Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers have an incredibly distinguished pedigree when it comes to design, they were much of the driving force of the original iPod, which revolutionized the music world a decade ago. Today they’ve announced something that’s not really Apple related, but is still incredibly cool. It’s called the Nest, and it aims to be revolution in the world of thermostats.
For one thing, it’s the first thermostat I’ve seen that isn’t utterly hideous. But the real innovation is that it learns from you. Over the course of a week, it recognizes your patterns for setting the temperature, and adjusts itself automatically and accordingly.
It can also connect to your WiFi, so you can control it via smartphone or PC from elsewhere, and with the learning algorithm and connectivity, you should be able to use it reduce your energy bills. Hopefully enough to offset the $249 price tag.
Full press release follows:
Nest Learning Thermostat Programs Itself, Saves Energy
PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nest Labs today announced that it has created the Nest Learning Thermostat™. Nest learns from your behaviors, preferences and surroundings to create a custom heating and cooling schedule, keeping you comfortable when you’re home and conserving energy when you’re away.
“Under the leadership of Tony Fadell, the company is poised to make a significant impact on an industry that has been virtually void of innovation for the past 30 years.”
“It was unacceptable to me that the device that controls 10 percent of all energy consumed in the U.S. hadn’t kept up with advancements in technology and design,” said Tony Fadell, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nest Labs. “Together with the team, Co-Founder Matt Rogers and I set out to reinvent the thermostat using advanced technologies, high-quality manufacturing processes and the thoughtful design elements the iPhone generation has come to expect. The resulting Nest Learning Thermostat is like no other thermostat on the market. We hope it will not only save money and energy, but that it will teach and inspire people to think more about how they can reduce home-energy consumption.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, the annual energy bill for a typical single-family home is approximately $2,200, with heating and cooling (HVAC) accounting for approximately half of the bill. The programmable thermostat, developed in the 1970s, promised to help people conserve energy, but 89 percent of owners rarely or never set a program (source: ACEEE, 2010). The devices are simply too complicated. In fact, Energy Star revoked its certification of all thermostats in 2009 when it became apparent that people weren’t actually engaging with programmable thermostats to reach their proper functionality.
Nest Learning Thermostat
Nest addresses the programming problem through a combination of sensors, algorithms, machine learning, and cloud computing. Nest learns behaviors and preferences and adjusts the temperature up or down accordingly, making you comfortable when you’re home and saving energy while you’re away. Nest also provides people with tips and information to help them make energy-saving choices.
Product Features:
Pricing and Availability
The Nest Learning Thermostat is expected to be available at www.nest.com and retail outlets in mid-November for a suggested retail price of $249.00 (U.S.). To be one of the first to experience the benefits of a Nest Learning Thermostat, go to www.nest.com to pre-order yours today.
The Nest Labs Team
The Nest team is committed to helping reduce home-energy consumption. Team members draw upon their years of technology, design and go-to-market experience from world-class consumer-facing companies including Apple, Google, Logitech, Sling Media and Twitter.
“Nest has built an unprecedented team of experienced designers and engineers with backgrounds spanning Silicon Valley,” said Bill Campbell, Apple and Intuit board member and Nest advisor. “Under the leadership of Tony Fadell, the company is poised to make a significant impact on an industry that has been virtually void of innovation for the past 30 years.”
About Nest Labs
The creator of the world’s first learning thermostat, Nest Labs is focused on reducing home-energy consumption. The Nest Learning Thermostat learns human behaviors and preferences, automatically adjusting the temperature so you can stay comfortable while saving energy and money. Founded by former Apple SVP of the iPod division Tony Fadell and former iPod and iPhone lead engineer Matt Rogers, the Nest Labs team enjoys bringing new life to previously ignored home products by applying the best of today’s technology and design. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., Nest Labs is privately funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures, Generation Investment Management and Intertrust. For more information, visitwww.nest.com.
