What's your opinion on the Nest thermostat?

[545GAlady]

Hello all. I've been reading the threads about the Nest thermostat and a lot of folks have different opinions on them.

We are looking to have the thermostat for our basement system replaced with a Nest Generation 2 thermostat. After looking it up it says that it is compatible with heat pump w/ aux ht. After reading numerous reviews about it I'm starting to think that it is worthless and is not a great idea. I want the thermostat so I can control the comfort over the wifi from anywhere. We are currently finishing our basement bathroom and will be using the basement a lot more often for entertaining. The basement is 2200 sq. ft. finished.

So what's your opinion on this thermostat? Should I look elsewhere for wifi enabled thermostats? If so, what do you recommend? Thanks in advance for any help.

Susan

[jtrammel]

There are many other options for wifi stats. The nest is pretty cool and will work with your heat pump, either gen1 or gen2. With that said I don't like the learning set point thing of the nest. With heat pumps it doesn't save any energy using setbacks, especially dramatic ones like the nest tends to do on its own. I don't want any thermostat that thinks it knows what temp I want my house. Honeywell has a new wifi stat that's comparable in price. Ecobee make a neat one too.

[Brent Ridley]

What system do you have? Brand, Model and Serial.

Nest is great but there may be others options depending on your system.

[BaldLoonie]

We helped a customer get his Nest to work with his heat pump and backup. I talked to their customer support twice. Talk about clueless. Look into a Honeywell Vision Pro WiFi for a quality stat.

[545GAlady]

Thanks for all your responses. Obviously I don't see any "good" features with the Nest and I think it is too basic. The system is a 2003 Trane XR11 1.5 ton. I'll post pics of the model number of the heat pump and air handler later. Our current thermostat does not operate on batteries.

[duckman06]

Thanks for all your responses. Obviously I don't see any "good" features with the Nest and I think it is too basic. The system is a 2003 Trane XR11 1.5 ton. I'll post pics of the model number of the heat pump and air handler later. Our current thermostat does not operate on batteries.

If t-stat does not take batteries then it most be powered by a common wire from the air handler. Simply meaning it draws power for the air handler to power it nothing worng with that just wanted to give info. On what it sounds like you have.

Nest t-stats have become popular due to good advertising and to be honest a neat thermostat. It learns from you and your habits for changing settings. The problem I find with this t-stat is most people like anything else like to play with it for while then don't use it as designed. Leading to the t-stat learning schdule that might not be what you want.

You get a new system or new t-stat or both. This is common human behavior with anything new. It is like the comfort link t-stat that Trane's offers. My company got a big response from customers that were interested in the product and we installed several. What I came to find out was after a month or so the new would rubb off and people were not using them like attended. I belive there is a place for remote access t-stats for vacation homes, people who travel or bussinesses to montier usage. This cases allow the customer to know what is going on with the system in their home or business. A average person like me (I set one up in my home for demo). I liked it but after a while it served no real purpose for me as my home stays at 72 year round.

My point is this it will do what you want but how long will you really use it propely? If you say a lot. I would get one if not then just a good digital t-stat will do the job. As others have suggested their are other t-stats that are in my opion better that have wifi/remote access ablity. What do you really want to gain from the t-stat?

[545GAlady]

If t-stat does not take batteries then it most be powered by a common wire from the air handler. Simply meaning it draws power for the air handler to power it nothing worng with that just wanted to give info. On what it sounds like you have.

Nest t-stats have become popular due to good advertising and to be honest a neat thermostat. It learns from you and your habits for changing settings. The problem I find with this t-stat is most people like anything else like to play with it for while then don't use it as designed. Leading to the t-stat learning schdule that might not be what you want.

You get a new system or new t-stat or both. This is common human behavior with anything new. It is like the comfort link t-stat that Trane's offers. My company got a big response from customers that were interested in the product and we installed several. What I came to find out was after a month or so the new would rubb off and people were not using them like attended. I belive there is a place for remote access t-stats for vacation homes, people who travel or bussinesses to montier usage. This cases allow the customer to know what is going on with the system in their home or business. A average person like me (I set one up in my home for demo). I liked it but after a while it served no real purpose for me as my home stays at 72 year round.

