My goals are different, and having a better thermostat was a key one at the time. Turning on or off lights isn't a priority to me. The thermostat was in control of much of my monthly bill in Texas. My belief is that Nest wanted to reinvent common home items, adding smarts to them. In time, it would grow more into the general automation space. They also were able to push for integration with many utility companies.

Kinda like the iPhone. The first version didn't even have apps, cut and paste, and many other features. But yet, by starting from scratch and growing, it is now a dominate platform and pivoted the entire industry.

To me, most classic home automation approaches for the thermostat would have meant some ugly box to replace the previous thermostat. Then for the motion sensing if they wanted the auto away, individual detectors wired around the house somehow.

Nest instead built the detectors into the smoke/CO alarms. While also again improving the product they wanted to replace, instead of just wiring the same old stuff into a network. You see it as a PITA, I see it as a nice benefit that tackles two problems in one (Annoying alarms and the need for more sensors).


Lighting, I'm much more interested in something like Hue, since it does something more then just replace my light switch. It also allows some interesting mood/color stuff, which could be extended into a light based notification system. Again, without bringing the baggage of home automation attempts from the past few decades forward.

I look at old home automation efforts the same way we see floppy disk now. Some people tried to extend the floppy (Zip, LS-120). Others rethought it from the ground up and made USB thumb drives. Was Nest going to be the only one pushing forward? No. They also helped pivot the industry, thus improvements across the board.


Nothing does.


Doesn't sound automated to me. In Texas, if I were to forget, it's a noticeable hit on the AC bill for the month. I understand this setup works for you, but it doesn't work for everyone


I already said it was easy, but it seems you didn't believe I meant what I said. So I'll expand.

It was easy for me to swap, as they actually designed it to be so. From the details on how the wires mount into the back plate, to the adapters in the package to cover up odd paint spots due to larger units on the market. Again one of the reasons I appreciated Nest, they had such a strong sense of design. I didn't need any tools outside what came in the box and was up and running in 15 minutes.