Are Nest Thermostats Killing Air Conditioners?

Are Nest Thermostats Killing Air Conditioners?

Everybody loves the Nest thermostat. Or at least, they love the idea of it. Who wouldn’t want a futuristic thermostat with a brain that automatically adjusts to your habits and optimises your energy usage? Well, a growing number of people say they’re encountering unexpected problems with their devices.

Kinja user AFSpecialSauce recently posted a well worded account of how his Nest went belly up in just a few months — and it broke his new air conditioner too. The problem traces itself back to the unique thermostat in Nest’s base. It’s hard to tell if this specific story is a total fluke, but there’s plenty of evidence to show a trend in failures of Nest thermostats. Business Insider’s Jay Yarow encountered a problem with his Nest that’s very similar to AFSpecialSauce’s, as did a number of people in Nest’s community forums.

We’re reaching out to Nest for more information — but what do you think? Have you heard of any similar reports? Or does this sound like run-of-the-mill malfunctioning for a small number of Nest users?


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