I wanted to save money, she wanted the comfort. Another DIY that solved a problem.
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Why we own the Nest Learning Thermostat: It bothers me to leave the HVAC running when we are not at our primary residence in Pensacola. Not as extreme as my dad, but I am focused on turning off our unit when we go out of town. I used to turn the thermostat up to 82 degrees in the summer and in the mid 50s in the winter. It is Pensacola, temps don’t get that extreme, but my wife on the other hand, hated coming home from a trip and having a “freezing cold” or “extremely hot” home – I could just think of the money we were saving :). The Nest Learning Thermostat makes us both happy. An Amazon #1 Best Seller with over 8,600 reviews!
What I love about it:
- Happy Wife, Happy Life – on our way home from those long trips, using the Nest Learning Thermostat’s app, we can turn our HVAC unit on from our phone when we’re about 1.5 hours from our house and the comfortable environment awaits as we pull up.
- Money Savings – going into Eco / Away mode allows us to set desired temps while we’re away to prevent unnecessary usage. The Nest claims to save a couple hundred $$$ yearly in energy costs. When I first read this, I thought yea right! I’ve been keeping a close eye on this an since we installed ours 7+ months ago, we have saved approx. $150 on our energy bill. Essentially this home improvement will pay for itself in 18-24 months.
- Airwave Mode – the Nest also measures humidity. Pensacola is very humid but as long as the humidity is below a certain % inside, the Nest will enter into Airwave mode and just circulate the air inside your home to cool it. Limiting the outside compressor usage saves even more money. Happy Husband…man on a island. 🙂
- Set your temp schedule – we used to adjust our thermostat 4-5 times a day. Now that we’re able to set our temp schedule, the Nest auto adjust as the day goes on and the nights roll in.
- App – Allows you to see usage history, turn off/on your HVAC, set your temp schedule and more. Best part it costs nothing.
- Options, remote access, the interface (thermostat & app), tons more.
What can improve on the Nest Learning Thermostat: I did install this myself – never replaced a thermostat until now. The instructions are pretty straightforward, and the only constructive criticism I have is on the installation instructions. I highly recommend taking a photo of the wires connected to your existing thermostat before unplugging anything. Otherwise, if you have 1 or 2 misplaced wires, you could end up with nothing but hot air blowing out – coming from experience 🙂
If you’re concerned about installing yourself, you can always check out Amazon Home Services to find a licensed HVAC or electrician to do the install for you.
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