A good programmable thermostat usually stars at$200. If used properly that will usually pay for itself in a year or two over the cost of a dumb t-stat.
True in theory. In fact most programmable thermostats waste energy because the owners never program them. Incorrectly or not programmed at all they are worse than non programmable thermostats and most have lost the Energy Star ratings for this very reason. The Nest on the other hand programs itself. Totally brilliant product. I noticed today here in Florida, ours ran the fan alone several times to distribute cooler air and didn't use the AC on several occasions. Being able to control it from Macs, iPads and iPhones at home or away is awesome. After two weeks only we wonder what the hell took us so long to buy one.
I would LOVE Apple to tap into the Home Automation market by integrating the iDevices, iCloud, iTunes, iOS/OS X with third-party accessories. If Apple lead the way, they all will going to look prettier (I like pretty things ;-) and functionally beautiful (I like beautiful things ;-). Don't mind some premium prices but the keyword here is iNtegration.
I find it hard to believe Apple would stock a 3rd party item that was not an accessory to one of their own products. But on the other hand they have been very environmental lately.
Apple MIGHT stock it if it only interfaces with the iDevices and not the Android phones. But the packaging (as photographed by his knee) will need to change to come up to Apple standards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ascii
Yep. Energy has been getting more and more expensive for a while, and products like this have made sense. Obviously this reality is what the iPod inventor saw as a market opportunity.
But his timing is not so good as it was with the iPod, since with all the new energy reserves discovered in the central US, energy should start getting cheaper starting in 2013. Hopefully that cheaper energy is what is needed to finally get the economy out of it's funk.
I doubt we will see a lowering of energy costs. The best I expect is for costs to not rise going forward. So, such a device will help people control costs of using energy for HVAC; essentially lowering costs.
This is a good move and I think it is as important as the TV that everyone talks about! Home automation is an area with great potential and no obvious competition (on paper many companies are competing but nothing meaningful!)
True in theory. In fact most programmable thermostats waste energy because the owners never program them. Incorrectly or not programmed at all they are worse than non programmable thermostats and most have lost the Energy Star ratings for this very reason. The Nest on the other hand programs itself. Totally brilliant product. I noticed today here in Florida, ours ran the fan alone several times to distribute cooler air and didn't use the AC on several occasions. Being able to control it from Macs, iPads and iPhones at home or away is awesome. After two weeks only we wonder what the hell took us so long to buy one.
I agree with you, and even if programmed many people simply hit the hold button wich holds it at the set temperature indefinitely. I was responding to the poster that scoffed at a $200 thermostat. Thermostats that monitor the outside temperature via a remote sensor or via the web are able to anticipate the heating or cooling needs are much more efficient. Throw in the self programming and you have a very efficient t-stat. So much so that Honeywell has initiated a lawsuit trying to get Nest T-stats off the market.
Thermostats that monitor the outside temperature via a remote sensor or via the web are able to anticipate the heating or cooling needs are much more efficient. Throw in the self programming and you have a very efficient t-stat. So much so that Honeywell has initiated a lawsuit trying to get them off the market.
Honeywell is alleging that Nest has violated many patent designs including one about a round thermostat design, remote monitoring and a few other things. Pulling this from my memory if you want more info The Verge had a good article on this about a month ago.
Interestingly, since Nest has the funds to have lawyers and researchers, Nest is alleging that many of Honeywells claimed patents were identical patents that Honeywell has illegally refilled over the years. Meaning they were illegally trying to extend their patents. Good stuff.
Honeywell is alleging that Nest has violated many patent designs including one about a round thermostat design, remote monitoring and a few other things. Pulling this from my memory if you want more info The Verge had a good article on this about a month ago.
Interestingly, since Nest has the funds to have lawyers and researchers, Nest is alleging that many of Honeywells claimed patents were identical patents that Honeywell has illegally refilled over the years. Meaning they were illegally trying to extend their patents. Good stuff.
That sounds almost iOS v. Android-like, doesn't it?
That sounds almost iOS v. Android-like, doesn't it?
