Google Nest Thermostat - Smart Thermostat for Home - Programmable Wifi Thermostat - Charcoal

My old thermostat was one of those ancient dial ones that had been in my house since probably the 80s. No programming, no scheduling, just a dial you turned to set the temperature. I was constantly adjusting it manually - turning it down when I left for work, back up when I got home, down at night, up in the morning. It was annoying and I was definitely wasting energy heating an empty house all day. Finally decided to upgrade to a smart thermostat and went with the Nest after researching a bunch of options. Installation took me maybe 30 minutes. I turned off the power to my HVAC system at the breaker, unscrewed the old thermostat, took a picture of how the wires were connected for reference, then connected the same wires to the Nest base. The instructions were super clear and the Nest app walks you through the whole process step by step. I mounted the Nest in my hallway where the old thermostat was. The base attaches to the wall with screws and the thermostat display just clicks onto it magnetically. Looks way more modern than that old beige dial thermostat. The display is sleek and the screen shows the current temp clearly from across the room. The setup through the app was straightforward. Connected it to my WiFi, told it what type of heating system I have, and it started learning my schedule immediately. The whole "learning" thing actually works - after like a week of me adjusting it manually when I wanted, it started automatically adjusting to match my patterns. Now it lowers the temp when I leave for work and warms the house back up before I get home. I can control it from my phone from anywhere which is super convenient. If I'm gonna be home late I can tell it to keep the heat lower for longer. If I'm coming home early I can warm the house up before I arrive. Also great for when I'm traveling - I can keep the heat way down while I'm gone and not waste money heating an empty house. The energy savings have been significant. I installed this in November right as heating season started and my first full month my gas bill was like $30 lower than the same month the previous year. Part of that is the automatic scheduling - the house isn't being heated when nobody's home. The Nest also shows you energy history and gives you little leaf icons when you're running efficiently which is a nice motivator to not crank the heat unnecessarily. The motion sensor is a cool feature. If the Nest detects someone's home when it thought the house would be empty, it adjusts accordingly. So like if I'm sick and stay home from work, it doesn't keep the house cold all day thinking nobody's there. It adapts to actual occupancy. The temperature control is more accurate than my old thermostat too. My old one would overshoot by like 3-4 degrees and then the heat would kick off, making the house cycle between too hot and too cold. The Nest keeps things much more consistent. The house stays right around the set temperature without those annoying swings. I integrated it with my Google Home setup and can control it with voice commands which is nice when my hands are full or I'm in bed and don't want to get up. "Hey Google, set the thermostat to 70" and it just works. Can also ask it what the current temperature is. The Away mode is smart about knowing when you're actually gone. It uses your phone's location and the motion sensor to figure out if anyone's home. I don't have to remember to manually set it to away mode when I leave, it just knows and adjusts automatically to save energy. One thing I was worried about was it looking out of place since my house is kind of traditional/older style, but the Nest actually looks pretty sleek and modern without being too techy or standing out awkwardly. The circular design and the charcoal color work well with my hallway decor. The screen is really responsive and has this nice interface where you just turn the outer ring to adjust temperature. Way more satisfying than pecking at buttons on a programmable thermostat. The display shows you how long until it reaches your target temp which is useful for planning. It also shows weather forecasts on the display when you're not actively using it, which is a nice touch. I glance at it in the morning to see what the day's weather looks like before I leave for work. The monthly energy reports the app sends are actually interesting. Shows you how much energy you used compared to previous months and what factors affected your usage. Makes you more aware of your heating habits and how to be more efficient. Installation wise, the only thing to be aware of is you need a C-wire for power. My house had one already but if yours doesn't, Nest makes an adapter you can install at your furnace. Might add 15 minutes to install time but the instructions cover it. After 4 months of use this has paid for itself and then some with the energy savings. My heating bills have consistently been $25-35 lower each month compared to last year. Over a heating season that adds up to hundreds of dollars saved, and the thermostat will last for years. If you're still using an old manual thermostat or even an old programmable one that you never actually programmed, upgrade to this. The convenience of phone control and automatic scheduling alone is worth it, and the energy savings make it basically free over time. Installation is easy enough for anyone with basic DIY skills. Read more

I was looking for a basic, smart thermostat for our cabin so I could monitor the temperature over the winter in the event of heating issues or someone kicking the door in and it freezing inside; and also, because we turn the heat way down while not there, I could turn it back up on the way there and have it already warm when we arrive. As I read reviews on this thermostat, which I kept going back to when I reviewed others, it seemed like most complaints were about needing a "c" wire to the thermostat and Google not disclosing that. I can't speak to that as I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary, I knew nothing of wiring a thermostat to a furnace. I went into it though assuming I needed a "c" wire and researched different ways to do it. There were other complaints like displayed temperature inaccuracies, but at the end of the day I went with the basic Google Nest in sand color (looks pink to me). I'm glad I spent the time researching ahead of time and, so far, glad I didn't listen to the "don't buy this product" reviews. Does exactly what I want it to do, easy to use, displays perfectly accurate temperature, and was easy to install (again, glad I researched quite a bit and was prepared). Now for my install experience: Just for the record, my cabin furnace is heat only, so I only really needed 2 low voltage wires from the thermostat to the furnace. The existing cable had 3 wires however, one of which (the green one) was not hooked up at either end. FYI, take the advice of the "how to" videos and take a picture of the wire locations on the old thermostat before removing them, and make sure the furnace breaker is off too. The green wire, as I researched, is usually for operating the furnace fan separate from when it's on for heating or cooling, something I, and probably most people, don't use. The white and red wires were hooked to their corresponding letter coded (R&W) spaces on the thermostat and furnace. I had purchased a plug-in 24v transformer with a long set of wires, based on my previous research, to use as the "c" wire, which I learned supplies power to the thermostat. I intended on plugging it into a nearby outlet, running the wire alongside some doorframe trim, which would hide the wire, and into the wall behind the new thermostat. This, I think, would have worked just fine. I also learned though, from watching another "how-to" video just before I started the project, that all furnaces have a 24v connection space along with where all the other thermostat wires would go. So I just hooked the unused green wire to the "c", or 24v, spot on the furnace and to the "c" connector on the Nest thermostat. *The Nest comes with wire identifying stickers and I did label this wire on both ends to indicate it's now the power wire. Once the wiring was done, turned the breaker back on and followed the install directions from the Google Home app. The only minor issues I had was that the display was in Celsius, not Fahrenheit, and it took me awhile to figure out that this needed to be changed via the phone app, not the thermostat. There may be a way, but I couldn't figure that out. Also, was a little nervous because of the previous reviews I read when the initial temperature displayed about 4-5 degrees above the actual temperature, but by the time I cleaned everything up, it was right on. In Google's defense, it did indicate it takes a little bit to adjust itself. Very happy with it and glad I picked this one-so far anyhow. Read more