Following news from late last week that the Nest thermostat from iPod creator Tony Fadell would be coming to Apple's retail stores, the device has just been added to the company's online store. While currently not available for pickup in retail store locations, it should be making its way to the brick-and-mortar locations shortly.
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The Nest thermostat is priced at $249.95 in the U.S. online store and is just one of a number of products featured in Apple's App-Enabled Accessories section. The thermostat can be controlled via a free universal iOS app [App Store], with access to controls also available through web browsers.
The Nest Learning Thermostat helps you stop wasting energy, while providing control using your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. Consider that your thermostat controls about half your energy bill—more than TV, appliances, and lighting combined. But it's wasting energy every time it turns on the heating or cooling system in an empty house. The Nest Learning Thermostat solves this problem by programming itself, turning itself down when you're away, and keeping track of your energy use.
Apple features a number of such app-enabled products in its online store, including the Parrot AR.Drone, iGrill cooking thermometer and Withings blood pressure monitor. Several such products are also available in Apple's retail stores.
Top Rated Comments
For the record, I was trying to set the AC last night and was close to removing it from the wall and lighting it on fire. As others have said, I just want the heat on at this temp, and the AC on at another temp, simple enough? No, they've over-engineered something so simple. The Nest solves that problem. The nest will do that for you.
When I first saw the price, my first thought was, where do I buy it? Thats a reasonable price to pay for clean, stylish design paired with simplicity and convenience.
Is the thing smart enough to know that I am home but not moving? Watching tv or having a snooze on the couch, for example?
Is the thing smart enough to know that I am away but my dog is doing laps around the living room and does not need the heat on?
If not than I am gonna have to babysit it almost as much as the $20 manual thermostat I have right now and, in some cases it will waste energy instead of saving it.
Now, I wonder why no wired version?
You mean as far as connecting to a network? Probably due to how people are unlikely to have a network cable running to their thermostat.
I've never understood why all thermostats offer programmability when it's such a pointless feature. What would be infinitely more useful is also exceedingly simpler: min and max. Does this thermostat have that feature?
What wastes energy and raises your energy bill is heating the house when you are not there. Do you need the house at 72 degrees when no one is there? Also, do you need the house at 72 degrees when you are sleeping? Why not lower it to 68 or so and have the thermostat automatically heat the house just before you wake every morning.e.g. I want to put in just two numbers. 68f and 76f. If the temperature in the house is ever below 68f, I want it to be heated up to 68f. If the house is ever above 76f, I want it cooled down to 76f. Obviously, no action needed while temp is between 68f and 76f.
What's annoying is having to manually toggle a thermostat between cool and heat and having to adjust the target temp accordingly. Or I can set it to auto but then it only takes one number. For budget (and comfort) concerns, I don't want to pick a number in between 68f and 76f that solves for both heating and cooling; there is no perfect number.
Mine saves me about $50 a month than before I had a programmable thermostat. Is that pointless?
e.g. I want to put in just two numbers. 68f and 76f. If the temperature in the house is ever below 68f, I want it to be heated up to 68f. If the house is ever above 76f, I want it cooled down to 76f. Obviously, no action needed while temp is between 68f and 76f.
What's annoying is having to manually toggle a thermostat between cool and heat and having to adjust the target temp accordingly. Or I can set it to auto but then it only takes one number. For budget (and comfort) concerns, I don't want to pick a number in between 68f and 76f that solves for both heating and cooling; there is no perfect number.