Does anyone use "Nest" to control heat?

[LongShort]

I have two Nest thermostats at my primary residence and I do love them. Very simple to install and work really well. For my home at the lake though I wanted to be notified if the temperature dropped below a certain level and my Nest was unable to do that. Maybe newer models now have this feature. I ended up going with a Honeywell and have been very happy with that.

[Merrymeeting]

I have an Ecobee and it has worked great for my needs.

Like others, I shut off the learning feature as I prefer to have set schedules whether we are there or not.

I am able to monitor and control the temp via the internet when we are away. It's great to be able to turn the heat up before we arrive home.

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by LongShort

I have two Nest thermostats at my primary residence and I do love them. Very simple to install and work really well. For my home at the lake though I wanted to be notified if the temperature dropped below a certain level and my Nest was unable to do that. Maybe newer models now have this feature. I ended up going with a Honeywell and have been very happy with that.

The Emerson Sensi sends you an Email notification if your temperature goes below 45. Thankfully I have never received that Email.

[webmaster]

Originally Posted by LongShort

For my home at the lake though I wanted to be notified if the temperature dropped below a certain level and my Nest was unable to do that.

The latest Nest app can be set to notify you (on your phone) of low and high temperature alerts. If you want to get an email there are add-ons that will do that. Here's an example:

https://ifttt.com/applets/428054p-ne...rature-warning

[Slickcraft]

Honeywell at home and on the island. Nice to be able to kick the heat or A/C on well in advance of arrival. Also notifications can be set for temp thresholds or loss of connection.

[FlyingScot]

Following up on posts above--I have multiple Nests and love them.

Before Nest, I tried to install Ecobee, but failed. I'm not perfect on the technical issues, but Ecobee requires an additional wire over the Nest, so fewer homes will be acceptable with that system.

[RUGMAN]

First winter heating house with the Mitsubishi heat pump. I was able to control with Kumo Cloud from my lap top or I phone, was able to control heat and monitor temp at any time, I also set up Temp Stick by Ideal Sciences I could set alert that if temp in house dropped below 45 I would get an alert email , worked great as long as you have internet and wifi.

[BroadHopper]

Love them both. I have the Nest and my daughter has the Ecobee.

I installed the Nest a year after installing the Rinnai condensing boiler. The boiler has an outside sensor and its own sophisticated algorithm that adjust the baseboard temperature based on the outside and inside temperature. It is so slick that I never notice temperature swings in the house.

After the installation I have seen little difference in efficiency, perhaps because the Rinnai is efficient (95.5).

I bought the Nest at Home Depot for $140, (a return). Sent in the energy rebate of $100. Not bad for a Wi-Fi thermostat!

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by RUGMAN

First winter heating house with the Mitsubishi heat pump. I was able to control with Kumo Cloud from my lap top or I phone, was able to control heat and monitor temp at any time, I also set up Temp Stick by Ideal Sciences I could set alert that if temp in house dropped below 45 I would get an alert email , worked great as long as you have internet and wifi.

So tell us, is that Mitsubishi heat pump as efficient as they claim? What did you heat with before?

[RUGMAN]

Originally Posted by Biggd

So tell us, is that Mitsubishi heat pump as efficient as they claim? What did you heat with before?

My first winter heating our renovated cottage, I found it easy to use,

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by RUGMAN

My first winter heating our renovated cottage, I found it easy to use,

But is it efficient? Was your electric bill high?

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by Biggd

But is it efficient? Was your electric bill high?

Dan (ishoot308) uses them as well. He had nothing but good things to say about tghe mini-splits for heat when we were talking last.

[Island Girl]

Is the heat pump noisy, bothering neighbors and self? What is a typical added electric bill for April, September, October?


Thanks so much
IG

[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by Island Girl

Is the heat pump noisy, bothering neighbors and self? What is a typical added electric bill for April, September, October?


Thanks so much
IG

The units are very quiet. We have one inside unit in our bedroom at home, you really have to strain to hear the whisper fan noise. In order to hear an outside unit you have to be standing right next to it and listen carefully.

We have one 15K Btu standard unit at camp and two hyper heat units at home, one 12K and one 18K.

My estimate is that one 15K unit would add about $15/month in Sept and about $20 to $25/month in April and Oct. A/C in the summer may cost $10 to $20/month depending on use.

Alan

[tummyman]

If you are looking for numbers on Mitsubishi mini splits, go to the following thread....you can search for "Mitsubishi system" and read the posts. Looks for the two I posted under "tummyman" and see my data. For the last two seasons, I have gone back to using oil since the cost of oil has dropped significantly and the cost of electricity over the winter has gone up dramatically. So I play the fuel game on cost of the commodity.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by Island Girl

Is the heat pump noisy, bothering neighbors and self?
IG

My dad 2 installed.You cant even hear the air handler(inside) and I had to bend over to get closer to the outside unit to hear it.It may have been running on lower speed but I was shocked how quiet these are since I have more than 30 heat pumps in my commercial building to compare to.

[FlyingScot]

Heat pumps, in general, are awesome. Super efficient, super quiet. We added one to our MA house--we're getting a very nice payback on the investment and we'll never go back.