Yeah, I found the similarities to be very interesting and certainly amusing. I think Nest has done a lot of innovating and certainly a lot of refinement on a nearly 100 year old product that many assumed was a dead end commodity. I hope Nest prevails as they did some good work.
I agree with you, and even if programmed many people simply hit the hold button wich holds it at the set temperature indefinitely. I was responding to the poster that scoffed at a $200 thermostat. Thermostats that monitor the outside temperature via a remote sensor or via the web are able to anticipate the heating or cooling needs are much more efficient. Throw in the self programming and you have a very efficient t-stat. So much so that Honeywell has initiated a lawsuit trying to get Nest T-stats off the market.
OMG I didn't know about the law suit, don't tell me Honeywell has a patent on thermostats!
Sorry, already asked and answered ... just read your comments above.
Apple MIGHT stock it if it only interfaces with the iDevices and not the Android phones. But the packaging (as photographed by his knee) will need to change to come up to Apple standards.
I doubt we will see a lowering of energy costs. The best I expect is for costs to not rise going forward. So, such a device will help people control costs of using energy for HVAC; essentially lowering costs.
Tim Cook is flushing this company down the toilet. What's next, televisions?
how exactly is that. after all they are selling Appified scales, grill thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, baby monitors and so on and the company hasn't gone belly up yet.
That is if this rumor is even true. After all we haven't seen a receipt from someone buying one at an Apple Store. seems like the only reason folks are so quick to believe this is the whole 'former Apple person' detail
What about the intelligent settings? Lost time and unnecessary fiddling is harder to process than energy.
I rather like the idea of being able to use my iPhone to tell the thermostat to switch to 'at home' settings when I leave work so the house is warm/cool when I get home. Sure folks are going to say 'you can get thermostats that can do that you just set the time etc' but I work in a business where you can't guarantee what time you get off work. Sure we might think its going to be an 8 hour day but then it ends up being a 10 and my heat has been running for two hours it didn't need to be costing me money.
yeah just like they only sell headphones, speakers, printers that work with Apple products,
I'm glad someone finally mentioned that.
Apple sells all sorts of products in the Apple store - and many of them are not Apple products. If Apple thinks a product is cool and if there's some connection to Apple, they sell all sorts of things.
Woodlink, I have been reading this site for years and never posted once. But I was so outraged, by your snotty comment implying we have no energy reserves and how it relates to this device, I had to reply.
1) Google the Bakken oil reserves. There are at a minimum of 4.3 BILLION barrels of recoverable oil and more recent estimates put it at 24 BILLION BARRELS. This is at only one location not including the western slope and other areas.
2) We have so much natural Gas we can be an exporter to the world with more energy than Saudi Arabia and Iran combined.
3) I took my family up to Santa Barbra California a few years back. As we walked the beach we found what looked like balls of tar in the sand. Was there an oil spill? No, there is so much oil it is literally oozing up from the ocean floor. Incredibly they are unable to go after it due to a drilling moratorium. This moratorium was put in place by environmentalist. I guess if your an environmentalist, better to let it wash ashore than put it to good use. Please google for more information and you will find locals that are outraged by this policy.
4) The Obama administration is doing all that it can to block the pipe line to bring the Bakken and Canadian oil to market. Why? To drive the price up and make renewables competitive. You will find the secretary of energy publicly stating so.
Thus what the other commentator said was correct. Energy prices will fall dramatically if Obama is defeated. If this happens we will finally get our economy moving again.
Woodlink you should not laugh at others because it is your profound ignorance that is the joke!
Is there a better, cheaper one that saves more money on energy?
Most of the competition, (which is to say thermostats with all the same features but butt ugly and made out of plastic with a crappy LCD screen), are about $150.00. So in fact this is priced just like many Apple products, a 50-60%% or so premium over what a middle range alternative would be.
The thing I don't understand about the Nest is the marketing. All the materials and the picture on the box show "70" (degrees) when pretty much every country in the world has been using Celcius forever.
