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.