CAN NEST LABS AND ITS NEW 'NEST LEARNING THERMOSTAT' DISRUPT HOME THERMOSTATS LIKE THE IPOD DID PORTABLE MUSIC PLAYERS?

The Nest Learning Thermostat is gorgeous, intuitive, and more necessary than you think. Just like a certain blockbuster MP3 player was once upon a time.

Tony Fadell invented the iPod. Okay, he didn't do it singlehandedly--but the former Apple executive conceived it, got Apple on board, and then went on to shepherd the development of 18 (!) generations of the company's signature pre-iPhone product. In 2008 he left Apple and several years later founded a stealth startup called Nest Labs, which was revealed this year to be in the... thermostat business. Wait, what?

Tony Fadell (far left) at Apple together with (from left to right) Jon Rubistein Jonathan Ive, Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller posing for forTime Magazine

Tony Fadell as he appears today

Yeah, you read that right. But not just a thermostat--the iPod of thermostats: a device so desirable and intuitive that it'll turn home energy management into a must-have symbol of sustainable living. Fadell told Co.Design he intends the Nest Learning Thermostat, which will retail for $249.99 starting in November, to be "a jewel on the wall... most people try to hide the thermostat, but we're trying to make it sexy and coveted so that you cherish it, and at parties people ask you about it and you're proud of it." Big talk--but watch this teaser video and you just might become a believer:

 

The Nest thermostat actually is iPod-like:  The display and primary interaction are instantly intuitive and physically irresistible.

To adjust the temperature, turn a ring on the rim of the device--if you're making it cooler, the display turns blue, and if you're making it warmer, it turns red. The temperature itself is displayed in a clear, bright numeric readout--no more squinting at tick marks on a dusty dial. There's also a little green leaf that appears on the screen to guide to you into tweaking your settings for optimal energy savings. And Fadell, no stranger to the importance of a good "unboxing" experience, even went so far as to include a high-quality, custom branded screwdriver with every unit. Fadell says.  

"When you take it out of the box you want it to be easy to install. Apple taught me not to cut corners, and that you don't give up on user experience--ever."

As Fadell notes, the thermostat business was ripe for disruption, and a tantalizing business opportunity as well. He stumbled upon it when he was building his own dream home, an experiment in cutting edge green design in Lake Tahoe. As he considered spending tens of thousands of dollars on a heating and cooling system, it just seemed wrong to link all that tech up to a $90 thermostat from Home Depot that barely worked as advertised, simply because it's design was so poor. So he simply waited for a better product to come along, but it didn't. Upon investigating the market further, he discovered that 10 million thermostats are sold every year. Meanwhile, only 6% of programmable thermostats are actually programmed, even though a programmed thermostat can save 30-40% in heating and cooling costs. That's was clearly a serious design problem.

Click Image To Enlarge

So for users, the best thing about the Nest Learning Thermostat is under that gleaming case. It's equipped with software that analyzes and tracks your usage patterns over time, so that you only have to twist that dial a dozen times before the thermostat can simply anticipate your climate-control needs and take care of it automatically.  Fadell says.

"Instead of programming their thermostats, most people have given up and treat it like a light switch.  But, you have to make those manual adjustments about 1,500 times a year if you want to see any real energy savings."

Nest's version elegantly lets you set it and forget it--at least after that initial learning period. But this thermostat is so sexy, you probably won't mind. 

COMMENTARY:     I love the sleek, elegant, minimalist and simple design of the Nest Learning thermostat.  It definitely shows its Apple roots.   Who would've thought that the home thermostat was due for disruption.  Looks like Tony has definitely solved the home thermostat problem with a thermost that blends into the home and literally "learns" how to save energy as you set temperature settings.    The installation is overcome, too.  Nest sells the Learning thermostat with installation, and will even connect you with an installer located in your zip code.  

A Recap of the Nest Learning Thermostat:

 

Venture capital has rained down on Nest Labs.  In May 2010, the Nest Labs team raised somewhere in the vicinity of $50 million to $80 million from Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Al Gore's Generation Investment Management, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Intertrust to build a better thermostat. VCs close to the deal put it at a ridiculously high valuation. As Vinod Coleslaw says, "$1 billion valuations are the new black."

In October 2011, Nest Labs finally came out of stealth mode to unveil its new product, the Nest Learning Thermostat.  Who would've guessed that in a world of social networks, mobile devices, and apps, that the next new cool device would be a damn wall thermostat.   Okay, it's not pretty, but it's cool.  No, it's Hot.  I mean its a hot idea, whose time has come.  We shall see if Tony Fadell and his team of engineers and designers got the wall thermostat right.

Courtesy of an article dated October 25, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

Comments

[Tommy]

Best Homes Business,

Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, Nest Labs failed to generate any traction for its revolutionary thermostat. Too expensive, and nobody wanted it. One of the worst VC decisions I have seen in a while. I had a feeling this would happen.Hope you will visit my blog regularly, Tommy

[Best Home Business]

interesting post ! thanks for sharing it