Items tagged with thermostat
A smart thermostat like the Nest is a great way to help you save money on your electricity and heating bills. Nest is able to do this by learning what temperatures you like and then setting itself automatically depending on the time of day. It also learns when you are out of the home using integrated sensors and the location on your smartphone to turn the temperature up when you leave, saving money.The catch for many people who would like to own a Nest Learning Thermostat is that they are expensive at $249, and are decked out with a metal ring around the outside in stainless steel, black, white, or copper colors. Back in March of this year, a rumor started floating around suggesting that Nest...
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Microsoft is making a move into the smart thermostat category, a sector that is currently led by solutions like Nest and Ecobee, though it is not jumping in alone. The Redmond outfit has teamed up with thermostat maker Johnson Controls to build GLAS, Microsoft's first smart thermostat. It features Cortana integration and is powered by the Windows 10 IoT Core operating system and Azure Cloud computing services. The combination of Cortana, Windows 10 IoT Core, and Azure Cloud gives GLAS some unique functionality, such as being able to detect when you're in a room and then adjust the temperature based on your preference. It also persistently monitors both indoor and outdoor air quality and intelligently...
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Winter is upon us and with it comes snow, ice, and chilly temperatures, depending on where you live. There's probably no worse time of the year for a home thermostat to give up the ghost, but unfortunately for Nest owners, that's exactly what happened, causing in-home temperatures to plummet overnight. For some, it was a cold inconvenience, and the worst of it was waking up to a cold home because Nest had stopped working sometime in the night. For others, it was a potentially costly scenario, such as one user who complained on Nest's forums that the pipes froze overnight in a home they recently sold. "Our home has been sold and is closing next week. We moved out a few weeks ago and left our Nest...
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Google-owned Nest finally has something it has been wanting for a long time: numbers. With two independent studies in hand (along with another study commissioned by Nest), the young home automation company can talk to you (with much more credibility) about how much its customers are saving on their heating bills by installing the Nest Thermostat. The numbers are pretty impressive: a Nest house typically saves about $131 to $145 per year. Change the temperature a few times and the Nest learns how to keep you home at the right temp (at the right time). As Nest is quick to point out in its new white paper, the yearly savings amount to about a 15% reduction in heating and cooling bills and mean...
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The lowly home thermostat is fast becoming an important seller for smart home companies. Nest put a spotlight on it with the Wi-Fi connected Nest Learning Thermostat and Honeywell, a longtime thermostat maker, has been pumping out flashy touch-screen competitors. Now Quirky is getting into the mix with Norm. Quirky, famous for crowd-sourcing unusual tech products, built Norm to connect to its Wink wireless smart home system. In fact, you’ll need to buy a Wink product in order to make Norm work. Even so, the prices for Quirky’s smart home products are starting off well below those of competitors like Nest. Norm starts off at $80, while the necessary Wink Hub comes in at $50. The Nest...
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Think that Nest has the whole Wi-Fi thermostat market on lockdown? Think again. Honeywell, a mainstay in the thermostat arena, has been pumping out Wi-Fi versions for a little while now, and the company's latest version is quite impressive. The new Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat is a connected unit that allows homeowners to integrate into their wall in a new way. In addition, the Honeywell thermostat offers Wi-Fi connectivity that allows consumers to regulate their energy usage and home comfort through their smartphone. Featuring a touch screen display, the Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat is equipped with mobile and email alerts that put homeowners in control by notifying them when their home is too hot or cold,...
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The original Nest has been improving the reputation of the home thermostat for less than a year, but a new model is already out. The second-generation Nest has a more streamlined build and better software for keeping your home at the appropriate temperature throughout the day. You can pre-order today or pick up a Nest at a retailer in mid-October for $249. The first Nest grabbed the public’s attention for its great looks (something your typical thermostat sorely lacks), but the buzz quickly turned to what the device can do: it builds a schedule for keeping your house at a comfortable temp when you’re around, and at an energy-saving temp when you’re away. On the left is the original...
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Have you ever left for vacation and forgot to change the thermostat? Although it may not be worth flying home for, setting the thermostat a few degrees higher while you're away from home can save on cooling costs (especially if you'll be gone for a few days). Thanks to a new offering from TXU Energy, Texans can now use a smartphone to manage and adjust their home's temperature. The new service is available for users of the TXU Energy iThermostat. With the thermostat and new TXU Energy iThermostat mobile website (txu.com/control), you can manage your home's heating and air conditioning. The website is compatible with the latest models of Apple iPhone, Apple iPod touch, Apple iPad, BlackBerry...
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