Nest: A Smart Thermostat

Photo: Contributed

Founded by Tony Fadell, Nest has created a smart thermostat that learns your routine with the goal to save energy and money. The appealing design of the Nest Thermostat can be attributed in large part to Tony, who was team leader for the first 18 generations of the Apple iPod and the first 3 generations of the iPhone.

Nest has determined that even programmable thermostats waste around $173/year of energy. Nest automatically learns trends about how you heat your home. It can learn when you wake up, when you go to sleep and when your home is empty. It will adjust the temperature according to how you've set your house in the past, which eventually results in energy savings. Another handy feature is it can be controlled anywhere through a smart phone - so you can drop the temperature in your home a few extra degrees while you're tanning at the beach.

But the most interesting feature is the reporting and energy history stats.

Their reports will show you how much energy you have saved thanks to the Nest Thermostat, and you can even learn average temperature stats for the region you live in. For example, Nest will report what the average "Away" temperature is for your region based on other Nest user statistics. This way you can learn if you keep a warmer or cooler house than your neighbours.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.