How good is NEST?

Germain Wong

8 years ago

Building a new house, thinking of getting Nest for everything:

- Nest Secure alarm system starter pack ($499)

- Nest Cam IQ Outdoor ($349)

- Additional Nest Detects (sensors) where needed ($59 each)

- Nest Smoke + CO Alarm ($614 for 6 units)

(For HVAC, likely will use the Nest Thermostat as well but I did ask the GC for a cost to see how much the Trane would cost.)

Question for folks here -- how well do the Nest products work? Especially the Alarm system and Cameras?

Thanks in advance!

Featured Answer

ionized_gw

8 years ago

If you have a dumb Trane furnace/boiler/cooling the NEST will work just fine. If the Trane mechanical HVAC systems are in any way "smart" and modern efficient systems are, the NEST thermostat may or may not support that. The trouble is that there are no standards for these communications.

Variable output (blower motors inside and out, compressors, modulating burners) systems typically have a sweet spot for efficiency that is not at maximum output. Some, possibly most, of this equipment is designed to control its output either with information from an outdoor temperature sensor and the thermostat AND its own sensors in the return and supply (water or air) pathways. Some certainly do it better if the mechanicals and all the sensors can talk to the thermostat. If the thermostat speaks NEST but not Trane compressor and blower language, Lochinvar boiler language, or a host of other languages (think Babel) you lose out with NEST.

Who do you ask? Has NEST done their homework? Who knows? I really mean, WHO KNOWS? Installers have little incentive to know how to interface complicated equipment to aftermarket parts. Time is money. Some of these systems require tuning that the above average homeowner is not able to do and even some installers don't do it or do it well. To be sure the aftermarket t-stat is working well you would likely have to find someone who knows a lot about your particular Trane equipment models or someone that is using a NEST with those models and knows a lot about the interface. (Just because they can connect it and get heat and cool is not enough.) An EE with an interest in HVAC is a good candidate. Otherwise, you have to find a very gifted homeowner with your same equipment who was willing to spend an inordinate amount of time figuring it out. Are you feeling lucky? Then what happens when the system breaks?

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Comments (6)

Elmer J Fudd
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
One beef I've heard about the Nest thermostat, some years ago, was that it wasn't possible to turn off the Learning mode for a setback recovery. How that works - if your sleep setting is 60 degrees, and the wake setting is 68 degrees, and your wake time is 6:30am, the thermostat will pay attention to how long the recovery from 60 to 68 takes and it will start up the heat that many minutes BEFORE 6:30am so that it is 68 degrees at 6:30am.

Other thermostats (like a Honeywell I have) have learning recovery as an option that can be on or off. For me, with a wake up time at 6:30, I want the heat to come on at that same time. Otherwise, I'm too warm in bed if the set temperature is reached for my waking time, because I'm using enough blankets to keep me comfortable for a 60 degree indoor temperature. Not 68.

I don't know if Nest has made that setting optional, otherwise, you have to out-think the thermostat like this - "the recovery takes 45 minutes, so if I want it to start at 6:30, I need to set it for 7:15". Or, use the recovery manually. It's dumb
User
8 years ago
I don't have a Nest Thermostat, but I suggest asking your question over in The Heating and A/C Forum. Lots of negatives about it can be found there. I suggest you search that forum first and then likely post any questions.

Far and away, I value the responses from the lay persons in that forum. Nothing to sell.
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Steve J
8 years ago
I wonder if they have much of an opinion on the Nest? I suspect they likely have more experience with the brand units for the equipment they install. The Nest and others are more for gadget guys, and in my experience, not the lay persons. Not a terrible idea to get their thoughts though.

i have no personal experience with Nest equipment as my Carrier stuff wont work with non-carrier thermostats, and I dont want to replace all of my smoke detectors for znest due to the cost. I do have Samsung Smartthings and am pretty happy with that. I can connect my thermostat to Alexa if I want, but dont have or really see a need for Alexa myself. I do have a Leeo unit that listens for alarms and will alert me in the event of an alarm. I cannot turn them off however. With my smartthings, I also have door contacts on all external doors, motion sensors, as well as home monitoring sensors to detect for water issues, power consumption, and presence to automate most of it. Last but not least, I can subscribe to the pro monitoring using my own equipment if I decide to do so. I dont think nest allows for any pro monitoring? I could be wrong.

i suspect to get the most out of Nest, you need to buy into their ecosystem so doing it all at once is best, but pretty expensive. Best of luck, let us know what you find out... and if you decide to buy, what your results are.
User
8 years ago
Oh forcryinoutloud.

My "carrier stuff" would work with Nest. The forum I suggested has a few contractors, but I specifically suggested listening to the non-contractors. THEY have a huge amount of knowledge and experience and have provided tons of good info over the years - as I suggested, lots of negative about the Nest Thermostats.

I'm feeling like I have a puppy on my tail.
Steve J
8 years ago
I have the carrier infinity furnace and ac. I can technically use a nest by removing wires from the furnace control board, but then I lose control of some functions, and some of the efficiency and performance that goes with it. Just because your carrier system might work great doesn’t mean they all will.

sorry SD, i have no interest in being you puppy, just adding my 2 cents to try and help the OP. He did ask about quite a bit more than just the thermostat.