iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
I'm wondering about the installation part. It doesn't seem to me that the average user is just doing to go grab one and get it in himself.<p>I made my own computerized replacement for the thermostat in my house(1) and discovered that there were about 5 different possible wiring patterns depending on if you've got heat pumps, multi-stage, e-heat, gas, etc.<p>After much research I figured out how they are wired, how my house should be wired and... burned out a fuse <i>on the circuit board inside the furnace</i> because the original installer had switched 2 wires and just said "screw it" and left it that way.<p>I had to remove and trace the circuit board with my fluke meter just to get my AC back. Its one thing for rich guys building their smart-house in Tahoe to choose this, but quite another for Joe average to go grab one at Home Depot and take it home and get it going. Calling your "Nest dealer" to schedule an install just seems like a nonstarter for the added cost this will add to what already seems pretty high.<p>As a geek though, the wifi part seems pretty cool. As long as it was sufficiently open, it could have saved me a bunch of work making my own HVAC interface.(2)<p>(1) My philosophy was that I didn't need a "thermostat" at all. The computer that does all of the other smart-house stuff for me should control the temperature as well.<p>(2) Proliphix makes a pretty decent openly programmable WIFI enabled thermostat but they cost around $600.