Nest 3 thermostat beautifies energy saving

In nature, beautiful things improve through iteration and evolution. Successful products in the natural world are dynamic, are adapted to the local site, and are part of a greater complex network. It is this natural beauty that is at the core of the success of the Nest thermostat. The Nest has revolutionized the world of home comfort and is ground zero for the emerging Internet of Things. The 3rd generation of Nest arrived and, as expected, is better and more beautiful than ever.

Nest 3.0 has a new slim flush-against-the-wall profile with a bigger, high-res screen. The screen boasts 229 pixels per inch and is easy to read from across the room.

Check out a video of the new Nest here.

A new feature, called Farsight, has a built in motion sensor which automatically displays the target temperature when you walk in the room. You can set the thermostat to display target temperature, an analog clock or digital clock, or turn Farsight off. "Furnace Heads-Up" is another feature that uses smart failure detection to let you know about possible problems with the furnace before things go wrong. This gives you time to call the contractor before you're stuck in the cold, wrapped with layers of coats, and can't dial the phone because of your bulky gloves.

Nest claims that research from the prior generations of the product show that it has saved consumers 10 to 12 percent on their heating bills and about 15 percent on their cooling bills.

Maxime Veron, the head of hardware product marketing at Nest, has said that "millions of Nest homes around the world have saved approximately four billion kilowatt hours of energy compared to what they would have used if they'd left their thermostats at a consistent temperature."

The Nest still retails for about $250. But, through energy and enterprise partners such as Southern Company, Direct Energy, SunEdison, Infinite Energy, Reliant, and ADT, customers can purchase the Nest Thermostat at a discount or at no cost.

The Nest 3.0, like earlier generations, can work with other integrated Nest products like the Nest Cam and Nest Protect.

Most exciting is a program called Rush Hour Rewards that will actually pay you. Check out the video on that feature here.

Rush Hour Rewards works becausesome utility companies are now offering discounts based on what is called Demand Response (DR). Rush Hour Rewards is deployed in four states and one province in North America -- New York, California, Texas, Illinois, and Ontario. If you're in one of these utility areas, check out the above video about this program that can help maximize your benefits with the help of the Nest.

Want more information? Here's my article about the original Nest thermostat and another about some of the best smart thermostats. We've come a long way, baby.

Photo credit to Nest