Nest unveils a colorful, more affordable smart thermostat
- Nest has introduced a new thermostat that is designed for simplicity and affordability.
- It still helps you find energy savings and monitor your HVAC, and it’s more colorful.
- Pre-orders will begin in North America on October 12th at a price of $ 130.
Nest hasn’t significantly updated its line of thermostats in three years, but it’s finally ready to ship a new model in 2020 – and you won’t be surprised to hear that the focus is on price rather than performance.
The new thermostat is still easy to set up and use. You don’t need a shared cable to get started, and you can touch or tap the edge to control your home’s climate. Of course, in addition to using the Nest app on your phone, you can still use voice control from Google Assistant devices.
Instead, the focus is on a sleeker, more colorful design with charcoal, fog (think sea foam green), sand, and snow colors framing a “sleek mirror” display. The user interface consists of a simple swipe and tap on the side – there are no buttons or elaborate touchscreen controls. The updated thermostat also uses a pair of AA cells for backup instead of a built-in battery, so it may be easier to keep going without professional help.
You will still have access to general Nest features of the 2020 thermostat, including an economy finder to improve efficiency and alerts for heating and air conditioning issues. Certain energy providers like ComEd and Duke Energy also give you discounts and rewards.
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As mentioned at the beginning, the price seems to be the main focus of the new Nest thermostat. The new version can be pre-ordered from October 12 in the USA and Canada for only 130 US dollars, which is well below the official price of 169 US dollars for the thermostat E. That makes it compared to competitors like the Ecobee 3 Lite and instantly more enticing to it, this could pay for itself much sooner if there are significant energy savings available for your home.
