Nest: Unboxing and Installation

My wife and I agreed that we needed to replace our thermostat for the upcoming heating season.  The previously installed thermostat was the Honeywell T87 mercury switch style (anyone know how to recycle those?), an upgrade was needed.

Probably came with the house (1962)

I had first heard of the Nest in October 2011 when it was first released.  I was living in a condo at the time and had already invested in a Honeywell 5+2 programmable thermostat (yawn).  I filed it away as a device that I would dream about but probably never purchase.  Fast-forward a year, add a new house, an ancient thermostat and you've got the perfect storm.

It took some convincing, considering the Nest easily costs 10x a programmable thermostat.  Thankfully, Nest.com has some good PR videos and numbers to help convince your loved ones the investment is worthwhile.

I ordered the Nest on Amazon.com (it can also be purchased at Lowes and soon, at the Apple Store).  It was back-ordered for a few days but arrived 10/23.  It was quickly opened, inspected and unboxed.

Clean packaging

Box contents: Nest, backplate, mounting trim, hardware, screwdriver and documentation

The installation instructions were presented in a text/illustration fashion with clean diagrams and layman's terms.  No talk of heat pumps, zones, terminals numbers, etc.  First came the removal of the old thermostat.

Expose the wiring

Label the system wiring with the included wire labels

Remove the mounting plate (nice wallpaper, previous owner) and the wall paper while I'm at it

The next step is of course, installing the Nest thermostat.

Mount the Nest and trim (if desired) using the integrated level for a flush installation

Pop the display on the the mounting plate via the  pin connector (spackling and painting to be done at a later date)

The next few steps are done to get a loose outline for your heating/cooling strategy.  You select an upper and lower temperature, creating a band where your system won't allow your ambient house temperature to exceed.  Wifi is also setup which allows the Nest to check for software updates and more importantly, know your local conditions in order to react to an environmental change such as a cold front coming through.

The display is clean and sharp.  When active, the thermostat displays the current temp (the smaller numerical icon) and the current temperature setpoint.  The display dims and goes dark after a period of inactivity and when it does not sense movement.  Approach the display and the proximity sensor wakes the unit up.

Sleek.

The final step of the installation is the linking of your Nest Home account and installation of the Nest smartphone app.  These features allow the homeowner to monitor the current temperature and heating setpoint of the house.  You can change the system setpoint and turn the circulation fan from off (auto) to on if you want.

PC interface showing exterior temp, interior temp and RH levels as well as system status

Included with the Nest is a "roadmap" of what to expect and the milestones that are reached during the life of the thermostat.  The next milestone is day 7 where the Nest will know your routine (in terms of when to heat the house and when to not) and the activity level of the area it is installed in.

I'll update my Nest experience periodically and will try to answer any questions that you have.

Test Post

Test post from Blogger app on Droid X.

Mind Meld and the Texas 'Dog

I've got to tell ya, Bobby Flay and I are two peas in a pod.


This man loves to fire up the grill and cook about anything on it! His new (to me) show Throwndown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network, has him traveling the States, challenging other chefs to a mono-e-dish contests. Most recently, I watched an episode about the innocent little hot dog. Bobby challenged Pink's in Hollywood to a speed and taste hot dog Throwndown.

Long story short, Bobby brought 3 dogs to the table; the nacho dog, the New York dog and the Texas dog. The simplest (ingredient wise) was the Texas dog and it got me thinking of trying it out. After a quick trip to the local grocery store, I whipped up two of these puppies and they were yuuuumy!


How are they made you ask? Easy. Start with a high quality hot dog. For my recipe, I used Kayem natural hot dogs from the deli counter. While you are there, get some pre-made coleslaw or make your own but I was feeling lazy. Also, don't forget the rolls, BBQ sauce of choice (mine is any kind of Stubb's sauce) and the most important part, the sandwich sliced pickles. I like Claussen.

Fire up that grill on high and give your dogs a little drizzle of olive oil followed by a liberal salt and pepper dose. After the dogs have grilled and the buns have toasted, put a bit of BBQ sauce on the hot dog (while in the bun), not to much, it tends to run. Wedge a pickle slice in between the bun and dog and top with cole slaw and fresh cracked pepper.

Hope you enjoy this new twist on an old summer classic. Let me know how they turned out for you!

Gaming On the Go: Summer '09 Edition

I've been suffering from a bout of blogger block (similar to writer's block but I wouldn't call this writing) lately, hence the low output since E3. As summer comes around, I tend to get real busy outside of work leaving little time to game and blog.

I've been playing a bunch of Fight Night Round 4 and I've got to say, it is one solid game. I am 9 fights into my pro career going 9-0-1 with 5 KOs. The graphics are superb, the training is varied and the Total Punch analog control is great!

Simply the Best Boxing Sim.

While away for the past weekend, I picked up a few games for my iPod Touch, Flight Control and Let's Golf! Flight control is a very simplistic but engrossing strategy game where you must land various types of planes/helicopters on their designated runways while avoiding collisions. Easier said than done when you have 13 planes on screen! My best is 161 landed, what about you??

The Best $0.99 I've Spent in a Long Time.

The other game, Let's Golf! is a straight forward, arcade golf game in the same vein as Hot Shots golf. It offers 4 courses with four different configurations each as well as three difficulty levels. Add in 4 characters and lots of unlockables to improve your game, its definitely worth your $1.99 for some on the go gaming. As a bonus you can play multiplayer and challenge your friend (local) to a round of golf.

Club Selection and Ball Placement are Key.

With a busy summer ahead, I'm thankful for portable gaming. What are your options for gaming when traveling??