whole installation (and user) experience is eerily perfect (including the one thing you didn’t mention–the inclusion of self-tapping drywall screws!). Our Nests are off for the summer (we don’t need A/C up here), but when they come back on in the fall, I look forward to continuing our Leaf-a-day tradition.
For those of you who are worried about data collection: If you are in a smart meter area (as we are), your electric company is collecting more data than Nest. And, while I understand this may be of concern to some, if you are reading this blog, someone or someones is or are already collecting data on you via your IP address, or addresses (Nest has its own unique IP address). I’d be more worried about shopping on Amazon than using a Nest. Of course, it’s your choice as to what to do with your information, but I honestly don’t believe it’s that big an issue.
Barb says
Have had ours for a year…live it!!!
B.
Barb says
Love it!
Michelle says
We are super clueless when it comes to this stuff but my Brother in-law just gave us a nest that he had bought for his house but wasn’t compatible. He tried to install it for us but there wasn’t enough power coming from our system to run it. He just left it with us. We have no idea what to do next :/
Abby says
I thought of y’all the other day when Fab popped up on my phone to tell me that they currently had Nests. They were offered at pretty much the same price as Lowes. :)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!
xo
s
Kathleen says
is it sad that I know your blog so intimately that I am so confused that I recognize the headboard but I do not know what it is doing behind office supplies and a pig?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! That’s actually the pinboard we made here in our last house’s closet.
xo
s
Jill says
We love our Nestie!!!
Brittany Lishia says
Hi guys! This post will definitely come in handy in the next few weeks! We spotted the Nest about a year ago at Home Depot and couldn’t quit playing with it in the store! My hubby has been desperately wanting it!! Who would’ve ever thought you could long so badly for a thermostat? LOL! <3
Elisha says
I just wish I could set my old school one it comes on at the wrong times and is either to cool or too hot.
Spencer says
I would be curious to hear how the battery life works for you without using a dedicated C wire to keep it charged. I have always been curious about getting a Nest (and our local utility company offers a rebate), but I’m a bit worried about the battery dying when we go weeks at a time without the heat or AC on.
Victoria says
We love, love, love our nest. We’ve had it for a little over a year now and can’t get enough of it. We definitely use the app from bed, especially in the summer where the humidity can get a bit overwhelming in the middle of the night. We love getting the monthly email showing us how much we saved too. With pets in the house it’s nice to be able to check in and make sure it’s still comfortable inside if the weather outside takes a turn and it’s amazing for vacation since we can set it to ‘away’ and then change it on our way home so it’s perfect by the time we pull into the driveway!
Cassie says
Sounds AMAZING!!
Can’t wait to get one later yay!!
Question- this seems like it doesn’t really change anything that can’t be undone. For apartment dwellers, does this seem like something you can put in while you live there and replace with the old one when you leave? Like a shower head?
YoungHouseLove says
It sounds like some other renters do install them and then take them with them from the comments here! So I guess it can work that way!
xo
s
Kristin says
My husband has been pestering me to get one of these for our house and I have said no a million times. We have a programmable thermostat that is only 2 years old. (Not as efficient, he says). I don’t want it tracking my movements (he says I am crazy).
So today, after seeing your post, I told him I would wait for your review in a couple of months and if it was a good one, then maybe he could get one for our house. Thanks for this post!
Erin says
You know you are an adult when you show such enthusiasm about a new thermostat!
Jennifer says
Love that thing, tell me how it works for you because I’m saving up to get one myself!
Becki says
Whoa, this got our attention! We love our programmable thermostat…but adjusting the temperature with our phone?! Awesome! I love John’s posts by the way, but this one got my husband to sit up straight. Watching the video now, heh heh.
Rachel says
I didn’t know such high-tech thermostats existed! That’s awesome.
My real reason for commenting though is I just found this on Reddit: http://imgur.com/1qjyJMJ
haha that blue trim and wall paper looks familiar ;)
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo,
s
J.P. says
From previous posts, I know you are security conscious. I just heard this story on Marketplace Tech today. It is about how “smart” houses can be vulnerable to virtual intruders. Great technology…just double check your ability to lock it.
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/smart-houses-vulnerable-virtual-intruders
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip JP!
xo,
s
Julia @ Cuckoo4Design says
I wonder how this works for couples that fight non-stop over airconditioning??
How will it solve our problem and learn to live with the numerous up and down pushing between both of us? The temperature in our home is one of our number 1 reasons for a good fight LOL. I like it cold, he likes it hot.
I have to sneak down in the middle of the night when I notice he is entering his first deep sleep and turn it down to how cold I like it and then in the morning I have to say “OOOPS, I have no clue how this happened”! Then I bought a programmable one and programmed it so it would go cold at night and he had no clue how to change it. But now a couple years later he figured it out. Darn it!
andrea says
ahhh! I’m so jealous, been wanting a nest for such a long time…but can’t convince my hubby it’s worth it. (already sent him your post) and thanks for the tip on local rebates, just checked and our gas company gives a $20 rebate – woot!
