Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: Is Nest considered a smart thermostats?
The Nest Learning Thermostat (or Nest Thermostat) is a smart thermostat developed by Nest Labs and designed by Tony Fadell, Ben Filson, and Fred Bould. It is an electronic, programmable, and self-learning Wi-Fi-enabled thermostat that optimizes heating and cooling of homes and businesses to conserve energy.
Like a connected thermostat, they are connected to the Internet. They allow users to adjust heating settings from other internet-connected devices, such as a laptop or smartphones. This allows users to control the thermostat remotely. This ease of use is essential for ensuring energy savings: studies have shown that households with programmable thermostats actually have higher energy consumption than those with simple thermostats, because residents program them incorrectly or disable them completely.
Smart thermostats are similar to programmable thermostats in the sense that they have a scheduling feature that allows users to set different temperatures for different times of the day. In addition to this feature, smart thermostats implement other technologies to reduce the amount of human error involved with using programmable thermostats. Smart thermostats incorporate the use of sensors that determine whether or not the home is occupied and can suspend heating or cooling until the occupant returns. Additionally, smart thermostats utilize Wi-Fi connectivity to give the user access to the thermostat at all times. These additional technologies have proven to make smart thermostats successful in saving users energy and money.
Another major feature of smart thermostats is their ability to connect to the internet. Smart thermostats are designed with a WiFi module that allows the thermostat to connect to the users home or office network and interface with a web portal or smartphone application, allowing users to control the unit remotely. The WiFi feature also has the ability to send reports on energy usage and HVAC system performance via the web portal, informing the user on their energy efficiency and how it compares to other smart thermostat users. It also alerts users when a problem arises with their HVAC system or when it is time for equipment maintenance. The thermostat also uses the WiFi connection to display current weather conditions and the weather forecast.
Researchers from the University of Central Florida conducted an experiment to show that hackers could use the Nest thermostat as an entry point into one's home. Upon being connected to the internet, the hackers could use the thermostat to control local network traffic from a remote location. The hacker could also use the thermostat to act as a spy and would know whether or not the home is occupied. The research showed that in order for a hacker to gain access to the thermostat, they would have to gain physical access to the device and upload the malicious firmware via a USB port. This drastically decreases the chances that this type of attack will occur, but it is still possible if a used thermostat is purchased with the firmware already uploaded. The problem that allows this type of attack is with the hardware in the thermostat. Therefore, Nest cannot repair this issue with a simple software update, but rather it would need to build a new thermostat that can prevent this type of attack.
A thermostat is a device for regulating the temperature of a system so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint temperature. The thermostat does this by switching heating or cooling devices on or off, or regulating the flow of a heat transfer fluid as needed, to maintain the correct temperature. The thermostat was invented in 1883 by Warren S. Johnson.
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Modern thermostat control was developed in the 1830s by Andrew Ure (1778–1857), a Scottish chemist, who invented the bi-metallic thermostat. The textile mills of the time needed a constant and steady temperature to operate optimally, so to achieve this Ure designed the bimetallic thermostat, which would bend as one of the metals expanded in response to the increased temperature and cut off the energy supply.
One of the issues with programmable thermostats that smart thermostats try to fix is the confusing user interface. Many owners of programmable thermostats found the controls and directions to be too confusing and opted out of using the scheduling feature completely. Others who used the feature used it incorrectly, due to the confusing directions, and saw an increase in energy usage. Developers of smart thermostats have attempted to fix this issue by creating simple to use thermostats and providing proper direction. While this is an improvement on programmable thermostats, studies have shown that users desire more intense training from the installer of the thermostat on how to use the technical features. Additionally, many smart thermostats use a web portal where users can adjust the thermostat settings and look at their energy usage history. Again, studies have shown that users want this feature to be improved. Some complain that the web portal is not user friendly and they desire more training on how to use the web features during installation.
Edward E. Freeman invented a system to control a hot air furnace that uses three thermostatic switches for its operation. A room thermostat starts the stoker. Another thermostat (or limit switch) opens the stoker circuit when the air in the furnace reaches a predetermined temperature, irrespective of the fact that the room thermostat may still call for heat. This second thermostat operates to prevent unsafe conditions due to overheating. The third thermostat is also in the furnace. It controls a fan which forces hot air from the furnace to the rooms. It does not permit the fan to start until the air in the furnace reaches a specified degree of heat. But, at that point, it starts the fan, which continues to run, even though the limit switch has stopped the stoker, so long as the furnace is hot and the room thermostat calls for heat. The patent was on the combination patent of three thermostatic switches, not on any of the switches alone and not on the combination of the fan switch and the limit switch.
