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I didn't work at Nest, but for 2011 to 2012, I was a Systems Analyst for a similar company - selling smart thermostats to Quick Service Restaurants (Taco Bell's
by tsumnia 11y ago
I didn't work at Nest, but for 2011 to 2012, I was a Systems Analyst for a similar company - selling smart thermostats to Quick Service Restaurants (Taco Bell's and McDonald's). One of the hidden problems we had was maintaining "smart" control when the end-user's thermal comfort level wasn't lining up. We turn on A/C to help dry up some humidity, but what we regard as ok the end-user was now "freezing".
The biggest issues and where I think the "always crunch time" mentality is due to the fact that customers ALWAYS have A/C or Heat. Messing with it leaves a very negative opinion, especially when we you think they want and what they really want don't match up. I remember tech supporting a call at 11pm on Christmas Eve because I was on duty and the steakhouse in Texas was having a party (Side note: AC units can't handle a lot of people in a confined space). Another time, I made trips to many fast food places the day before Thanksgiving since I was already driving that way to see family. I started at 6am and didn't get to my parents til 8pm.
Sadly after the Nest and the Internet of Things spark, a report came out about a year later that pointed out just having a simple HVAC scheduler was all you truly needed to be energy efficient. All the "micro-savings" you have by using PID controllers to 'ramp up' and 'coast down' did nothing for savings. If I can dig up the report, I'll post a link to it.
- philippnagel 11y agoPlease do. I would be very interested in said report.
- tsumnia 11y agoSadly, it seems I can't of discontinued code when the company failed. Its been 4 years since I've seriously cracked that stuff open, so I can't find any of the research papers we looked at. A quick internet search brought me to this page though: http://ilsagfiles.org/SAG_files/Meeting_Materials/2015/6-23-15_Meeting/CLEAResult_Smart_Thermostat_WhitePaper_20150505.pdf http://ilsagfiles.org/SAG_files/Meeting_Materials/2015/6-23-... To say they "did nothing" isn't to say they weren't better; to have someone constantly controlling your thermostat can be beneficial, but a smart thermostat over a programmable one did " 6.55% on heating and 0.95% on cooling over a programmable thermostat baseline" in terms of savings.
- thearn4 11y ago> All the "micro-savings" you have by using PID controllers to 'ramp up' and 'coast down' did nothing for savings. If I can dig up the report, I'll post a link to it. That would be an interesting read. I have a pretty simple Python script controlling a Z-Wave thermostat that I'm pretty satisfied with. I've been curious about how much more efficient I could make it with a PID scheme, with my suspicion being "probably not too much more".
- tsumnia 11y agoSadly, it seems I can't of discontinued code when the company failed. Its been 4 years since I've seriously cracked that stuff open, so I can't find any of the research papers we looked at. A quick internet search brought me to this page though: http://ilsagfiles.org/SAG_files/Meeting_Materials/2015/6-23-15_Meeting/CLEAResult_Smart_Thermostat_WhitePaper_20150505.pdf http://ilsagfiles.org/SAG_files/Meeting_Materials/2015/6-23-... To say they "did nothing" isn't to say they weren't better; to have someone constantly controlling your thermostat can be beneficial, but a smart thermostat over a programmable one did " 6.55% on heating and 0.95% on cooling over a programmable thermostat baseline" in terms of savings.