Nest Thermostat Just Got Smarter by Partnering with Energy Providers

On Earth Day, April 22nd, Nest Labs announced its partnership with a number of energy service providers across the United States: Reliant (Texas), Green Mountain Energy (Texas, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania), Austin Energy (Texas), National Grid (Massachusetts and Rhode Island), and Southern California Edison (California).

The company manufactures the Nest "learning" thermostat, which is a smart thermostat that automatically heats or cools the home based on a number of factors, including the user's behavior and inputs, room occupancy (it has activity sensors), the weather and a survey of the user. Within one week, the Nest "learns" the users' behavior and creates an automatic energy-saving schedule. Users can adjust the temperature on the unit itself, or remotely from a smartphone or tablet. The thermostat has special features, such as filter reminders, Auto-Away, which turns down the heating or cooling when no one is home, and Energy History, which tracks the user's energy use and savings.

The Nest is one of the most well-known smart thermostats on the market (competitors include Ecobee and Honeywell). Smart thermostats are becoming popular as an energy saving strategy, because studies have shown that 10% of all American energy is controlled by thermostats, and 50% of an average home's energy is controlled by its thermostat (according to Nest). Nest thermostats can cut heating and cooling costs by 20%, according to the company.

Energy Provider Incentives

Nest's partnerships with energy providers will allow its customers access to incentives and additional cost savings. The over 90 million people serviced by these providers will be able to sign up for special programs, including:

Seasonal Savings: Customers can save 5-10% on their energy bills with this program, which allows the Nest to slowly acclimate the customer to a new schedule during seasonal changes. Overall, the automated schedule will save money, because customers will be more comfortable in lower or higher temperatures.

Rush Hour Rewards: Rush Hour Rewards is essentially a demand response program that rewards customers for saving energy during peak loads, which Nest calls "Rush Hour". The Nest automatically adjusts to accomodate for peak loads, and customers who are serviced by its participating partners receive financial rewards for doing so. Customers often earn $20-60 per season by participating in the program.

Rebates: National Grid in Massachusetts and Rhode Island provides a $100 rebate for purchasing Nest.

These incentives and programs will help customers save even more money and energy with Nest, which will most likely make the learning thermostat more popular, and help it to oust competing brands.