[Orion]

Sitting in the ultra-quiet coolness of a 2 yr old Mitsu Hyper Heat unit right now. They really are as good as everyone says. They are best when set to a temp and left at that temp. I don't think you get much advantage using a setback, but I could be wrong. They use very little electricity once they reach the set temp as the fans slow way down and just maintain that temp. I use for heat as soon as temps are above mid 30's since oil is still cheap for colder temps and the hyper heat units go through a long cycle (maybe 30 minutes) doing something to prevent ice build up, I believe. During that time, there is no heat output.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by Orion

the hyper heat units go through a long cycle (maybe 30 minutes) doing something to prevent ice build up, I believe. During that time, there is no heat output.

What happens is the refrigerant is reversed through your coil to defrost mode to keep them from icing up.

[pjard]

Originally Posted by Orion

Sitting in the ultra-quiet coolness of a 2 yr old Mitsu Hyper Heat unit right now. They really are as good as everyone says. They are best when set to a temp and left at that temp. I don't think you get much advantage using a setback, but I could be wrong. They use very little electricity once they reach the set temp as the fans slow way down and just maintain that temp. I use for heat as soon as temps are above mid 30's since oil is still cheap for colder temps and the hyper heat units go through a long cycle (maybe 30 minutes) doing something to prevent ice build up, I believe. During that time, there is no heat output.

These Mitsubishi Splits are amazingly cheap to run. Last summer I installed solar panels so via an app and/or web site I can see very precisely how much electricity I am using. Right now I am running 3 units keeping the house at 73-74. The three units combined seem to add about 300-400 watts to the total consumption. They run a bit more than that when they are bringing the temp down. At 18 cents per KWH, I'm keeping my house very comfortable for 7.2 cents per hour....unbelievable.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by pjard

These Mitsubishi Splits are amazingly cheap to run. Last summer I installed solar panels so via an app and/or web site I can see very precisely how much electricity I am using. Right now I am running 3 units keeping the house at 73-74. The three units combined seem to add about 300-400 watts to the total consumption. They run a bit more than that when they are bringing the temp down. At 18 cents per KWH, I'm keeping my house very comfortable for 7.2 cents per hour....unbelievable.

Great info Paul!

When you say three units do you mean three indoor units run off one outside condensing unit?

Thanks!

Dan

[pjard]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Great info Paul!

When you say three units do you mean three indoor units run off one outside condensing unit?

Thanks!

Dan

Hey Dan! Three totally separate systems, one outside condensing unit and one indoor blower
per system. I know it sounds geeky, but with the solar panel app, I've been anxiously waiting for a real hot day to see just what these units burn....I'm stunned at how efficient they are. Very pleased....

[Orion]

Originally Posted by pjard

These Mitsubishi Splits are amazingly cheap to run. Last summer I installed solar panels so via an app and/or web site I can see very precisely how much electricity I am using. Right now I am running 3 units keeping the house at 73-74. The three units combined seem to add about 300-400 watts to the total consumption. They run a bit more than that when they are bringing the temp down. At 18 cents per KWH, I'm keeping my house very comfortable for 7.2 cents per hour....unbelievable.

I have a Sense whole house current monitor and have three units running, but I'm seeing more like 700-1000W in cooling maintenance mode. But it is over 90 here today. I'm running two 9K BTU and one 12K BTU off one outdoor unit.

[SummerIslander]

Warning: Nest (and similar connected appliances are surveillance systems sold as an appliance. The business model of Nest and similar connected devices is to get something into your home to collect and sell data on what you and your family do at home 24x7. If you like that kind of monitoring by strangers and the security risk that the data will be stolen someday and used to target you by criminals and hackers, buy it. Note that the worst data and network security risks these days come from the relatively immature "internet of things" devices like this that are not as well protected or patched as phones and computers.

If you can find a model that you are sure allows only you to connect to it, that might be safer. But then how would the vendor apply security patches ... ? Can of worms.

(full disclosure: I work for a software company, not a Luddite. I know how these people think.)

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by SummerIslander

Warning: Nest (and similar connected appliances are surveillance systems sold as an appliance. The business model of Nest and similar connected devices is to get something into your home to collect and sell data on what you and your family do at home 24x7. If you like that kind of monitoring by strangers and the security risk that the data will be stolen someday and used to target you by criminals and hackers, buy it. Note that the worst data and network security risks these days come from the relatively immature "internet of things" devices like this that are not as well protected or patched as phones and computers.

If you can find a model that you are sure allows only you to connect to it, that might be safer. But then how would the vendor apply security patches ... ? Can of worms.

(full disclosure: I work for a software company, not a Luddite. I know how these people think.)

If you have a smart phone you are being monitored on a daily basis. The only way to avoid this is to disconnect from the web completely and go live up in the north woods of Maine. Even the new car you buy is connected. Whether you're paying for it or not it can be accessed through it's GPS. With camera's everywhere connected to the web you would be hard pressed to get away from being tracked today.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by VitaBene

Dan (ishoot308) uses them as well. He had nothing but good things to say about tghe mini-splits for heat when we were talking last.

Yes I have a Mitsubishi mini split at my island camp. I mainly bought it for air conditioning and yes they are incredibly efficient for AC with SEER rating of 26 or 27 I believe. They are fantastic for summertime air conditioning! They really cool down the house quickly!

I do not have the hyper heat units just the standard one and they work very well for heating but only down to about 30 degrees efficiently. The hyper heat units are efficient to 13 below zero! They are extremely quiet and I do not hear them running at all.

Dan