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Despite Google suggesting smart thermostats could have ads in the future, Google-owned Nest CEO Tony Fadell has come out to nip the fears in the bud — Nest thermostats will NOT be infused with ads. It’s unfortunate that Fadell had to come out and assuage fears of those who let their imagination get the best of them, but it’s hard not to think about the worst when it comes to statements like the one Google made to the SEC.
We imagine Google would definitely put ads everywhere if they could get away with it, though potential backlash and the effects of negative public opinion would likely deter them from ever going too far. Fadell saw fit to remind everyone that although Nest is a Google-owned entity, they are completely and independently controlled by their own internal management team — just as they were before the big acquisition.
It hasn’t been a very pleasant week for Nest thus far, as the company had to recall 440,000 Nest units due to a software feature that has been deemed potentially harmful in the event of emergencies. It was the “Nest Wave” feature, which allowed users to wave their hands to silence a fire or carbon monoxide alarm instead of having to physically interact with it.
Nest’s fear (which is really the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s fear) is that the feature could potentially silence or delay an alarm unintentionally. Nest says they’ve had no reports of damages caused by the feature just yet, but they want to take preventative measures to make sure nothing happens in the future. As such, they are urging existing Nest owners to connect their alarms via WiFi and download the latest update that will disable the Nest Wave feature.
We’re not sure how long it will take this feature to come back, or if it will ever return. But it’s better to be more safe than sorry, so if you have one of these alarms then be sure to grab that update as soon as possible.
[via re/code]
You combined two stories but failed to separate the differences. The Nest Learning Thermostat news is that there will not be ads. The other news you merged was a recall that was announced about a month ago for another device, the Nest Protect. Your article and headline may (will) cause a lot of confusion among readers.
Idk, I understood it pretty well.
Damn, that’s the best feature.
Who buys thermostats though. Most houses already have them installed don’t they? LOL, I dunno I guess I’m just not a smart thermostat guy or even see the importance of this. It definitely is true what they say, every generation gets lazier than the one that preceded it.
They’re so damn expensive in Western Canada. They’re over $200. I’m sure the price is somewhat understandable (considering that they’re not very common yet), but it’s still expensive for a thermostat.
I’m one of those t-stat nerds. I think the Nest lines are really cool, but the value of any thermostat (no matter how smart) costing triple digits is subject to debate from an ROI perspective. I don’t personally own one, but if I lived in an area with more expensive utilities I’d probably have one installed already.
If however your home furnace/AC only has a barebones thermostat allowing you to select temperature, cooling vs. heating, & on/off/auto (and you do pay your own utilities), in most cases a $30-50 programmable t-stat, allowing you to define regular vs. “setback” temperatures and schedule when you’re usually away from your home, can easily pay for itself within a year, thereafter saving you real dollars each month.
I think many write off fancy thermostats as something only a homeowner should concern themselves with, but some with the most to gain are those in apartments and transitional situations – keep in mind a thermostat investment can easily move with you wherever you go, if you’re handy enough with a screwdriver and don’t toss manuals.
Lots of special circumstances might make a setback schedule make less sense for some however, such as if you actually occupy your home 24/7 or if your working hours are very irregular.
FWIW, speaking to the actual news here, I personally wouldn’t mind (silent) ads on my thermostat if that translated to a substantially subsidized initial cost.
Hmm interesting. Learned something new today.
Even though that’s true, a lot of home owners do a lot in the way of customizing and upgrading their home. Its very hard to find a house that’s everything you want unless you built it yourself and most can’t afford to do that. For the rest of us, we do simple things like painting, replacing shower heads, cealing fans, shingles, windows and so on over time. A thermostat is just another one of those things that eventually gets replaced. Nest just gives us a reason not to make it last in line.
Stuff breaks.
We’ve had three thermostats in the last two years. They break down like everything else. Our first thermostat was over 20 years old and wasn’t sending a signal to our air conditioner anymore so we replaced it. A year later we needed a new furnace so we got a Lennox iComfort smart thermostat in our HVAC package (Lennox provided a large rebate if you bought the smart thermostat — zero rebate if we used our replacement thermostat. Even after factoring in the price of the thermostat it was still a sizeable rebate).
The iComfort smart thermostat is really convenient. It keeps track of everything. I can set reminders when to change the filter (and get an email when it’s time to change it), it sends alerts to my HVAC provider when there is a failure in the system allowing them to diagnose problems without necessarily having to go to my house and charging for a service call, etc. It also has the full five-day weather report right on the touch screen which is perfect for programming the thermostat for each specific day. I also have a sensor on my air conditioner that sends accurate outdoor temperatures to my thermostat so if I want to set my thermostat manually I can go by that temperature. And, of course, I can change all of the settings on my thermostat from work, etc. on my G2 phone or my tablet through Wi-Fi. It also looks like a cool 7″ tablet is mounted on my wall. LOL Smart thermostats are definitely the wave of the future.
What’s the point in buying this when your house already have one? wast of time and money i say
Yea just get a clam shell phone then to make phone calls who needs a smart phone
Come on, not another story about this boring gadget.