Five months after the launch of the Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest Labs, Inc. has updated the popular item with new features, including an energy history view that shows people exactly when their heating and cooling systems run throughout the day. The Nest launched in November, as previously reported on ProudGreenHome.
Nest also announced a first-of-its-kind feature called Airwave, which dramatically cuts energy used needed to cool your house to a desired temperature. These features — as well as several other additions — are bundled with the Nest Learning Thermostat and delivered to existing customers via automatic software updates.
"Nest customers across all 50 U.S. states are already enjoying energy savings," said Tony Fadell, Nest founder and CEO, in a press release. "In fact, 99 percent of Nest thermostats are programmed to reduce the temperature in the home — compared to the 10 percent national average — which the EPA says can save 20 percent on heating and cooling costs. With our Nest-exclusive features, Airwave, Auto-Away and the Nest Leaf, we believe there are opportunities for our customers to save much, much more."
With the new 10-day energy history, Nest owners can see exactly when and for how long their heating or cooling systems turned on and off, whether their energy use increased or decreased compared to the previous week, and the cause of that change.
With the weather heating up, Nest is introducing another Nest exclusive: Airwave. After your air conditioner turns off, it stays cold for five to ten minutes. Other thermostats ignore this fact, but Nest uses it to your advantage. Airwave shortens the amount of time the high-energy chiller runs and instead uses your energy-efficient fan to push that extra cool air through the home. Nest automatically enables Airwave when the temperature is high and the humidity is low. Airwave can save up to 30 percent of the energy used and the user doesn't have to lift a finger.
Read more about energy-efficient heating and cooling.
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