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Tag: nest thermostat

  • Smart Thermostats to Become Billion-Dollar Market

    There was quite a bit of confusion surrounding Google’s recent acquisition of smart thermostat company Nest. As usual, privacy concerns about Google “spying” on people in their own homes were brought up, but an even larger question was what exactly an internet advertising company wants with a thermostat startup.

    A new report on smart thermostats could shed light on what Google’s plans for Nest are. Market research firm Navigant Research today released a report showing that the market for smart, programmable thermostats could take in over $1 billion by the end of the decade. The firm estimates that smart thermostat revenue will top $1.4 billion by 2020, far more than the estimated $86 million the industry took in during 2013.

    Navigant believes that current smart thermostats are limited by their ease-of-use and their limited energy savings. The firm believes that these hurdles will be passed in the coming years, with consumers embracing such technology. A move toward more home automation in general in the tech industry is also seen as a factor that could drive smart thermostat sales in the years to come.

    “Large retailers, including Lowe’s and The Home Depot in the United States and B&Q in Europe, have begun selling smart thermostats, signaling that sales of these devices could grow in coming years,” said Bob Lockhart, research director at Navigant. “It remains to be seen, though, whether marketing efforts on behalf of these retailers will raise the interest of a large pool of customers who are not already planning to replace an existing thermostat.”

  • Apple Stores Begin Receiving Nest Thermostats

    The Nest Learning Thermostat has landed at Apple stores and is no ready to be purchased and installed. The revolutionary thermostat was introduced at last years Consumer Electronics Show and features the ability to learn your habits to help you save on electricity and therefore money. Nest has the ability to dynamically learn patterns such as energy use and time frames that you tend to turn up or down the thermostat.

    The Nest also features several other great things. Not only does it learn, but it lets you know when you are at peak energy savings with a little leaf. It also can show you, in chart form, your energy use over a period of time. As you change the temperature in your house over several days, it learns your tendencies and will change on the fly based on what you normally do. Nest also has easy access functionality with the ability to access the system over wifi through your computer or a free iPhone or Android app.

    Earlier in the year Nest was sued by Honeywell for patent infringement in what is looking to be an ugly fight between the old and established guard, and the new dynamic company trying to get their name out there. Typical dealings in the word of business.

    The company also announced that their system will now be available in Canada. Kind of a waste if you ask me, because all they need there is a warmer setting and they are good.

  • Honeywell Sues Nest Over Learning Thermostat

    During last month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas we brought you news of the Nest Learning Thermostat. This amazing thermostat learns from your habits and adjusts the temperature in your home in order to save energy, as well as money on your heating/cooling bill. The thermostat even connects with your home wi-fi, allowing you to control it from a free iOS or Android app.

    Now, however, Nest has been hit with a lawsuit by Honeywell. Honeywell claims that the Nest Learning Thermostat infringes on seven patents owned by Honeywell. The patents cover a variety of technological features of the thermostat, including natural language user interface, programming interface, and various internal components. The suit seeks damages and an injunction preventing Nest from selling the Learning Thermostat.

    While Beth Wozniak, president of Honeywell Environmental and Combustion Controls, insisted that Honeywell welcomes competition, but refuses to allow infringement on Honeywell’s intellectual property. In a recent interview with GigaOm, Wozniak said that Honeywell had looked into learning thermostat technology, but ultimately abandoned it.

    I got in touch with Nest about the situation, but apparently they were caught off guard by Honeywell’s filing. Here’s what a Nest spokesperson had to say: “We have not yet reviewed the actual filing, which we learned about this morning through Honeywell’s press release. We will provide comment once we’ve had the opportunity to review it.”

  • Nest Learning Thermostat Brings The Cool At CES 2012

    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.