Heating and cooling systems are being intelligently developed to reduce power consumption. This is important as sources of energy are depleting, leaving us with fewer options to meet requirements. To enable consumers to better keep track of their energy consumption, Nest Labs has released new software that delivers detailed information on heating and cooling units in the house, when they were switched on, how much energy was used, and so on. The software is meant for Nest Learning Thermostats and helps users realize how changes to the device can affect power usage.
With Nest’s Learning Thermostats and the new software, consumers can monitor power usage and make changes that will affect their consumption to keeping it to a minimum. The 2.0 software is used via Android or iOS based smartphones and through the internet. Updates on energy history are presented over a period of 10 days and also display data on what caused the thermostat’s setting change if it was altered. A new feature called Airwave has also been added, which can reduce power consumption by up to 30 percent. Airwave is especially meant for people living in drier locales and sets the thermostat so that only the fan is kept running rather than both compressor and fan. Additionally, an auto away setting has also been incorporated for those who need to suddenly get away from home.
The software delivers data to help users compare monthly power usage so that they can learn to keep consumption to a minimum. Lowering the thermostat to even a degree is said to reduce electricity usage by 5 percent, according to the company. The intelligent device learns a user’s setting preference so that it doesn’t have to be manually adjusted constantly. According to the EPA, such programmable thermostats can help reduce energy by 20 to 30 percent. However, just 10 percent of people using thermostats actually program theirs.
Via: Nest
