I'm wondering if in "Away" mode, is Nest smart enough to learn about when you come home, and kick on approximately 30-40 minutes BEFORE then? Or does it only kick on when it senses you've come home?
Also, can you control how much it lowers the temperature in Away mode?
Further, if you adjust the temperature manually over the internet (say, just before you leave work), does that count towards teaching it when it should turn on?
I'm basically wondering just how smart its auto functions are, because if they're not smart, then I would rather just spend $30 on a programmable unit rather than $250 for Nest.
Best Answer
The Nest saves people money simply because most people can't/won't program their thermostats. Where the Nest will mostly auto program itself based on your away/home and manual thermostat changes.
You can set the temp ranges for away as well as another emergency min/max for when the unit is turned 'off' (this can prevent frozen pipes). The unit can also be set to start before the program schedule time to warm/cool.
But if you go out for a night, the unit then goes into a non-scheduled auto away it will wait until it detects movement before it will kick the heat/ac back on.