Hardware Review NEST Thermostat with Logitech Harmony Ultimate Remote Integration: A Review (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

I am sure you downloaded the app for your smartphone or tablet.

Sure did. It's amazing how nice the Thermostat, doorbell/camera and app work in consort!

Although, the thermostat dumped off the wi-fi for a while today (about 4-5 hours). I double-checked our wifi and it was as strong as normal. And, it ended up reconnecting itself without any adjustment or effort on my part. Does anyone else ever have this happen?

I don’t know if this has already been covered, but under a program for energy conservation,(since discontinued), here in Ontario, we got our Nest Thermostat free. It was also installed free of charge.

The Nest E was a good value -- I was able to get one for under $100 after a substantial rebate from our local natural gas utility (Consumers Energy). Our old programmable thermostat cost $35 many years ago -- it was provided and installed by the contractor when we replaced our furnace.

Yeah. I ordered mine from my utility as they were having a great deal--a sale plus another rebate on top of that. I ordered the doorbell from the utility, too.

I now have to get some more of the paint we used on our living room wall as the Nest thermostat is a lot smaller than my big old rectangle programmable thermostat. This is okay...because I have a couple other spots I need to touch up, too.

 

[DaveF]

How does the doorbell coordinate with the thermostat? Does it recognize your in-laws and turn the temperature down uncomfortably low so they don’t stay too long?

 

[Mike Frezon]

How does the doorbell coordinate with the thermostat? Does it recognize your in-laws and turn the temperature down uncomfortably low so they don’t stay too low?

Fingers crossed.

They do, after all, call it a "learning thermostat."

 

[Jason_V]

Random NEST story...

My ex asked me to install the thermostat at his condo over the weekend. After taking his old thermostat apart, we realized he has a wall unit that is not compatible with a NEST. His wires are far too big; it's something I never considered. My place is older than his and I didn't have a problem with mine. Suffice to say he doesn't have a NEST up and won't be able to have one.

Moral: check your wires...

 

[TJPC]

We had a similar problem until we had to get a new furnace. Apparently Nest needs 3 wires to function, but our old system only sent 2 to the thermostat.

 

[Mike Frezon]

We had a similar problem until we had to get a new furnace. Apparently Nest needs 3 wires to function, but our old system only sent 2 to the thermostat.

Nope. I've only got two wires to my furnace and the Nest (Learning, 3rd. Gen.) works fine.

They have compatibility walk-throughs on their website (easy-to-use) to make sure your heating/cooling system works with the Nest. Wall units and 110+ volt systems are among those which are no gos. Thick, stranded wiring is also, IIRC, not acceptable.

 

[Jason_V]

They have compatibility walk-throughs on their website (easy-to-use) to make sure your heating/cooling system works with the Nest. Wall units and 110+ volt systems are among those which are no gos. Thick, stranded wiring is also, IIRC, not acceptable.

That was the problem, Mike. The wires were connected with electrical nuts and the wire was way too big. This, honestly, never occurred to me.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Yeah. To be honest about it, I purchased mine without doing the compatibility check first and issued a huge sigh of relief when I confirmed that my system was okay (and that's in a 100 year old house--with original wiring--and the original hot-water/radiator furnace!!!).

The furnace is a HUGE monstrosity in my basement that was originally coal-fired. It was later converted to oil burning and then converted to gas-burning. When I purchased the home, the guy who came to check out my furnace for me said "you know how they use the phrase "energy-efficient" in terms of units like this? NOT with this one!"

But it now has a state-of-the-art blue-tooth thermostat controlling it.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey guys, thought I’d revive this thread. I was going to start a new one but found this one.

I have been interested in a Nest Thermostat for many years. But never made the change. I have a 54 year old mid century modern style home. So it uses a gas boiler to heat water that circulates through the concrete slab floor. In looking at the wiring, the current thermostat uses two wires. When I bought the house, I installed a programmable electronic thermostat to time the thermostat when I’m home and when I’m at work.

I’m also a Apple user so I’d be interested in Apple Homekit. The Nest is not HomeKit compatible but I know there is an app for the iPhone and iPad. There is an Ecobee thermostat that is HomeKit compatible. There is one thing about the Nest that I wondered about, a friend felt it wasn’t a good idea to connect it to the internet as it would allow Google to gather information about me. So maybe it can be installed, but not use the wifi feature. Which I know defeats one big reason for it.

