Nesting

After a mild fall, winter has finally arrived. Our new furnace is keeping us warmer than past years but we were finding that even with a high efficiency furnace, we’re still using more energy than we anticipated. After comparing our monthly usage stats, Jonathan chalked it up to the absolutely horrible (and proprietary) Carrier thermostat. Our old Nest thermostat was so much better at learning our patterns and adjusting accordingly. We couldn’t even manage to get Carrier’s online interface to work so we could turn down the heat remotely.

Drastic measures were required. Jonathan set out to hack the furnace and re-install our Nest.

The first step was rewiring everything to allow for the additional lines required by the Nest. Easier said then done. We had to move Jonathan’s workbench and uncaulk the casement window that led to the crawlspace just to get to the wires. We ran the wires up through the floor and the back wall of the kitchen to prep for the installation.

Jonathan did something with all these wires that seemed to work.

The Nest is smaller than our older thermostat so we had to plaster and repaint a section of the kitchen wall (again) but it was well worth it. After that, we recaulked the window, moved the workbench back and hoped that was the last of the forays into the crawlspace.

 

So now we’re once again able to regulate our heating and cooling. The Nest learns our schedule and turns on and off accordingly, we can set minimum and maximum temps, and it has an away function that kicks on if no motion is detected in the house. Even better, we can adjust the heat at night from our phones without even getting out of bed.