I need some info about smart thermostats

[OlafSicky]

I'm thinking of getting The Nest thermostat or something similar. Is there anything better ? Can I lock it out so people can't change the temp this is very important to me I don't want people fooling around with it. Is it easy to set up I need different temps on different days at different times.

 

[mikeford]

Nest is now, some like, concept is simple and better and cheaper products will come out. Try looking and asking in a home automation web site.

 

[K1052]

I have a Nest but my system is pretty simple and only one zone. Been happy with it so far.

A drastic upgrade over the cheapest thermostat probably ever made by anyone which had a 3 degree temp error (always thought it was too cold).

Edit: to more specifically answer yes you can lock it out with a code and it is very easy to set schedules through the app

 

[IamDavid]

Nest rock and are better than any thermostats you can buy at Home Depot, Lowes or any other normal place. There might be a better one somewhere but I doubt it.

You can add a 4 digit lock code.

One downside is Nests poor Windows Phone support. Bad 3rd party apps exists but nothing official anymore. Web browser on the phone works fine I guess.

*I personally run 2 in my home. One upstairs, one downstairs. Wife even loves them. Nest 2nd Gen I believe.

 

[OlafSicky]

Thanks guys I will get one and test it out myself. It's great news that it can be locked out. The only problem now is I hope I have a system that supports it. How do you tell which wire is which ?

 

[NutBucket]

Look at the way your existing thermostat is wired. It should be fairly straightforward to transfer the wires to the nest. The wire colors are suppose to be standardized.

 

[skull]

The nest thermostat is garbage. If you want it to last go with a honeywell.

 

[Sluggo]

Never used a nest so can't comment on them.

I have installed quite a few of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-TH81...d_sbs_indust_8 and had good luck with them. Has a lockout screen.

 

[nickbits]

I don't own a nest but I they sound overrated. Just program a normal programmable stat and it is just as good.

I have one similar to this:http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-RTH8.../dp/B0026ES9UQ Not sure if you can lock people out of it though.

 

[iGas]

I have to go with Honeywell or Johnson Controls, because I don't have experience with Nest.

There are dummy thermostats that you can install to fool people into thinking that they have control over their environment. Such as, independence dummy thermostats, and thermostats with true functions that can be lockout and have dummy control/indicator to fool the occupant/s into thinking that they have control over the temperature setting.

Or, try http://www.landlordstat.com/ and get a simple solution for your trouble.

 

[LarryS]

How could you say a normal programmable stat is just as good? I can adjust my Nest via my smartphone if I am coming home later or early.. can your normal programmable thermostat do that? My electric bills are lower than they've ever been with my 1st gen Nest.

 

[lupi]

have a pseudo 3 story house with 1 zone, don't think a nest would do me much good.

 

[nickbits]

How could you say a normal programmable stat is just as good? I can adjust my Nest via my smartphone if I am coming home later or early.. can your normal programmable thermostat do that? My electric bills are lower than they've ever been with my 1st gen Nest.

I thought the main point of the nest was to learn your schedule. There are other stats that can be remote controlled. My parents had a system with a modem that could do that 10 years ago.

For me, there is usually always someone here so the hvac is "always on". Coming home late or early is a non issue. The only thing I use it for is night setback. I think more people have regular schedules than not.

 

[MtnMan]

By "don't want people fooling with it" do you mean family.

Dude you have more serious issues than the inside temp.

 

[Gillbot]

The nest thermostat is garbage. If you want it to last go with a honeywell.

I had a Nest, hated it. Replaced it with a Honeywell programmable and couldn't be happier. The only thing I miss about the nest was it's scheduled fan run times but I believe the higher end Honeywell models will do this also.

 

[Puppies04]

One downside is Nests poor Windows Phone support.

This is bad news for all 4 people that use that os on their phones.

 

[GeekDrew]

I had a Nest, hated it.

Why? Go on...