If you are going to sell a product world-wide, to put an obviously weird US-only temperature on the box is a bad choice. Stupid people are going to think it's a meat thermometer because a 70 degree temperature would normally be deadly. Whereas those who understand that it means 70 degrees Fahrenheit are going to be slightly insulted.
It's such a completely unnecessary blunder to make on the box art.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdaddyp
A good programmable thermostat usually stars at$200. If used properly that will usually pay for itself in a year or two over the cost of a dumb t-stat.
True in theory. In fact most programmable thermostats waste energy because the owners never program them. Incorrectly or not programmed at all they are worse than non programmable thermostats and most have lost the Energy Star ratings for this very reason. The Nest on the other hand programs itself. Totally brilliant product. I noticed today here in Florida, ours ran the fan alone several times to distribute cooler air and didn't use the AC on several occasions. Being able to control it from Macs, iPads and iPhones at home or away is awesome. After two weeks only we wonder what the hell took us so long to buy one.
Hopefully they'll sell The Leap as well: http://www.leapmotion.com/
Speaking of which if The Leap would be bigger and had projection capabilities it be great for design!
Like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYjlMflhysc
What I need is a house of my own....
Quote:
Originally Posted by ascii
I find it hard to believe Apple would stock a 3rd party item that was not an accessory to one of their own products. But on the other hand they have been very environmental lately.
Apple MIGHT stock it if it only interfaces with the iDevices and not the Android phones. But the packaging (as photographed by his knee) will need to change to come up to Apple standards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ascii
Yep. Energy has been getting more and more expensive for a while, and products like this have made sense. Obviously this reality is what the iPod inventor saw as a market opportunity.
But his timing is not so good as it was with the iPod, since with all the new energy reserves discovered in the central US, energy should start getting cheaper starting in 2013. Hopefully that cheaper energy is what is needed to finally get the economy out of it's funk.
I doubt we will see a lowering of energy costs. The best I expect is for costs to not rise going forward. So, such a device will help people control costs of using energy for HVAC; essentially lowering costs.
This is a good move and I think it is as important as the TV that everyone talks about! Home automation is an area with great potential and no obvious competition (on paper many companies are competing but nothing meaningful!)
I wish I needed one of these. I'd buy one except I have only turned on the AC or the heat maybe two days out of the year on average.
I agree with you, and even if programmed many people simply hit the hold button wich holds it at the set temperature indefinitely. I was responding to the poster that scoffed at a $200 thermostat. Thermostats that monitor the outside temperature via a remote sensor or via the web are able to anticipate the heating or cooling needs are much more efficient. Throw in the self programming and you have a very efficient t-stat. So much so that Honeywell has initiated a lawsuit trying to get Nest T-stats off the market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdaddyp
Thermostats that monitor the outside temperature via a remote sensor or via the web are able to anticipate the heating or cooling needs are much more efficient. Throw in the self programming and you have a very efficient t-stat. So much so that Honeywell has initiated a lawsuit trying to get them off the market.
On what grounds are they basing that?
Honeywell is alleging that Nest has violated many patent designs including one about a round thermostat design, remote monitoring and a few other things. Pulling this from my memory if you want more info The Verge had a good article on this about a month ago.
Interestingly, since Nest has the funds to have lawyers and researchers, Nest is alleging that many of Honeywells claimed patents were identical patents that Honeywell has illegally refilled over the years. Meaning they were illegally trying to extend their patents. Good stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdaddyp
Honeywell is alleging that Nest has violated many patent designs including one about a round thermostat design, remote monitoring and a few other things. Pulling this from my memory if you want more info The Verge had a good article on this about a month ago.
Interestingly, since Nest has the funds to have lawyers and researchers, Nest is alleging that many of Honeywells claimed patents were identical patents that Honeywell has illegally refilled over the years. Meaning they were illegally trying to extend their patents. Good stuff.
That sounds almost iOS v. Android-like, doesn't it?
