These are the common questions of people who are planning to get a Nest thermostat or any other thermostat for that matter. Thermostats are great for managing your home’s temperature, but are they really helpful in reducing energy consumption? Read on to know if this is true about the Nest thermostat.
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What You Need to Know About the Nest Thermostat
At first, you’d think of the Nest thermostat as your typical thermostat – it adjusts your home’s temperature. However, this product is more than what meets the eye. Here are some reasons why.
First, a Nest thermostat is a smart thermostat. Sure, this doesn’t seem new to you, with home devices becoming smarter every time. But this thermostat stands out from the rest because it uses machine learning to make it more efficient and convenient.
How does machine learning work on the Nest thermostat? Like any other thermostat, you’re still going to key in the temperatures you prefer when you go to bed, when you leave the house, and when you come back from work. For the Nest thermostat, you only have to do this a few days after you buy it. The thermostat learns from your preferences and records them to create its own temperature chart.
Second, the Nest thermostat has an Auto-Away feature. If you often forget to adjust your thermostat before leaving the house, this feature will save you a lot of dollars. The Auto-Away automatically detects if there’s no one in the house. What’s great about this is that it detects absence even if the thermostat is placed in a low-traffic area.
Another reason to love Nest thermostat? The Nest Leaf. This feature means that the thermostat will show a leaf symbol to tell you if the temperature you set will help you conserve energy. The more you bring down the temperature, the more energy savings you’ll get.
Lastly, the Nest thermostat sends you an email report on your energy usage. You’ll get this email at the end of the month showing your energy consumption which will help shed light on why your electric bill is high or low. Through this report, you’ll also be able to know what behavior has caused the bill to increase.
Related: Nest Thermostat Delayed – What Is It? How to Control it?
Are Nest Thermostats Effective in Saving Money?
Now you know about the Nest thermostat. Here comes the question, “does it work in saving money? Does it lower my electricity bill?” You’re not alone in wondering about these. Almost every smart thermostat has claimed it can help lower electricity bills. But how does the Nest thermostat do that if it does save money?
1. It automatically adjusts when you’re away
The most obvious reason is the use of Auto-Away. If you forget to adjust your thermostat before leaving your house, you will use more electricity. If you are maintaining your home at the same high temperature as if you were inside, getting yourself warm, it will continuously use the same amount of energy for the 8-10 hours you are away. With the Auto-Away feature, you eliminate any instance of leaving your thermostat running at a high temperature.
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2. It tells you when you’re using too much energy
Honestly, you have to thank the reports for this. One of the reasons why people waste a lot of electricity is because they’re unaware of the things and behaviors that use up a lot of energy. With the automatic monthly reports, you know what caused your energy bill to spike. Of course, once you know the reason behind it, you’ll be able to avoid adjusting your thermostat to temperatures that use up too much electricity.
3. It learns from you
Feeling lazy to adjust the thermostat? Other people feel the same. But did you know that laziness or forgetfulness in adjusting the thermostat increases your energy consumption?
Adjusting temperatures is inconvenient, especially when you feel cozy and ready to doze off. Since this has been a significant pain point among thermostat users, the Nest thermostat has dealt with this for you. Although you still have to adjust the temperature, you only have to do this for a few days. After that, you don’t have to think about adjusting it every single time.
4. You can adjust the temperature anytime, anywhere
Don’t forget that the Nest thermostat is a smart thermostat, so it has the features any smart thermostat has. That includes changing your temperature at home even if you’re not home. With just a few presses on the phone app, you can adjust the temperature to be comfortable when you get home. It also eliminates reasons for you to be lazy to adjust it!
With these ways to reduce energy consumption, it comes as no surprise that new Nest thermostat users will find a decrease in their electricity bills. Independent studies and a Nest whitepaper also prove these energy-saving features. So, if you’re still looking for proof of its efficiency, all you have to do is do a little research on those studies. Of course, these savings will still vary depending on usage and climate, but it’s guaranteed that your electricity bill will go down in less than a month.
Conclusion
The Nest thermostat is one of the best thermostats on the market. It’s highly efficient and takes care of your house’s efficiency. It’s also smart in the literal sense since it remembers your preferred temperatures during different times of the day. It auto-detects your absence and updates you on which temperatures save the most energy.
To cap it all off, studies prove that Nest thermostat saves at least 10% on heating and at least 15% on cooling. Impressed? You can get your Nest thermostat on the Google Store.