Nest [HVAC Technosorcery]

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:15 am

If you aren't into the Nest brand per se, there are several alternatives out there that aren't as spendy, also. We have a Nest at work, interestingly, and it is pretty cool, but I personally would not buy one for the house because we have (previous owners bought it) a very nice touch unit, that has a particularly cool feature I like, which is a remote unit that not only displays things like "Current temp at thermostat, current temp at remote, humidity, outdoor temp, etc), but also allows you to tell the system to read the temp from the remote (instead of the fixed location thermostat which is on the wall).

This is great for when we have parties (most people amassed in one room, that is NOT located where the wall thermostat is), or if we turn the fireplace on, or are cooking and the kitchen is heating up. I tend to move the remote instead of adjust the temperature.

And this is at least a 5 year old unit, so I am sure the current versions have wi-fi where you can connect with your phone, etc. (edit: they do, unit is about $140, so maybe $100 less than Nest)

Not to knock the Nest at all, it's a beautiful thing, and obviously well-designed, but if cost is a consideration, there are alternatives out there that do the same thing for less.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:18 am

So you keeping the brand and model to yourself as a trade secret or something?

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:25 am

On that note, Carpet_pissr, Nest folks have said that the Protects have temp/humidity sensors in them and that they will eventually integrate that with the Nest. So it's possible that a similar feature could be coming to the Nest in the future. No guarantees, though.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:38 am

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:38 am

trip
(WTH?!)

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:39 am

Isgrimnur wrote:So you keeping the brand and model to yourself as a trade secret or something?

Crap - I had it in there, must have edited it out accidentally.

Ours is a Honeywell. This looks to be the new version: http://www.amazon.com/TH8320WF1029-Hone ... thermostat

Though there are so many variations of that same model, that it's hard to tell. Also, if you add the outdoor sensor, and the remote unit, the cost would be quite a bit above a Nest, so scratch my previous comments about cost.

Their new system (Prestige) is even more spendy (it asks you questions? WTF):
http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-YTHX932 ... l+prestige

That remote control unit you see in that bundle is the one we have. Apparently just that alone is $90, but SO worth it!

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:04 pm

telcta wrote:
Zaxxon wrote:
telcta wrote:When the battery power drops to a certain point, the wifi shuts down and the motion sensor won't display the temperature when you walk by. When that happens, I remove the nest and recharge it with the USB connector in the back. It's inconvenient and can be dangerous when the weather is this cold.

I will look into hooking up a C wire because I believe I have extra wires bundled in the line.
FWIW, it's super-easy so long as you have an extra wire. You just find the ground post on the furnace control board and hook one end onto that, then hook the other to the C terminal in the Nest. Before you do this, lookin the 'technical info' section of the Nest settings (on the Nest itself; it doesn't display this in the app or on the site) and look at your voltage. It'll show you the line voltage which you can then compare to the # after you hook up C to verify that it's risen. Without a C wire it seems to fluctuate between 0 mA, 20 mA and 40 mA, and on my system with C connected I get 100 mA consistently regardless of whether the system is running. My battery (which you can see in the app/site) doesn't really ever get below 3.8V (3.95 is 100% charged).
i think I'll be attempting this sooner than later. Thanks for the numbers, it's good to compare the two to make sure it's working correctly.

Since this last post, the Nest was working wonderfully so I put off hooking up the C wire. Well, now a new firmware (4.0.3) was pushed out and the battery was drained again.

I took a look at the furnace board and located a light blue wire that's not used. My question is can I add a new wire to the C wire already there (on the left)? I believe that's powering the sump pump on this condensing furnace. Do i hook it up similar to how that white and yellow share the Y connector - side by side?

[bigimg]http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s315 ... 51ee25.jpg[/bigimg]

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:19 pm

Caveat: IANAFE.

I believe the answer is yes. The C wire is just a ground, so I think that will be fine. If your system blows up, I didn't tell you this.

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:22 pm

No worries, Zaxxon. If I screw something up, it's my fault.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:26 pm

telcta wrote:If I screw something up, it's my fault.

If you screw something up enough, that may be your last post.

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:34 pm

Perfect example of why I shouldn't be a lurker. Months could go by before anyone notices. Well, I hope my wife realizes I haven't come upstairs for dinner.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:36 pm

telcta wrote:Perfect example of why I shouldn't be a lurker. Months could go by before anyone notices. Well, I hope my wife realizes I haven't come upstairs for dinner.

If we don't hear from you in 3 days (Feb 28 at 2:30p, EST), that will be a sign that you have been electrocuted, and we will all mourn your passing. With an optional moment of silence at some point during the day.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:39 pm

Which will just happen to coincide with a server maintenance period.