Given the style of house and the way the heating works by warming a large slab of concrete, the house never got really warm. It got warm enough. It just takes a long time for the system to really heat the slab. Unlike a forced air, which can heat the air very quickly. So letting the slab cool requires more energy to re-heat it. I did do an experiment that raised the temperature on the thermostat a bit to see what would happen. I let the boiler run longer and the floors furthest from the boiler finally got warm! The house was very toasty. But that was a very expensive experiment on my gas bill. This house also has a lot of large single pane glass windows. So in the winter and summer, if I walk past the windows, it’s really cold or warm! I do live in sunny Silicon Valley California. So we don’t get snow, but it can get warm. ( a upgrade to double pane windows is in the plans. That should help a lot)

At any rate, I’m still really curious about the Nest and the Ecobee. But I’m also curious about going back to a old school thermostat from Honeywell that would be the classic round ones that were installed in many homes. Aesthetically, I like the Nest. But I also like the Honeywell as it’s a classic industrial design from the 1950’s that stayed in the market until the 1980’s I believe. ( I’m pretty sure the Nest round design was partly inspired by the Honeywell’s design. )



Given my situation, I’m tempted to go old school as an experiment and see what happens with the old thermostat. I can set it to one temperature and see what happens this winter. I’ve found several Honeywell thermostats on eBay, many are new old stock. Would be cool to own even if I don’t use it.

So I am curious if you‘re using a Nest or other smart thermostat, has it improved your life much? Is the internet of things really making a difference? I’m not being a Luddite, I love the new technology. I work in tech. But for certain things, I’m thinking analog might be OK still. I have a vintage Mustang that will get an engine transplant and I’m going to keep it running it with a carburetor. How quaint!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Hey guys, thought I’d revive this thread. I was going to start a new one but found this one.

I have been interested in a Nest Thermostat for many years. But never made the change. I have a 54 year old mid century modern style home. So it uses a gas boiler to heat water that circulates through the concrete slab floor. In looking at the wiring, the current thermostat uses two wires. When I bought the house, I installed a programmable electronic thermostat to time the thermostat when I’m home and when I’m at work.

I’m also a Apple user so I’d be interested in Apple Homekit. The Nest is not HomeKit compatible but I know there is an app for the iPhone and iPad. There is an Ecobee thermostat that is HomeKit compatible. There is one thing about the Nest that I wondered about, a friend felt it wasn’t a good idea to connect it to the internet as it would allow Google to gather information about me. So maybe it can be installed, but not use the wifi feature. Which I know defeats one big reason for it.

Given the style of house and the way the heating works by warming a large slab of concrete, the house never got really warm. It got warm enough. It just takes a long time for the system to really heat the slab. Unlike a forced air, which can heat the air very quickly. So letting the slab cool requires more energy to re-heat it. I did do an experiment that raised the temperature on the thermostat a bit to see what would happen. I let the boiler run longer and the floors furthest from the boiler finally got warm! The house was very toasty. But that was a very expensive experiment on my gas bill. This house also has a lot of large single pane glass windows. So in the winter and summer, if I walk past the windows, it’s really cold or warm! I do live in sunny Silicon Valley California. So we don’t get snow, but it can get warm. ( a upgrade to double pane windows is in the plans. That should help a lot)

At any rate, I’m still really curious about the Nest and the Ecobee. But I’m also curious about going back to a old school thermostat from Honeywell that would be the classic round ones that were installed in many homes. Aesthetically, I like the Nest. But I also like the Honeywell as it’s a classic industrial design from the 1950’s that stayed in the market until the 1980’s I believe. ( I’m pretty sure the Nest round design was partly inspired by the Honeywell’s design. )

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Given my situation, I’m tempted to go old school as an experiment and see what happens with the old thermostat. I can set it to one temperature and see what happens this winter. I’ve found several Honeywell thermostats on eBay, many are new old stock. Would be cool to own even if I don’t use it.

So I am curious if you‘re using a Nest or other smart thermostat, has it improved your life much? Is the internet of things really making a difference? I’m not being a Luddite, I love the new technology. I work in tech. But for certain things, I’m thinking analog might be OK still. I have a vintage Mustang that will get an engine transplant and I’m going to keep it running it with a carburetor. How quaint!

Heya Nelson!

I have no argument for wanting to look backward --- especially for someone like yourself who is into vintage items.

However, I think there are a lot of incentives in getting the Nest thermostat for how it can greatly improve your life.

And I believe I can recommend something that will integrate your Nest thermostat with HomeKit, so stay tuned for that in a bit.

Let's start with the obvious...

You can use the app (and HomeKit with a modification) to monitor and control your home's temperature while you are away. While this is something that I really have not had a reason to do, it's still nice to know that I have that kind of control should I need it. Did I leave the heat on? Will the house be cool enough when I arrive home? These are all things you can control while you are away.

