This is the first winter Ive had the Nest. My gas and electric bill shows the average temp this last billing period, and what it was this time last year, as well as KW/day and cubic ft gas/day.

Average temp was 30 last month and 37 last year. Gas and electricity both down 20%, even though it was colder this year. Im sold. No other changes to the house or temp- I stay warm. I think it is due to the auto away settings and the schedule. I used to set the temp manually all the time.

Nest (is now) = Evil

I must say mine's still working well and did not download horns since the google acquisition :-)

My Nest thermostats have suddenly gone freaky on me.

I have had them at a weekend vacation house for years. I normally have things set to "Away" and a relatively low set temp is maintained. When I am heading out to the house, I remotely switch to "Home" and then the 'stats follow my normal temperature programming schedule (and the house is warm when I arrive...nice!).

In the last two weeks, the thermostats ignore the fact that they are set to "Away" and decide to start following the "Home" schedule and set temps.

Anyone else seeing this behavior from their Nest 'stats?

I read somewhere the the Nest servers were down a few times in the past few months. I wonder if losing connectivity to the mothership and reconnecting affected the programming?

The schedule programming definitely is acting strangely within the Nest Iphone App. However, the schedule programming is supposed to be ignored when the ‘stat is set to “away.” Somehow they have boogered it up completely and I’ve unnecessarily burned heating oil as a result.

Disclaimer, I don't have a nest thermostat, I'm just floating some ideas based on what I have learned regarding my smart home system and thermostat operation, and the way I have is set up..

My system is geo-fenced, I get home from work and certain lights turn on and off on schedule, the thermostat sets to a certain temp.. After power outages and servers being down, I have had to reset the whole system to get things back to the normal i set up..

I also have it set so I get alerts sent to my phone when the temperature changes by X degrees, or when the heating system turns on...

I also can remotely check the flood sensor (I live 100' from a canal, and 400 ' from a lake)

I'm surprised the Nest app does not have a feature to configure and push notifications. If not why not just open the app and check?

I did the Honeywell Lyric which I got a Lowe’s for $80. Does everything you need in a programable thermostat. The app is really easy to use and I love the vacation option. The cost of the Nest didn’t make sense.

Part of the reason I installed the Nest 'stats in my 2nd home is so that I could monitor proper function of the heating system as the last thing I want is for the place to freeze up in the winter. Therefore I do open up the app and check regularly (especially when we have a deep cold snap). Checking the app is how I spotted the latest bizarre behavior of ignoring the "away" feature. My solution for the moment is to remove the schedule entirely, leave the 'stats set to "home" and then just manually adjust the temp to my preferred "vacant" or "occupied" setting.

I have Honeywell wifi enabled 'stats in my primary home and while they aren't as slick in design as the Nest, they function perfectly and are cheaper. The Nest 'stat wouldn't work in my primary home because it couldn't seem to deal with separate A/C and heating (I have hydronic heat with boiler + cast iron baseboards, and separate central air conditioning).

I think there was probably a software update push that has "broken" the home/away function on the Nest. Same crap as how the latest IOS or MS Windows updates nearly always come with bugs. This seems to be norm with modern tech.

While modern tech can be wonderful, it can also be annoyingly stupid which makes me grumpy and appreciate simpler times of analog life. I suppose that's why I like to burn wood for heat and listen to vinyl records when at my vacation house.