 

[iamwiz82]

I love my Nest. I have also had tons of experience with Honeywell programmable 'smart' thermostats in my former office, the manual was perpetually hanging nearby each one because of the poor UI.

 

[shabby]

I thought the main point of the nest was to learn your schedule.

That only works if the thermostat is in a busy location like near the front door, if its in a room in the corner of a house that you barely use it won't do you much good.

 

[OlafSicky]

I need internet access and lockout I want to be able to fool around with it remotely. I have a programmable thermostat now but it's a nightmare to program and it only programs same time and temp for weekdays and you can adjust it separatist on sat sun. I need different temps on different week days and at different times. I also hear that the nest has a motion sensor and you can check if somebody is home. I will just buy it and test it out. I could also get a Honeywell with wifi but that doesn't have good reviews. Can't wait till Monday or Tuesday for the new toy.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You can always just roll your own, like I did. :biggrin:




(need to make that interface nicer and more phone friendly though)

 

[Gillbot]

Why? Go on...

It's quite inaccurate on temperature
dropped WiFi constantly
"forgot" my WiFi and I'd have to reprogram it often
I hated the interface
I had to run a power wire because the battery constantly died and it's "scavenge" feature for power was useless
it's energy "savings" calculations touted on the website are a flat joke nor do they give any basis for their calculations.

But the last straw was the fact that it would auto-correct my schedule with arbitrary temperatures. I'd set it to 72, it would adjust to 55 because it said it was saving me energy. Even though it was the end of the day and people were obviously home, it would still change the temperature but it would NOT be in away mode. Also, it would randomly go into away mode even if people were home. I'd go back to check it when it felt cold/hot and it would be on "auto away" so i'd wave my hands in front of it to make it come out of away mode which didn't work. I'd have to power it off then back on to get it back to the schedule and turn on. I know many of these "features" can be disabled or tweaked but overall, it was just an inaccurate device and if you want ANY control over your HVAC, skip this thing. If you want something that looks pretty, kool-aid sipping sheeple powered that you set it and forget it, the Nest is it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It's quite inaccurate on temperature
dropped WiFi constantly
"forgot" my WiFi and I'd have to reprogram it often
I hated the interface
I had to run a power wire because the battery constantly died and it's "scavenge" feature for power was useless
it's energy "savings" calculations touted on the website are a flat joke nor do they give any basis for their calculations.

But the last straw was the fact that it would auto-correct my schedule with arbitrary temperatures. I'd set it to 72, it would adjust to 55 because it said it was saving me energy. Even though it was the end of the day and people were obviously home, it would still change the temperature but it would NOT be in away mode. Also, it would randomly go into away mode even if people were home. I'd go back to check it when it felt cold/hot and it would be on "auto away" so i'd wave my hands in front of it to make it come out of away mode which didn't work. I'd have to power it off then back on to get it back to the schedule and turn on. I know many of these "features" can be disabled or tweaked but overall, it was just an inaccurate device and if you want ANY control over your HVAC, skip this thing. If you want something that looks pretty, kool-aid sipping sheeple powered that you set it and forget it, the Nest is it.

Yeah it sounds like a pain in the ass. I rather something you have full control over. When I started researching the components to build mine the nest had just come out, but I opted to go with my solution anyway. If I was to do it over again I would have gone Arduino though, but it works pretty much the same way as it's the server app that does most of the work anyway.

 

[Gillbot]

Yeah it sounds like a pain in the ass. I rather something you have full control over. When I started researching the components to build mine the nest had just come out, but I opted to go with my solution anyway. If I was to do it over again I would have gone Arduino though, but it works pretty much the same way as it's the server app that does most of the work anyway.

I wanted to do something similar myself, but lazy won and I got one hell of a deal on my Honeywell so why bother. :biggrin:

 

[shabby]

I know many of these "features" can be disabled or tweaked but overall, it was just an inaccurate device and if you want ANY control over your HVAC, skip this thing.

Then why didn't you disable auto-away?
I have mine disabled and set the schedule to set its temps and it works just fine.