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:42 pm

I plan on being at the Boston OO gathering Saturday if all goes well.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 5:56 pm

Best use of a Wi-fi thermostat reviewed on Amazon.

SHE TOOK THE HOUSE, THE DOG AND THE 401K. BUT I STILL CONTROL THE THERMOSTAT
This review is from: Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat (Tools & Home Improvement)
My former wife loves to take expensive vacations. We live in Ohio, which doesn’t exactly have extravagant places to see unless you like to watch grass growing or interstate construction. While we make OK money, I’m convinced she felt the need to single handedly improve the US economy by taking elaborate vacations: Broadway shows in New York City, gambling in Las Vegas, Spa’s in Arizona, sightseeing in San Francisco. The airlines know me so well they ask about my dog when I call to make reservations. His name is Fred.

In my attempt to try and save whatever I could so the princess could have her nice things I bought this Honeywell Wi-Fi enabled device so I could adjust the HVAC while we were away piling up massive amounts of debt on Mickey Mouse watches. I thought we could save a few bucks by keeping the temp cool in the winter and warm in the summer. The device was easy to install. I did not have the “blue” connector so I had to re-purpose the green one - this required an adjustment to the actual HVAC unit in our home. There are plenty of videos on Youtube to demonstrate how to do this. Within an hour I was up and running.

The device works flawlessly. You can adjust the temp from anywhere you have a Wi-Fi or cellular signal. Little did I know that my ex had found someone that had a bit more money than I did and decided to make other travel plans. Those plans included her no longer being my wife and finding a new travel partner (Carl, a banker). She took the house, the dog and a good chunk of my 401k, but didn’t mess with the wireless access point or the Wi-Fi enabled Honeywell thermostat.

Since this past Ohio winter has been so cold I’ve been messing with the temp while the new love birds are sleeping. Doesn’t everyone want to wake up at 7 AM to a 40 degree house? When they are away on their weekend getaways, I crank the heat up to 80 degrees and back down to 40 before they arrive home. I can only imagine what their electricity bills might be. It makes me smile. I know this won’t last forever, but I can’t help but smile every time I log in and see that it still works. I also can’t wait for warmer weather when I can crank the heat up to 80 degrees while the love birds are sleeping. After all, who doesn’t want to wake up to an 80 degree home in the middle of June?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 3:51 pm

Nest Dropcam, return of the Protect

Nest Labs today unveiled a new home surveillance camera and improvements to its Nest Protect smoke detector, as well as an app that will let you control all your Nest products in one place.

The new Nest Cam is very similar to the existing Nest Dropcam Pro, but marks the formal integration of Nest and Dropcam, which the company acquired last year for $555 million. "Now we've taken all the best parts of Dropcam and made them even better," Nest said today.

The Nest Cam, on sale now for $199, can sit on furniture or be affixed to a wall or metal surface and monitor your home when you're away. It connects to Wi-Fi and records 1080p HD video and supports 8x digital zoom. Night vision, meanwhile, knows the difference between sunlight and artificial light, which "can be hugely helpful if an intruder turns on a flash light, or if headlights flash across your window," Nest said.

The device allows you to speak through it via the Nest app to admonish misbehaving pets or children. Nest Cam will also alert you if it detects motion or noise in the home, but the company said it has improved its tech so it's not sending false alarms; "no more alerts from passing cars or shadows on the walls."
...
[The Nest Protect is] back with a second-generation smoke and carbon monoxide detector that is "redesigned inside and out" and will last up to 10 years.

The $99 device includes what Nest calls a "Split-Spectrum Sensor" that detects whether your house is about to be engulfed by a five-alarm conflagration or if you simply overcooked dinner and now have a smoky kitchen. The Protect has a "smoke chamber" with "tiny hexagonal holes that let smoke in and keep everything else out"—no dust and bugs.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 3:56 pm

The cam looks neat, but the monthly charges to outfit a decent setup are the catch. The new Protects are the most interesting announcement, to me. I've got the first-gen model, and while it's good it does suffer from a propensity to false alarm (esp if it gets dirty). They say they've fixed that, and made testing more automated and hushing easier. Seems like this release is what the first should have been.

Post by **FishPants** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 8:22 pm

I've got three of the protects and I don't deal with any false alarms at all really, I'm just bummed they took away the option to wave at it and hush the alarm (it really was the whole freaking reason I got them in the first place).

