Should I buy the Google Nest Thermostat?
Google’s Nest is one of the biggest players in the smart heating market and is most well known for its Nest Learning Thermostat, which will automatically adjust your heating schedule after learning how long it takes your home to warm up and cool down, in a bid to save energy and money. However, it’s also one of the most expensive smart thermostats on the market too.
If you can’t quite justify the $250 price tag of the Nest Learning Thermostat, then Nest has a more budget-friendly alternative. Called simply the Nest Thermostat, this is priced at a more approachable $130, yet looks and performs in a similar way.
The Nest Thermostat is currently only available in the US, where it replaced the similarly cheap Nest Thermostat E in November 2020. That model is still sold as Nest’s more budget-friendly thermostat in the UK.
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Read on to find out whether you should buy the Google Nest Thermostat, or if you already know which model you want to control your heating and cooling system, check out the best prices right now.
Price
Price is an important factor when it comes to smart thermostats. Because, while their intelligence, voice control and smartphone app integration are all useful, the real reason to buy a smart thermostat is its ability to lower your energy bills.
As such, the cost of the device itself should be pitted against its potential to lower your heating and cooling bills; the more you spend up front, the longer it’ll be before the thermostat has paid for itself and you’re making a real saving.
This all means the $120 saved when buying the $130 Nest Thermostat over the Nest Learning Thermostat could be key to it being worthwhile or not. Nest claims the Thermostat can save an average of 10 to 20 percent on heating bills, and 15 percent on cooling bills.
Design
The Nest Thermostat has a simple but pleasing design. Circular, with a thin bezel available in a range of colours to match the front panel, the thermostat has a modern, minimalist aesthetic that should fit into most homes. That front panel houses an equally simple display that shows the current temperature and the target temperature – the temperature your heating or cooling system is working towards at that moment.
The colour options for the Nest Thermostat are called Snow, Sand, Charcoal and Fog. In English, these are white, copper, black and pale green.
Only the thermostat itself, plus a base plate for attaching it to the wall and a couple of screws, are included in the box; Nest says DIY installation usually takes 30 minutes. You might need to purchase a trim plate from Google separately, which is designed to cover any holes or marks left behind by the removal of your old thermostat. Given the Nest is quite small, and not the usual square or rectangular shape, it’s likely that a trim plate will be needed to tidy everything up, unless the wall has been freshly plastered and painted.
Google sells trim kits for $14.99 and these are offered in the same four colour options as the thermostat itself.
The device doesn’t rotate (like the Nest Learning Thermostat does), but instead the temperature is adjusted by swiping a finger up or down on the side of the display. Changing modes and delving into the thermostat’s menu system is done by tapping then swiping at the side.
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