Kathy says
Hmmm, I think John is forcing me to embrace my nerd! This is the second time lately that I have been…ooooh, I so want that! I occasionally hold a NEST at Lowe’s, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I live in the Northeast, so think it is a good idea. Besides, aren’t we all waiting for the robots to do the tedious stuff?
I’m with John…when is something going to fold my clothes? AND put them away!!!!!
Brian says
Don’t know if you’ll read this — but be warned. Without a common wire attached to your Nest you *could* have potential issues with your furnace cycling. I replaced my thermostat with a Nest about a year and a half ago and never had the additional wires added. I had some weird behavior with my fans turning on it off. The Nest power steals, and that can sometimes trigger things inadvertently.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Brian!
xo,
s
Cristina says
Thank you for writing about this! I was able to send the link to my hubby and convince him to let me get one!
Kristen @ Storefront Life says
We LOVE our Nest! It’s my favorite house gadget. You can see our next install post here: http://www.storefrontlife.com/nest-day-one-install/
We were on vacation in Vegas two weeks ago. when a major flood hit Toronto. My first line of checking on the house was to see if we had power. I connected to my nest and it happily told me that we had power, and the house was still set to vacation mode and holding steady.
Louis Cameron says
Hey Sherry,
You may want to see if your Utility Provider offers a rebate on the NEST for added savings! Up here in Massachusetts, NStar will give us a $100 rebate towards a “smart” thermostat which really helps considering that the Nest is $250.
Louis C.
Louis Cameron says
Awww shoot, I should have read the whole post (I guess I was overly excited about tech-y house stuff). Too bad you guys are missing out on the rebate.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!
xo,
s
WebSavvyMom says
–>I LOVE our Nest so much I want to hug it. We have had ours for nearly a year and it has definitely learned our heating/cooling habits.
Two more things, you can use your iPhone to view the daily usage as well as the schedule of heating/cooling temperatures.
We were in Jamaica for a week recently (woot!) and left it on hold at 85F. A few hours before returning home we used our iPhone to turn the A/C on to a lower temperature.
And lastly, we lost power in Virginia Beach in March due to high winds, we camped out at a nearby pizza place for dinner and kept wondering if the power was on. Boom! Looked at our iPhones to see the Nest was running so therefore we had the power. We headed home.
-deb
http://www.websavvymom.com
Scott E. says
Hey John,
I commented a few months ago on an article that you mentioned Nest in. Anyway, I see you guys didn’t have C wire, neither do we and after some research this can cause problems with some systems.
Please let us know if you notice anything weird. This is the one thing keeping me from getting one.
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Will do!
-John
Scott E. says
I see Brian – a few posts up – mentioned the same thing.
pattilouwho says
The hubs has been wanting one of these for so long and now Target carries them…just to taunt him when he is buying shampoo and razor blades! ;)
Vicky says
I’m still a renter so I have serious Nest envy – but curious – since it is linked up to your wifi, what happens if it goes out? Does your thermostat stop working or is it just that you can’t control it from your phone? Comcast goes out on me more times than I’d like it to, so just curious if that causes problems with the unit.
YoungHouseLove says
Anyone know? We either lose full power in a storm (no HVAC anyway) or our Wifi is always up and running.
xo,
s
Kelly says
In the photo of the wiring on your old thermostat, it looks like the red wire goes under the R screw and then is looped around the 4 screw. Was it or is that an optical illusion? And if it was like that, why did they essentially jumper those two terminals together? Do you have any concern that maybe those two terminals need to be jumpered together on the Nest? Maybe it takes care of that internally. R and 4 are both related to heat, so if there is a problem, you might not notice it until heating season starts up.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Kelly! If we have any heating issues we’ll definitely call customer support to see what’s up!
xo,
s
Kelly says
Oh you know what? I see now that on the Nest there is Rh and no plain R. Rh = 4, so I think your new setup takes care of whatever was going on before. Interesting though.
YoungHouseLove says
Whew! Here’s hoping!
xo,
s
Jen says
I so want one of these when we get our next house! I love that you adjusted the temperature from bed :)
sarah says
just one more person to help me convince my hubby we NEED a nest. i know, we don’t really, but i want one so badly. i think when we move, it will be a definite.
Sally says
Nice description. I don’t have a Nest, but I do have a $50 programmable thermostat that I love. It came with the little stickers too. It didn’t come with totally customized instructions, I just had to pick the ones from the pamphlet that worked.
For anyone who doesn’t want to spring for a Nest, know that other new thermostats are similarly easy to install. Seriously, it’s easier than changing a light fixture.
RZ says
Congrats on being efficient! although next go round I would recommend a system through alarm.com it allows for everything you mentioned but you can control the houses alarm system, lights, tv, even hook up cameras if you want all through your phone or ipad. It totally does feel like the future.
RZ says
I should mention I am in no way affiliated with alarm.com just a very happy user/owner!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds cool!
xo,
s
Gina S says
We’ve had ours for about 6 months now and LOVE it. We are already seeing a 30% improvement in our electricity bill compared to last year. I LOVE being able to control it from our iphones. Especially when we leave and forget to turn it off. Or when we come home from a trip and are able to turn in on so we don’t walk into a house full of hotness! We ended up getting ours on ebay so we saved a bunch and it works perfect.