What happens when Apple-like design principles are applied to other products? One recent example is the new Nest thermostat from Nest Labs of Palo Alto. Before Nest came along, few paid much attention to their thermostats; it was simply a box on the wall that regulated the temperature in the home.
Technology advancements in thermostats have been more low-tech than high-tech over the years. One was simply adding a clock to set different temperatures several times a day, useful for lowering the temperature when going to bed and turning it up in the morning.
It took a high-tech company to awake the industry from its slumber. Tony Fadell, who previously led the development of the iPod for Apple, founded Nest Labs. He has applied many of the design principles he used at Apple to his new thermostat, including a stunning ID, simplicity of use and new functionality never before available.
The Nest thermostat is unlike any home product Iíve ever reviewed, from its appearance to its simple installation to its ease of use. Much of the Nest is based on a rethinking of the common thermostat, predicated on the importance this device plays in controlling the amount of energy we consume to both heat and cool our homes.
To install it, you remove your existing thermostat and replace it with the Nest. Nest even supplies little labels to put onto the wires coming out of the wall that are attached to your old thermostat, allowing you to know which wires go where on the Nest. If your old thermostat leaves a bigger hole or unpainted area than the Nest, you can add one of the two supplied wall plates to cover those areas. I installed the Nest in about 25 minutes, carefully following the very clear instructions. While the Nest is the first thermostat to be user-installable, you can also have the company send an installer.
Nest has a beautiful circular shape with a silver ring circling a black LCD. When you approach the Nest, it senses your proximity and turns on. The current temperature is displayed in large numbers in the center of the display, and you simply rotate the ring if you want to adjust the temperature, using the circular scale. The displayís background is blue when cooling and red when heating. When it’s in an energy-savings mode, a green leaf appears.
To enter the setting mode, push on the ring and a menu appears. Rotating the ring brings you to new menu items displayed around the circumference. Itís simple and intuitive to use. By entering your ZIP code and connecting to your Wi-Fi, Nest retrieves your local weather information and monitors your home’s temperature on a continuous basis.
You donít need to adjust any timers to set your thermostat back at night. It starts with some general assumptions and then learns from the changes you make. It can even differentiate weekends from weekdays, because your patterns are likely to differ.
The entire idea behind the Nest, which justifies its $250 price, is the energy it can save. For example, during setup you can choose your homeís low and high settings. When you are away for an extended period, the Nest senses no motion in the home and sets it to “away mode” using these settings. (You can also do this manually.)
Nest said that few people actually take the time to adjust their set back on traditional thermostats, even though doing so can lower their heating and cooling bills by 10 to 20 percent. Iím one who did set up my old thermostat to lower the temperature at night and raise it in the morning, but that was years ago, and I still override it on occasion and don’t bother to make adjustments for daylight savings time. It’s just too cumbersome.
Nest also has a feature called Airwave that turns off your compressor early while the fan is still running. It causes the compressor to run 30 percent less frequently.
Once the Nest is operating, you can sign on to the company's website or use its free iPhone, iPad or Android map, and see the number of hours of operation each day, when itís on and off, and reports of any abnormalities. You can also set your thermostat remotely.
After we had used it for almost three weeks, the Nest seems to have learned our patterns, and we fiddle with the thermostat less. As I wrote this column, my wife and I were on our way back home from a six-day trip. I went online and saw that my thermostat was set to “away” and no energy had been used since our departure, as San Diegoís moderate climate kept the house within my settings for min and max range, 60 to 80 degrees. With a normal thermostat, unless I turned it off, it would cycle on and off, maintaining one steady temperature. And if I did turn it off, the temperature when returning home would be very hot in summer and very cool in winter and would take quite some time to adjust. With the Nest, I can override the “away” mode an hour or two before returning home, and the temperature will be where I want it when I get there.
Iíve not used the Nest long enough to determine actual cost savings, but logic says if my heating and cooling system runs for less time, I will save money. As I learn more over time about cost savings, I will report back. The product has been hard to get until recently because of its popularity. ($250, nest.com)
Baker is the author of "From Concept to Consumer" published by Financial Times Press and available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and other booksellers. He has developed and marketed consumer and computer products for Polaroid, Apple, Seiko and others; holds 30 patents; and is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Baker can be heard on KOGO AM the first Sunday of each month. Send comments to phil.baker@sddt.com. Comments may be published as Letters to the Editor. Baker's blog is blog.philipgbaker.com, and his website is philipgbaker.com.
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