I have friends and colleagues ask me this question about thermostats all the time: “Which one should I buy? Should I get a Nest?”
While the Nest has done a remarkable job with their marketing, showcasing a sleek and modern product that’s simple to operate with smart phone apps, I’ve found it rarely delivers in the more important area of actual performance.
Where We Find the Nest Thermostats Lacking
First, the Nest thermostat was designed by a tech company, not an HVAC company. While Silicon Valley might be very excited about a modern product that generates lots of sales and excitement in the press, we’re far more excited about tried-and-true products that generate lots of consistent comfort for your family.
In our experience, we’ve seen that the electronics in the Nest thermostats are very fragile with a high failure rate.
Also, Nest thermostats don’t have advanced wiring capabilities for installation, which limits communication between the thermostat and your HVAC unit. Due to the very simplistic nature of the installation, the thermostat can’t take advantage of modern multi-stage and variable speed systems, which would otherwise provide significantly more efficient options for your home.
This simplified “only on-or-off” communication between your thermostat and your system prevents the HVAC unit from kicking into higher/lower gears when needed.
While suggesting that it tracks your family’s activity to set patterns, that just means the Nest uses a motion sensor in your “busiest room in the house.” If someone pops in during the day or gets up for a late night snack, it can take that into account and switch to active mode, making the supposedly “smart” programming rather suspect. Again, it’s supposed to be intuitive, but can quickly have a mind of its own.
Benefits of Proper installation from a Better Thermostat
We consider American Standard Thermostats to offer significantly better options. First, they also offer full home automation and smart phone integration with detailed, full color displays.
Through a more professional installation via additional wiring, you’ll be able to take full advantage of your system’s capabilities and multi-speed options during extreme high and low temperatures. This truly smart approach squeezes out every bit of efficiency your system can provide!
These American Standard thermostats also have an incredible range of background settings that can be customized, like ideal humidity control. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of setting all of this up during our professional installation. All you need to know is we’re giving you the very best year-round comfort!
Additionally, any problems the system encounters can automatically be emailed to us via your thermostat for diagnostic purposes.
Next Steps: Explore Your Options and Get a Free Estimate
If you’re still living with an original builder-grade thermostat in your home or a Nest thermostat that isn’t delivering peak performance, give us a call or contact us.
We’d be happy to walk you through your American Standard thermostat options and deliver far better comfort to your family!