My point is this it will do what you want but how long will you really use it propely? If you say a lot. I would get one if not then just a good digital t-stat will do the job. As others have suggested their are other t-stats that are in my opion better that have wifi/remote access ablity. What do you really want to gain from the t-stat?

Thanks for the info. One of the main reasons we wanted to go with this thermostat is to have wifi/remote access ability. Another thermostat I thought about was the Honeywell RTH6580WF 7-day programmable. Is this a good model?

I also think the Nest is a little too overpriced. I mean, there are some other better wifi thermostats out there that are little cheaper, but I won't mention it because pricing is not allowed here. The one from Ecobee could work as well.

[AmincControls]

I have had the Nest for almost a year now. Had two problems... The temperature sensor is infrared only, which means it is reading the temperature of the opposite wall. Unfortunately, I have a small house and the Nest points towards a wall that gets radiant heat from my kitchen oven. So when I use my oven the nest reads 4-5 degF higher than it really is in the direct vicinity of the Nest. This hasn't been a huge problem, but it's a bit annoying. I could just relocate my thermostat I guess....

The other problem is the self learning "auto programming" feature. The set points randomly change all the time based on our previous habits. My wife hated that it was running when she didn't tell it to so I disabled it. Now it just runs like a regular thermostat...

However, the mobile app they have is very nice and is very easy to use. It's nice to be able to turn the AC on before we get home. Especially, when we've been gone for a while. There are other thermostats out there that are wifi enabled and are probably much cheaper.

[duckman06]

Thanks for all your responses. Obviously I don't see any "good" features with the Nest and I think it is too basic. The system is a 2003 Trane XR11 1.5 ton. I'll post pics of the model number of the heat pump and air handler later. Our current thermostat does not operate on batteries.

Thanks for the info. One of the main reasons we wanted to go with this thermostat is to have wifi/remote access ability. Another thermostat I thought about was the Honeywell RTH6580WF 7-day programmable. Is this a good model?

I also think the Nest is a little too overpriced. I mean, there are some other better wifi thermostats out there that are little cheaper, but I won't mention it because pricing is not allowed here. The one from Ecobee could work as well.

I would go to Honeywell website and research all the t-stats they have that are wifi/remote access compatible. The model you listed is not a bad thermostat but it can be a little difficult to to operate once it is set up. I would look at Honeywell model #
RTH8580WF t-stat as this is much easier set up and has a touch screen.

Are you wanting to control anything else other then your system with the t-stat? Things such as lights, door locks and cameras? If so you could look at Trane comfort link t-stat and it will give you the ablity to do all this things. It comes with a t-stat, bridge and remote access plug in for 110 outlet in which you can say plug a lamp into to turn off and on (basic package). The comfort link also has acc. For door locks and cameras that can be easly added to the access. While the cost will be greater it gives you options on different things you can control from your phone, pad or computer.

You can goggle Trane comfort link t-stat and look for comfort link 1 it is just a base model t-stat that works off z wave to control all the features. The bridge allows it to be accessed by wifi. I have installed this t-stat and when customers use it they love the multiple capalbitys it offers. Trane also has the comfort link 2 which will do just about anything but make coffee. The cost goes up. Just depending on what if anything more you want to control I would recommend either.

Regardless of which t-stat you select the set up is important so I would recommend having a hvac pro come it to hook it up for you. While it might appear to be easy to wire and set up the truth is it can be very hard for average person with no expersinse in doing so. So again please get it installed by a pro and also ask them what wifi/remote access they have available and the pros and cons of each model!

[545GAlady]

Update... We ended up going with the Honeywell RTH6580WF thermostat. Our HVAC company sent a tech out to install it for us. So far the thermostat works flawlessly and I love the WiFi feature. Thanks for all your recommendations!

Susan

[SkyHeating]

Nest... HATE IT especially if any style of newer system like dual stage or dual fuel.