Anyways it only goes off when there's something seriously burning in the kitchen, otherwise they stay silent. Just that when it goes off, I'm stuck waiting for the smoke to clear before I get back to sweet silence.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 10:21 pm

In my case, we had some work done in the attic, whose access is in my daughter's room. Some insulation fell out, and the Nest had to be replaced. They are highly sensitive to particulates, which they've addressed in this revision.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 12:04 am

Jag wrote:Best use of a Wi-fi thermostat reviewed on Amazon.

Awesome!

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 12:27 am

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 10:54 am

Ha! Best comment in response: "Well done, Revenge is best served at whatever temperature you see fit. "

LOL

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Sep 01, 2015 9:59 am

Redesign

Nest's signature connected-home thermostat is getting a redesign that leaves the pioneering Internet of Things product with a slimmer look and higher resolution screen.

The newest Nest Learning Thermostat, the third-generation of the device which debuted in 2011 from ex-Apple engineers Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, seems particularly attuned to the needs of sight-challenged baby boomers. Its thinner, hockey puck-sized circular face now dedicates 40% more real estate to graphics that are 25% crisper than Nest 2.0.

New features include Farsight, which allows users to set the thermostat to wake up its screen when it senses a presence across the room, as opposed to the standard three-foot distance. Nest can be programmed to display either the target temperature or the time. Another addition is Furnace Heads-Up, which alerts users to any patterns in furnace/air conditioning system overheating.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 3:55 pm

Protocol opened

Nest Weave, the communications protocol not dissimilar to Apple’s own HomeKit, is now open to third-party developers.

The protocol works with Nest devices, allowing products like the Nest Thermostat to talk with one another. As such, before now the platform was used with Nest products only; it was closed, and worked with (and for) the Google-owned company’s growing number of products. However, that’s all changed.

In a blog post, Nest confirmed today that Weave is now open to third-party developers, allowing products from other companies to tap into the protocol and join the Nest-powered communication network. This, in theory, should make home automation nirvana a little easier to achieve, although similar platforms (including Apple’s own HomeKit) have taught us to keep our hopes from getting too high.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 12:15 pm

New features

Nest is adding two features that will help make its connected products a better fit for the connected home. The first feature uses data from users’ phones to contribute to their home and away settings, and the second lets them add more than one person to the Nest account.
...
The first, Family Account, lets users add up to 10 people to control their Nest devices. Originally, Nest users who wanted to remotely control their thermostat, camera, or smoke detector would log into their app on a mobile phone. But if your spouse was the person who installed and set up the Nest account, you’d have to share a password with him or her if you wanted to also access the device on your own phone.
...
The second feature solves the challenge of having the Nest thermostat turn itself into Away mode even if someone is home. The Nest typically decided if people were home by using algorithms and a proximity sensor in the thermostat. But if the thermostat was located in a remote part of the house, it’s possible that people who were home wouldn’t trigger the sensor. At that point the Nest would decide that people were gone and would turn the air or heat off.

Several companies currently offer sensors that can tie into the Nest account to offer more granular information about who is in the home as a way to solve this problem, but Nest has decided to solve the problem for itself. The new feature adds geolocation on phones to determine if someone is home, so even if a person never triggers the sensor, the Nest product knows they are there.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Apr 06, 2016 10:57 am

Trouble in the nest?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:02 am

Makes me glad I've been looking at D-link cameras instead of Drops.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Apr 07, 2016 3:14 pm

Here's a pretty intense thread on reddit about said issues.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu Apr 07, 2016 4:02 pm

I still love my Nest & Nest Protects, but Tony Fadell sure seems like a royal douche.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Thu Apr 07, 2016 7:21 pm

Ruh roh. We got a Nest thermostat last fall, and my wife wants a Nest Cam as a baby monitor. Now I'm more doubtful.

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Thu Apr 07, 2016 10:55 pm

Chaz wrote:Ruh roh. We got a Nest thermostat last fall, and my wife wants a Nest Cam as a baby monitor. Now I'm more doubtful.

I have a bit of information about using a Nest Cam as a baby monitor that may change your mind. Sorry that this is long, but it's important to know before going down that road...

We picked up the Nest Cam a few months back when our baby monitor died and learned after setting it up that is not great if you're expecting something that will always be on in the background. The Nest only provides continuous audio if the video is also showing on your device screen. What does that mean? You have to keep the screen of your phone or tablet on constantly in order to hear what's happening in the baby's room. The Nest app is set up to keep your screen awake when you're watching, but only if it also maintains a constant connection to the Nest servers.

Our original plan was to use an old cell phone plugged in at our bedside as a continuous monitor at night... open the Nest app to view the room, leave the live video on screen, and fall asleep. We quickly discovered that the Nest app frequently loses its server connection if you try to monitor for an extended period, so the video feed would disconnect in the middle of the night, and the phone would go to sleep. Without someone awake to notice and restart the video feed, you lose your continuous monitor in the middle of the night and might miss something going on in the room. It's important to know that this is a problem with the device losing connection to Nest's server and has nothing you do with the quality of your own home network, so there's really nothing you can do about it.

