Nest Labs says in summer 2013, its Rush Hour Rewards program via its learning thermostat delivered an average of 55 percent energy reduction in residential air conditioning loads during peak times, while its Seasonal Savings program helped customers lower their overall air conditioning runtime by 4.7 percent.
Nest found that 84 percent of customers who participated in Rush Hour Rewards and 89 percent of customers who participated in Seasonal Savings said they were just as thermally comfortable as they were before they participated in the programs.
Rush Hour Rewards adjusts thermostats during peak demand. With Seasonal Savings, a Nest thermostat uses its knowledge of a customer’s schedule and preferences to gradually fine-tune the temperature schedule to save energy. Both services are offered only through Nest’s energy partners.
Google-owned Nest has made a huge splash in the residential energy efficiency world, not only with its technology, but with its partnerships.
Nest is also expanding its energy partnerships globally, adding npower in the UK and Columbia Gas of Ohio, ComEd, CPS Energy and Direct Energy in the U.S. These companies join more than 12 existing Nest energy partners – including NRG Energy, its subsidiaries Reliant and Green Mountain Energy, Direct Energy Canada, National Grid, Austin Energy, Infinite Energy and Southern California Edison.
In the business-to-business arena, Schneider Electric recently announced it is offering a thermostat and programmable room controller targeted to enterprises – the new SE8000 Series.