Back in 2014, when Google bought Nest for roughly $3.2 billion, many thought that Nest would see some integration with a number of other Google products. Many jokes were made that you could post to Google+ from your Nest Learning Thermostat. While integration with other Google products is likely coming, it’s not here yet. And today’s update makes the Learning Thermostat even better. The update is being rolled out to Nest Learning Thermostats over the next few weeks, so you should see it pretty soon.
This new update brings a few new features, and improves on some of its functionality. One of the improvements is that Nest thermostats will now keep the temperature in the home 20% closer to the temperature you’ve set it too. For example, if you set it to 75-degrees, it’ll stick closer to that 75 degree mark than before. That should save your home some energy and some money off of your energy bill as well. Another feature is multi-stage heating systems. Which can save 3.8% more energy. Heat pumps can save 6.5% more energy and multi-stage cooling systems can now reduce energy by 5.4%. These were already way more energy efficient than the traditional thermostats, but now they are even better.
In addition to all that Early-On, Time-to-Temperature and Heat Pump Balance will all get better with this update. These features all rely on predicting what is going to happen next. For example, how long it takes the home to warm up, how fast it’s cooling down, etc. And improving on that should make the home even more energy efficient.
Currently, Nest’s Learning Thermostat is available for $249 over at Amazon. And with all of the savings created by being more energy efficient, the Nest Learning Thermostat is definitely worth the price. It is also compatible with just about any heating system, and is pretty simple to install in place of your existing thermostat. Not to mention it can be controlled from your phone using the Nest app. Which also allows you to view past energy usage, it can also send you an alert in case your home gets too cold or too warm.