Amid the barrage of technological wonders sure to stream out of CES this week, one device that deserves your attention (especially if winter ever belatedly arrives) is the Nest Learning Thermostat, the thermostat that learns from your dwelling habits.
In spite of my yearning to make Hal 9000 jokes about a thermostat that learns from people’s habits and then takes the wheel to control temperatures, that’s as close as I’m going to get; it’s too brilliant of a device to defile with my half-baked humor. The Nest Thermostat is a welcome innovation that finally brings the antiquated science of home energy use within pace of today’s technology. “It was unacceptable to me that the device that controls 10 percent of all energy consumed in the U.S. hadn’t kept up with advancements in technology and design,” said Tony Fadell, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nest Labs. “Together with the team, Co-Founder Matt Rogers and I set out to reinvent the thermostat using advanced technologies, high-quality manufacturing processes and the thoughtful design elements the iPhone generation has come to expect. The resulting Nest Learning Thermostat is like no other thermostat on the market. We hope it will not only save money and energy, but that it will teach and inspire people to think more about how they can reduce home- energy consumption.”
Once you’ve replaced the thermostat in your home with a Nest Learning Thermostat – and these guys are insistent that their goal is replacement of your outdated climate technology – Nest automatically learns from your personal schedule within the first week of use. After it’s figured out your patterns of heating and cooling at home, Nest will begin controlling the temperature based on when you’re around and when you’re away in order to conserve energy (and, more immediately, money you spend on controlling your energy costs). The people at Nest Labs provided the following video to show you how it works:
Whenever the seasons change, Nest can re-learn your habits for the seasonal adjustment in order to make sure you stay cozy all year long. What’s more, Nest can connect to your home’s WiFi network so that you can control the temperature of your home from your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Wanna make sure the house is pre-emptively warm by the time you arrive home from a frigid day at the salt mines? Just log on using the Nest Thermostat app and set the temperature via your mobile device. The apps necessary to control Nest from your mobile devices are currently available in both iTunes and Android Marketplace.
Ahead of this week’s CES extravaganza, Nest Learning Thermostat already earned CES’s Best of Innovations Award in Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology last year shortly after the device debuted. Following that celebrated award, don’t be surprised if you hear many more a splendid thing about Nest Labs and their intelligent technology to help control energy consumption and costs.