Everyone who’s into the latest smart home innovations has heard about the Nest Thermostat. Nest was probably the most public of the early IoT smart home devices thanks to a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign. Today, they are nearly ubiquitous, and everyone knows it learns your temperature habits so eventually you don’t even have to program it or even think about it. Plus it’s got a streamlined design and clear display that you can see from across the room. So, what’s not to like?
While the Nest’s advantages are overwhelming, there are still three things to consider before rushing out to get one.
- It does not have remote temperature sensors. In other words, the Nest only senses the temperature where it is physically located. If you’ve got a big house, temperature regulation can get iffy in spaces further away from the Nest. Before buying, make sure you can install this Nest in an ideal location. Or, think through getting an extra Nest to regulate a different zone.
- The Nest is not compatible with every type of heating and cooling system. It works with most of them, so most likely it will work with yours. Before you get your hopes up, you may want to verify what you have and check it against the Nest’s list of incompatible systems. It won’t matter how great the Nest is if it can’t run your systems.w
- To C-wire or not to C-wire: that is the question. Nests have rechargeable batteries, but those batteries still need electricity to charge. If you don’t want to charge them at your computer via USB, you’ll need to hard wire them with a C-wire, which pulls electricity from your heating and cooling systems. If you don’t have a C-wire, you either have to get one installed or risk frying circuit boards when the Nest pulls power via other wires. Needless to say, you’ll want to do your homework on your C-wire status and what it’ll take to keep your Nest turned on.
We all know the Nest’s positive qualities eclipse these three potential headaches. Still, it’s nice to know what to expect before bringing one home. Check out Nest here on Amazon, or click here for other smart thermostats.