You can also use the app to schedule when your heat or cooling comes on. So, if you wake up every morning at 5 am, you can set a daily schedule where the heat comes on at 4 am and thus you have a toasty home waiting for you when you roll out of bed and your feet hit the floor. Basically, you set a daily or weekly schedule of times you want heat or cooling. And, those settings are permanently stored under "Heat" (for the winter), "Cool" (for the Summer), or "Heat/Cool" for those Fall and Spring months when you never know what the temperature will be.

There are also cost-saving "Leaf" settings that adjust your temperature at optimal settings to conserve energy and ultimately save you money. Nest monitors your usage and emails you a monthly report showing you your energy costs/savings.

You can even take the Nest experience further by purchasing a Google smart device like a Hub or Nest Mini that allows voice commands. Once paired with your Nest Thermostat you can walk into a room and say, "Hey Google set the living room temperature to 72 degrees" and your thermostat will automatically respond. Adding one of these smart devices will set you back an additional $30-$60.

Of course, once you install one of those you can buy smart lights and control rooms using your voice....but I digress.

Now, I found out about a device that integrates Nest products with HomeKit. It's a little costly but it works really, really well.

https://www.starlinghome.io/

Using this hub in my home I can now see my Nest products (cameras and thermostats) in Apple HomeKit and control them using that. Is it a necessity? No, because you can always resort to the app on your Apple phone. It's just a matter of convenience.

Nelson, for me, I find it really fun to automate my home and it's a hobby that kind of grabs you when install something like the Nest Thermostat and then you buy a Google hub and start controlling it with your voice and then you end up buying lights and other smart devices to control your entire household.

 

[TJPC]

We are retired, and the ability to set timers etc. on the Nest are not used. We are usually home during the day, especially since Covid. We experimented with it, and actually found it a complete pain to get it to stop working on its own. It also has the ability to receive commands from the electric company to turn the temperature down or up depending on “environmental” needs. We quickly disable this feature.

What still makes Nest worthwhile is it’s link to Google, which allows us to ask what the temperature is at a given time, and use voice commands to regulate it.

 

[DaveF]

My advice is to consider if the way the Nest works suits your life better than other, cheaper options. I looked at the Nest and decided not to buy — it’s machine learning approach would not work well for our home.

We just bought a pair of digital Honeywell thermostats with programmable day and night, Summer and Winter, settings. It runs automatically all year with no intervention from us.

Nothing against Nest. But if you have a regular schedule, a cheap programmable thermostat is all you need.

 

[Nelson Au]

Ron, Terry and Dave-

Thanks a lot for the replies and input. I have no doubt the Nest is a great device for a lot of users. I really like the ability to monitor it and control it via your iPhone or iPad. I do wonder if Google will be collecting data or more from each user though.

I do have a situation where a regular schedule makes sense. At the moment with Covid, I am at home a lot now working from home. And as I said, I have a radiant heat situation which may not respond well to a Nest. I’ll do more reading and checking with other people who have similar homes with radiant heat as mine to see how the Nest or similar works for them.

I have a friend who used to work at Google who set up his home with a lot of voice operated lights and other stuff. It’s fun! I guess there’s some things I like to do myself still. I do like asking Siri on the HomePod questions. I guess I’m kind of dual natured, I like my Apple Watch a lot, but I still love and wear my vintage mechanical watch too at the same time.

I really do like the industrial design of the Nest a lot. I’m leaning towards what Dave said, but I want to experiment with an old original Honeywell thermostat too.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I installed a Nest thermostat in our home a few years ago. For us, it's a great tool, as we travel away from home quite a bit, so I can set our home temperature low when away in the cold months or turn the air conditioning off in the warm months and then remotely adjust the system back to a "normal" temperature just before we return. I also have a set schedule for the times we are home, turning the temperature down when we go to bed and back up in the morning. We also participate in a "Smart Saver" program through our local energy provider where they can adjust the temperature of our thermostat during high usage times to cut demand. These events last three hours, are announced ahead of time, and we can override their adjustment if needed. We get Mastercard gift cards from them for participating. I do not use the learning function of the Nest, but I do have it configured to interact with our Amazon Echo devices.

We also have a Honeywell smart thermostat installed in our South Carolina condo that works with the heat pump. It came with the condo, but was not setup when we bought the place in January 2021 (we upgraded from another condo). I connected it to the guest Internet connection at that time, and later moved it to our own dedicated Internet connection when we finally had that installed last autumn. That was an adventure, as there is no apparent way to re-program the network settings on that Honeywell model. I had to search and find a YouTube video explaining how to get to a "secret menu" to re-program the device. The Honeywell also doesn't support programming a schedule. I may eventually swap it out for another Nest, but for now it suits our purpose. I can remotely monitor the temperature while we are back in Michigan, and adjust it before we travel there.