When we discovered this problem, my first thought is that it's not the end of the world because the app does send you a notification if the camera picks up audio or motion. The phone makes a noise that should wake us up, so we can then open the video feed and see what's happening. The problems with this are that it's a single notification sound that one could sleep through, and it will only send one notification every thirty minutes, no matter how much activity it detects during that time. If you missed the first notification and your video feed is off, and you won't be notified again for half an hour (and might not hear that either).

These two issues are huge limitations for the cam's use as a baby monitor. That said, we did keep the camera and do still have it set up in our little one's room. Why? Because he's almost two now and makes enough noise when he wakes up that we can hear him from our room if he really needs something at night. When I hear him crying, I can pick up my phone, open the video feed, and get a great view of what's happening. It works for our needs, but I wouldn't find it an acceptable system for an infant. It's also very convenient to have an easily movable, remotely viewable camera around the house for other reasons. Because it's so easy to move around, we've found some other uses besides just the kid's room. It's a cool device, but if you're expecting something that can be used in the same way as a traditional baby monitor, you will be disappointed.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:26 am

I know this is a nest thread, but I figured I'd post in here. I just picked up the Ecobee 4 this week during Alexa's birthday. $40 off the Ecobee 4 plus my electric company has a $75 rebate. I ended up paying about $150 after tax.

Installed it today and it was a breeze. They give you a small bracket or a plate if there's previous holes in the wall. I had my hand over one hole unknowingly, so I just used the small bracket. Didn't see the hole until I had it all installed. Wife said she didn't care so I was a bit relieved.

Setup was a breeze, connected it to my app, and to Alexa. Kids love the Alexa as it's our first device with it. They've been asking Alexa tell jokes and to play songs.
https://www.facebook.com/KenDean/videos ... 868436044/

Kinda weird having a thermostat do more than just change temp. Hoping to get a smart things hub soon and change out the light switches.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Tue Nov 28, 2017 1:52 pm

Just ordered Ecobee 4, $99.50 from ComEd (bastards charged tax on the list price though

) Looks like we'll be teaching Alexa some new tricks...wife currently just uses her dot to play music...when I can be bothered to plug it in.

xwraith · Post by **xwraith** » Sat May 05, 2018 5:20 pm

So has anybody used the Nest with the extra temperature sensors? I think my current thermostat has a bad temp sensor and I'm thinking of getting one of these if it would let me run the system based on temperature in say, the nursery.

xwraith · Post by **xwraith** » Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:07 pm

I'll answer my own question: Yes there is, and yes it appears to work.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:15 am

I got some spam from Com Ed yesterday pimping "smart vents." I presume they work with a Nest, although ComEd said the offer was because I purchased an Ecobee from them. A two-vent kit, on sale, is still $260. That would outfit a single bedroom, it would cost several grand to outfit the whole house (additionally, I'd have to buy more sensors -- the remote sensor for the Ecobee is in the master bedroom). I'm doing all that would make the house loads more efficient, but at that price the ROI will be in the red for many years (likely beyond the useful life of the devices themselves).

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:32 pm

Jeff V wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:15 am I got some spam from Com Ed yesterday pimping "smart vents." I presume they work with a Nest, although ComEd said the offer was because I purchased an Ecobee from them. A two-vent kit, on sale, is still $260. That would outfit a single bedroom, it would cost several grand to outfit the whole house (additionally, I'd have to buy more sensors -- the remote sensor for the Ecobee is in the master bedroom). I'm doing all that would make the house loads more efficient, but at that price the ROI will be in the red for many years (likely beyond the useful life of the devices themselves).

Keen Home has smart vents I'm looking at for use with our Ecobee. It'd be pretty terrific to load balance away our (basically unoccupied) basement in the summer, and some upstairs bedrooms in the winter. But yeah, not cheap.

xwraith · Post by **xwraith** » Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:49 pm

Huh, I bet you could do lots of neat stuff with that. Would you want some sort of variable speed blower though? Would there be some sort of negative effect if all vents except one were closed and a certain volume of air was being blown through the system?

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Aug 09, 2018 2:48 pm

The Meal wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:32 pm Keen Home has smart vents I'm looking at for use with our Ecobee. It'd be pretty terrific to load balance away our (basically unoccupied) basement in the summer, and some upstairs bedrooms in the winter. But yeah, not cheap.

Keen is what ComEd is pimping.