We didn’t think thermostats mattered either.

Until we learned they control about 50% of our energy bill.

As much as the refrigerator, lighting, TVs, computers, and stereos combined. In fact, 10% of all U.S. energy is controlled by thermostats. That’s the equivalent of 1.7 billion barrels of oil per year. But in most homes the thermostat is an unassuming beige box. It doesn’t matter if it’s a manual or complicated programmable thermostat,

we do with it what we’ve always done: get up, walk over to it, and change the temperature. Every few hours. Every day. 1,500 times a year.

We still try to save energy, of course. We turn down the thermostat when we can, we don’t set it too high or low. But we’re human. We forget. Until we see our energy bills.

Source: 2007 Buildings Energy Data Book, Table 4.2.1

Figures are from the ACEEE.

So how much energy are we wasting?

A lot, it turns out. The EPA says a properly programmed thermostat can cut 20% off your heating and cooling bill. But to program it right, we have to give the thermostat an exact schedule: lower the temperature at 8 AM, turn it up when we get home, lower it again when everyone’s in bed. The problem is, our lives don’t go according to schedule: we leave for the weekend, go out to dinner, stay up till 1 AM. Programming a

thermostat right is almost impossible.

According to one study, 90% of programmable thermostats are rarely or never programmed. The EPA even took away their Energy Star rating. So we started looking for an alternative.

Your thermostat should program itself around your life – not the other way around.

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What if your thermostat could learn from you?

What if it could build a schedule around what you like? Or figure out when you’re gone? Or show you how long it’ll take to warm up the house? What if your thermostat told you how much energy it used? And helped you to save even more? What if you could control it from your laptop and phone?

That would change everything.

So that's what we did.

We designed Nest to learn from you. That’s why today 99% of Nests have schedules that work with their owner’s lives. And when life doesn’t go according to schedule, Nest can help.

Forgot to turn down the thermostat before you left the house? Auto-Away automatically saves energy while you’re out. Dreading the summer heat? Airwave™ cuts down on your cooling costs. Coming home early from a weekend away? Use your phone to turn down the temp on your way.

And as Nest learns about your preferences and your home, you can learn from Nest. Energy History gives you newfound insight into your energy use, Nest’s custom tips help you save even more, and the Nest Leaf guides you to energy savings.