Smart Thermostats: Nest vs. Aprilaire

Temperature regulation in your home is possibly the most important, and definitely the least visible, element of a comfortable living environment – it not only impacts the feel of each room, but dictates utility expenses and impacts the home's vlaue. Aprilaire and Nest, two of the thermostat industry's leading brands, offer thermostats that put you in full control of the temperature across your living space. Buchan Consulting LLC is deeply experienced with both systems, and can help you decide which is right for you.

A New Level of Control

Both Nest and Aprilaire offer features not available in traditional househould thermostats, all of which are designed to save you money and keep your house at the optimal temperature any time of day.

The Learning Thermostat, Nest's most popular model, tracks your first few days of usage and adjusts its setting accordingly. If you're a person that enjoys a warm house during breakfast but then heads out for the day, Nest will provide a heat bump first thing in the morning, and will likewise turn the heat down a touch at night once it learns the time you head off to bed. This leads to significant energy savings, a comfortable house, and spares you the frustrating need to tweak the thermostat several times a day.

Aprilaire's 8800 model thermostats offer similar time-of-day and scheduling adjustments, but goes above and beyond by integrating with your HVAC system, fans, air purifiers, and beyond. This lets you control not only the temperature but the humidity and air movement throughout your home, ending the frustrating change in air quality between rooms that many homeowners experience. Aprilaire's thermostat can also update you about service for individual components of your air-quality control systems, consolidating otherwise difficult-to-track information in one place.

Easy Integration With Home Automation Systems

Home automation isn't a single step, and homeowners often have several other automated elements in mind or in place when exploring temperature control systems. We've worked extensively with several home automation systems, including Harmony Pro, Elan and Universal Remote Control, all of which can seamlessly accommodate Nest or Aprilaire components.

The energy savings offered by Nest and Aprilaire can be compounded when used with automation systems. If, for example, you've got automated shading already installed in your home, creating daytime settings that keep the blinds closed and the thermostat on low can keep your house warm for a fraction of the cost of conventional thermostat systems. When you arrive home, a single tap on your smartphone can take you to evening presets, opening the shades to catch the sunset and kicking the heat up just a notch.

Conclusion

Nest and Aprilaire both offer substantial advantages over conventional thermostats in terms of energy savings and scheduling control. Aprilaire takes air quality control several steps further by offering integration with HVAC elements, fans and humidity adjusting components. Both of these systems can be added to an existing home automation system, or serve as an excellent first step in the home automation process. Get in touch with Buchan Consulting if you're thinking about a new thermostat – we'll help you identify your particular needs and work within your budget to get you the ideal thermostat for your home.