Nest Thermostat E

Pros: works with no C wire App works great easy to use Cons: Fan program is one 7 day schedule Overall Review: Works perfectly for me on my 4 wire (no C) system. I mainly purchased this mainly for the programmable fan control. I use my fan often to normalize the temp between upstairs and down and like to be able to program it. Was a little disappointed there was only a daily fan program (not a 7 day like the heat/cool) but it still works for me.

Pros: Installation was very easy. Clear instructions, everything is color coded for wiring, and they provide a plate (if needed) to cover up larger holes from previous thermostats. Configuration to my network was easy, if sort of tedious because you must spin the thermostat dial to select characters for your WiFi password. App and website controls both stellar. Cheaper than the original unit because it lacks the hi-res screen, but that’s not something I miss as the Nest-E is in an out of the way room, and everything I do is via the app anyway. Alexa and IFTTT integration. Cons: These cons aren’t specific to the Nest-E, but their thermo products software in general, but represent a couple of glaring usability holes: Lack of better manual fan control: you choose a specific run time from presets, but there is no “leave on” option. In the summer, we use the fan to better distribute AC through our two story, one zone home. With the old thermo you flip a switch and forget it until you no longer need it. Not the case here, which means you have to remember a couple times a day to reactivate the fan. Lack of HOLD feature: you cannot lock in a temperature manually. There are times where we need to set a specific temp and just leave it there, and not under the control of the schedule. You can change the temperature temporarily of course, but that’s lost at the next schedule interval. No one wants to reprogram a whole week of scheduling just to lock in a temperature. Overall Review: Two cons aside, would recommend this to anyone. Plus our area utilities are offering a $100 rebate, so it’s really a no brainer.

Pros: Clean Design Low Price Cons: Misleading Compatibility Checker Overall Review: When you use the Nest compatibility checker, and you tell it you just have red and white wires, it says “We’re compatible” in big, friendly letters. However, if you simply accept that and move on, you will miss the much smaller print telling you that sometimes a common wire is required. And, according to the Nest support guy I talked to for 45 minutes, there’s no way to know if you need one other than to install it and see if it works.