Finally, my mother's old manual Honeywell thermostat is beginning to flake out. I had to run over to her place a couple of days ago because she called, saying her outside air handler was running, but the furnace wasn't blowing cold air into her condo. I drove over there, expecting the issue to be a dead blower motor in the furnace (it's a very old forced air furnace). However, on a whim I flipped the switch on the thermostat for the fan from "auto" to "on", and the fan came on! Flipping it back to "auto" still kept the fan running. I suspect that switch is beginning to fail in the thermostat and it may need to be replaced. I plan on installing another Nest for her, as I can then operate the thermostat remotely for her -- it may save me a trip to her place (not a huge deal, as she lives only 6 miles away, but it would still be a convenience, plus I could help her even when we are out of town).

Our local energy company (Detroit Edison) offers rebates on smart thermostats. The Nest model we have is $79 through them -- it's $99 on Amazon. So I plan on ordering one for my mom through her account, as the rebates can be used only once per account. I bought our Nest through them, too.

 

[DaveF]

… but I want to experiment with an old original Honeywell thermostat too.

Highly non-recommended

Programmable Thermostats

In most situations, a programmable thermostat can save you money without sacrificing comfort.

www.energy.gov

 

[TJPC]

I'm not playing "can you top this", but our Nest was actually free installed.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I'm not playing "can you top this", but our Nest was actually free installed.

Our electric company (Detroit Edison) offers free with installation under certain conditions, too, but they are now offering a different brand than Nest with this program. This morning I tried to order a Nest for my mother through them for the $79 deal, but couldn't get the order to go through their website. So, instead I found a better deal through our natural gas company (Consumers Energy). After rebates ($75), shipping ($5) and sales tax the final cost was $36.12. I had to order this through my account, though, as my mother doesn't have a Consumers Energy account -- her natural gas cost is covered through her condo HOA dues.

Ironically, Detroit Edision and Consumers Energy are now the same company after having merged several years ago. However, they still are run almost as two separate entities, with separate customer accounts. So, their rebate programs are different.

The lesson here -- between the experiences of @TJPC and myself -- is to check with your energy supplier to see what special rebates and other programs they may offer for a smart thermostat. You may be able to get one at a substantial savings.

 

[Nelson Au]

Dave, thanks for the article. I had forgotten that my energy provider does offer rebates for smart thermostats. That will save a little on the cost of a new Nest. That article also mentions radiant floor heating that I have. As it does have a time lag for the floor to fully warm before it will heat the home. So one can anticipate and start heating several hours ahead of time to get the temperature up, that’s what I do now. Not sure a smart thermostat can do that. Unless it is learning.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

As a follow-up to my last post, I ended up installing the $36 Nest thermostat in my mom's condo. Unfortunately, this basic Nest works differently than the Nest E that is installed in our home. Making manual changes is very cumbersome -- instead of just pressing the dial inward and turning the dial, you have to tap the right side and lightly trace your finger along the right side. I found it awkward, and my 86 year old mother found it impossible due to the lack of dexterity in her fingers.

For the past month, she's been calling me when she wants the A/C turned on/off, and I've been doing it from my phone (she has no smart phone or computer). She's been frustrated, so I was resigned to probably having to buy the Nest E for her, but Google discontinued that model a couple of years ago. You can still buy one on Amazon, but they are close to $200.

Finally, while having lunch with a friend, we had an epiphany -- set up an Amazon Echo for her to control the thermostat. I have this setup at our house, but rarely interact with our thermostat that way, so it hadn't occurred to me earlier. I grabbed one of the Echo Dots in our house, set it up for her, and typed up the different voice commands she needs. She loves the solution so far! Hopefully, problem solved.

 

[John Dirk]

Just seeing this thread. I have the basic Nest thermostats throughout my home but, like some others here, paid absolutely nothing for them. My local electric utility sent them to me as part of a promotion they were offering. It's definitely something worth checking into as [in my case anyway] the program was completely unadvertised.

Operationally, I also find the Nest cumbersome. My old Honeywell Z-Wave thermostats were actually much easier to operate but the Z-Wave modules started failing and I wasn't about to pay $100.00 a pop to replace them, so I ordered the Nests. As unintuitive as they are, the Google Assistant makes them reasonably easy to work with.