Yeah, I found the similarities to be very interesting and certainly amusing. I think Nest has done a lot of innovating and certainly a lot of refinement on a nearly 100 year old product that many assumed was a dead end commodity. I hope Nest prevails as they did some good work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdaddyp
I agree with you, and even if programmed many people simply hit the hold button wich holds it at the set temperature indefinitely. I was responding to the poster that scoffed at a $200 thermostat. Thermostats that monitor the outside temperature via a remote sensor or via the web are able to anticipate the heating or cooling needs are much more efficient. Throw in the self programming and you have a very efficient t-stat. So much so that Honeywell has initiated a lawsuit trying to get Nest T-stats off the market.
OMG I didn't know about the law suit, don't tell me Honeywell has a patent on thermostats!
Sorry, already asked and answered ... just read your comments above.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macky the Macky
Apple MIGHT stock it if it only interfaces with the iDevices and not the Android phones. But the packaging (as photographed by his knee) will need to change to come up to Apple standards.
I doubt we will see a lowering of energy costs. The best I expect is for costs to not rise going forward. So, such a device will help people control costs of using energy for HVAC; essentially lowering costs.
The packaging is totally up to Apple standards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacVicta
Tim Cook is flushing this company down the toilet. What's next, televisions?
how exactly is that. after all they are selling Appified scales, grill thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, baby monitors and so on and the company hasn't gone belly up yet.
That is if this rumor is even true. After all we haven't seen a receipt from someone buying one at an Apple Store. seems like the only reason folks are so quick to believe this is the whole 'former Apple person' detail
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
What about the intelligent settings? Lost time and unnecessary fiddling is harder to process than energy.
I rather like the idea of being able to use my iPhone to tell the thermostat to switch to 'at home' settings when I leave work so the house is warm/cool when I get home. Sure folks are going to say 'you can get thermostats that can do that you just set the time etc' but I work in a business where you can't guarantee what time you get off work. Sure we might think its going to be an 8 hour day but then it ends up being a 10 and my heat has been running for two hours it didn't need to be costing me money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macky the Macky
Apple MIGHT stock it if it only interfaces with the iDevices and not the Android phones.
yeah just like they only sell headphones, speakers, printers that work with Apple products,
I'm glad someone finally mentioned that.
Apple sells all sorts of products in the Apple store - and many of them are not Apple products. If Apple thinks a product is cool and if there's some connection to Apple, they sell all sorts of things.
1) Google the Bakken oil reserves. There are at a minimum of 4.3 BILLION barrels of recoverable oil and more recent estimates put it at 24 BILLION BARRELS. This is at only one location not including the western slope and other areas.
2) We have so much natural Gas we can be an exporter to the world with more energy than Saudi Arabia and Iran combined.
3) I took my family up to Santa Barbra California a few years back. As we walked the beach we found what looked like balls of tar in the sand. Was there an oil spill? No, there is so much oil it is literally oozing up from the ocean floor. Incredibly they are unable to go after it due to a drilling moratorium. This moratorium was put in place by environmentalist. I guess if your an environmentalist, better to let it wash ashore than put it to good use. Please google for more information and you will find locals that are outraged by this policy.
4) The Obama administration is doing all that it can to block the pipe line to bring the Bakken and Canadian oil to market. Why? To drive the price up and make renewables competitive. You will find the secretary of energy publicly stating so.
Thus what the other commentator said was correct. Energy prices will fall dramatically if Obama is defeated. If this happens we will finally get our economy moving again.
Woodlink you should not laugh at others because it is your profound ignorance that is the joke!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Is there a better, cheaper one that saves more money on energy?
Most of the competition, (which is to say thermostats with all the same features but butt ugly and made out of plastic with a crappy LCD screen), are about $150.00. So in fact this is priced just like many Apple products, a 50-60%% or so premium over what a middle range alternative would be.
The thing I don't understand about the Nest is the marketing. All the materials and the picture on the box show "70" (degrees) when pretty much every country in the world has been using Celcius forever.
If you are going to sell a product world-wide, to put an obviously weird US-only temperature on the box is a bad choice. Stupid people are going to think it's a meat thermometer because a 70 degree temperature would normally be deadly. Whereas those who understand that it means 70 degrees Fahrenheit are going to be slightly insulted.
It's such a completely unnecessary blunder to make on the box art.