How a Nest thermostat helps save energy
A Nest thermostat learns the temperatures that you like when you’re at home and then
programs itself. It automatically turns down the heating when you’re away to help save
energy. Here’s the proof.
Many thermostats are programmable. You enter every temperature change that you want
throughout the day or choose a start and stop time to heat your home. It’s annoying and
complicated, so many people don’t even bother.
Learns from you and programs itself
You don’t have to program a Nest thermostat. Just change the temperature whenever you
like during the first few days after it's been installed. It will get to know the temperatures
that you like and when you want them. Then it programs itself and creates a weekly
temperature schedule.
| A Nest thermostat also learns how quickly your home heats and cools, because no two homes are exactly the same. And it considers the outside weather conditions. When it’s very cold, your home may take longer to reach the temperature you want. So, a Nest thermostat can figure out how early it needs to turn your system on the heating to get your home to the target temperature on time. And it learns when to turn your system off to prevent overshooting the target temperature. |
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Can help save energy while you’re away
In addition to learning a temperature schedule, your Nest thermostat will automatically
switch to a custom Eco Temperature when you’re away. And when you come back, it will
switch back to your scheduled temperature. You don’t have to remember to change the
temperature as you come and go, the Nest thermostat does it for you.
Learn how Eco Temperatures work >
Teaches you to save when you’re home
A Nest thermostat also shows you how to save energy. Each time you adjust your thermostat
to an energy-efficient temperature, you’ll see the Nest Leaf on the thermostat screen and in
the Nest app. Over time, it becomes harder to earn a Leaf, which encourages you to save
even more energy. For more thermostat saving tips, see the following article:
How to improve energy savings >
To track your progress, you can check your Energy History in the Nest app to see how much
you’ve used each day and what has caused any big changes in your heating use. You’ll also
get a monthly Home Report from Nest so you can compare how much heating you’ve used
compared to the previous month. As you learn more about how and why you’ve saved energy
with your Nest thermostat, you can keep up your good habits and make simple changes to
be more efficient.
How a Nest thermostat calculates realistic savings estimates
Some thermostat makers claim impressive energy savings, but few disclose the details of
how they calculate their numbers. The savings are usually based on unrealistic assumptions
about how people will use their new thermostats and especially about how they used their
old thermostats.
Belgium
- We aggregated data from the Nest thermostats that have been up and running in real
homes across Europe since 2014. We know when Nest thermostats turn our customers'
heating up and down, so we have a pretty good idea of how much energy people use with
their Nest thermostats. - In the Netherlands, France, and Belgium we calculated how much energy people would
have used if they kept their homes at 20ºC all the time and also if some of them turned
the heat down to 15ºC for seven hours at night. - When we compared data from real customers to the estimates above, we got these
results:- Belgian customers saved 13.9% - 20%
In a previous white paper for Belgium (in Dutch - in French) we ended up with a wide range
of savings estimates based on different houses, temperatures and schedules, but now
that we have real customer data, we can reduce that range and give you more-accurate
estimates.
France
- We aggregated data from the Nest thermostats that have been up and running in real
homes across Europe since 2014. We know when Nest thermostats turn our customers'
heating up and down, so we have a pretty good idea of how much energy people use with
their Nest thermostats. - In France we calculated how much energy people would have used if they kept their
homes at 20ºC all the time and also if some of them turned the heat down to 15ºC for
seven hours at night. - When we compared data from real customers to the estimates above, we got these
results:- French customers saved 10.1% - 16.5%
In a previous white paper for France, we ended up with a wide range of savings estimates
based on different houses, temperatures and schedules, but now that we have real
customer data, we can reduce that range and give you more-accurate estimates.
Italy
We calculated a range of savings to reflect the range of real-world behaviors people in
Italy have as well as the local housing stock and climate. At one end of the range, we
calculated savings based on people having kept their homes at 20 ºC all the time prior to
Nest thermostat installation. At the other end, we instead assume that most people
turned their heat down or off at night and that many people also turned down their heat
during weekdays.
The results of this analysis across different types of homes and climate regions of Italy
provides a range of savings from 7% to 25% of heating energy use.
Netherlands
- We aggregated data from the Nest thermostats that have been up and running in real
homes across Europe since 2014. We know when Nest thermostats turn our customers'
heating up and down, so we have a pretty good idea of how much energy people use with their Nest thermostats. - In the Netherlands, we calculated how much energy people would have used if they kept
their homes at 20ºC all the time and also if some of them turned the heat down to 15ºC
for seven hours at night. - When we compared data from real customers to the estimates above, we got these
results:- Dutch customers saved 11.9% - 19.9%
In a previous white papers for the Netherlands, we ended up with a wide range of savings
estimates based on different houses, temperatures and schedules, but now that we have
real customer data, we can reduce that range and give you more-accurate estimates.
Spain
We calculated a range of savings to reflect the range of real-world behaviors people in
Spain have as well as the local housing stock and climate. At one end of the range, we
calculated savings based on people having kept their homes at 20 ºC all the time prior to
Nest thermostat installation. At the other end, we instead assume that most people
turned their heat down or off at night and that many people also turned down their heat
during weekdays.
The results of this analysis across different types of homes and climate regions of Spain
provides a range of savings from 7%-27% of heating energy use.
UK and Ireland
- We aggregated data from the Nest thermostats that have been up and running in real
homes across Europe since 2014. We know when Nest thermostats turn our customers'
heating up and down, so we have a pretty good idea of how much energy people use with
their Nest thermostats. - In the UK and Ireland, we calculated how much energy people would have used if they
kept their homes at 20 ºC all the time and also if some of them turned the heating down
to 9º C for seven hours at night. - When we compared data from real customers to the estimates above, we got these results:
- UK customers saved 8.4% to 16.5%
- Irish customers saved 9.6% to 18.1%
In a previous white paper for the UK and Ireland we ended up with a wide range of savings
estimates based on different houses, temperatures and schedules, but now that we have
real customer data, we can reduce that range and give you more-accurate estimates.