Big Ass Fans entered the commercial business market in 2008, debuting a line of fans ranging from to in diameter. The following year, it began manufacturing fans in sizes suitable for residential settings. In late 2011, Big Ass Fans acquired a manufacturer of energy efficient residential fans. Haiku models incorporate direct current, permanent magnetics and aerodynamic airfoils making them 80% more efficient than conventional ceiling fans. They held the top 10 spots on Energy Star's Most Efficient 2014 list. In 2014, the company added smart technology SenseME to the Haiku ceiling fan. Haiku with SenseME integrates with the Nest Learning Thermostat through a smartphone app.
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The first thermostats used a sealed capsule of an organic liquid with a boiling point just below the desired opening temperature. These capsules were made in the form of a cylindrical bellows. As the liquid boiled inside the capsule, the capsule bellows expanded, opening a sheet brass plug valve within the thermostat. As these thermostats could fail in service, they were designed for easy replacement during servicing, usually by being mounted under the water outlet fitting at the top of the cylinder block. Conveniently this was also the hottest accessible part of the cooling circuit, giving a fast response when warming up.
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Hosts
Nest, now a 29-year-old divorcee, had won several Olympic track gold medals, but had to retire from running because she nearly turned into the ghost-wolf Wraith during an event. She still lives in her house near the park and tends to the area with the sylvan, Pick. Four days before Christmas, she is visited by Findo Gask and immediately recognizes him as a demon. He threatens her but does not harm her. She also meets Penny at church, but does not realize she is a demon. Later that day, Bennett Scott, whom Nest saved from falling off a cliff when Bennett was a preschooler fifteen years earlier, appears on her doorstep. Bennett is now a single mother of a young girl, Harper, and trying to get clean from a drug addiction. Nest naturally invites her to stay with her. That night, while Christmas caroling, Nest and her church group are attacked by Twitch. Nest nearly has to call on Wraith when Penny appears, calls him off and pretends that he is a mentally disabled relative, and no one is seriously hurt. Later that night, John Ross arrives with the Gypsy morph boy, whom they decide to call "Little John".
An autonomous starfish-killing robot called COTSBot has been developed and as of September 2015 was close to being ready for trials on the Great Barrier Reef. The COTSbot, which has a neural net-aided vision system, is designed to seek out crown-of-thorns starfish and give them a lethal injection of bile salts. After it eradicates the bulk of the starfish in a given area, human divers can move in and remove the survivors. Field trials of the robot have begun in Moreton Bay in Brisbane to refine its navigation system, according to Queensland University of Technology researcher Matthew Dunbabin. There are no crown-of-thorns starfish in Moreton Bay, but when the navigation has been refined, the robot will be used on the reef.
Currently most people who use an antihistamine to treat allergies use a second generation drug.
Warren S. Johnson (1847–1911) of Wisconsin patented a bi-metal room thermostat in 1883, and two years later filed a patent for the first multi-zone thermostatic control system.
Albert Butz (1849–1905) invented the electric thermostat and patented it in 1886.
Texas Instruments (TI), at the time the world's largest chip manufacturer, decided to enter the home computer market with the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. Announced long before its arrival, most industry observers expected the machine to wipe out all competition – on paper its performance was untouchable, and TI had enormous cash reserves and development capability.
Embrace’s first product is an infant warmer to regulate the temperature of vulnerable low-birth-weight and premature infants, that would give premature infants a better chance at survival. A baby born two weeks premature lacks the ability to regulate its own body temperature. The child will likely die if not transferred to an incubator within an hour. With the Embrace Warmer, which is a specially designed polymer blanket, that vital time span becomes 4 hours. The Embrace infant warmers are estimated to have helped over 50,000 babies to date, largely in India, with pilots being conducted in 10 countries.
To determine energy savings using actual data instead of energy models, in February 2015, Nest conducted a national study of Nest customers in 41 states who had enrolled in Nest's MyEnergy service. In May 2013, Nest acquired MyEnergy, a company that tracks and analyzes utility usage of people enrolled in the program. Upon acquiring MyEnergy, Nest was able to use the historical data to determine the energy savings of those who installed the Nest Learning Thermostat. This study looked at energy usage before and after the installation of a Nest Learning Thermostat and used a weather normalization procedure to prevent unusually cold or warm weather from skewing the data. The study had a sample size of 735 homes for gas usage analysis and 624 homes for electrical analysis. All of these homes were enrolled in the MyEnergy program and had sufficient energy data before and after the installation of a Nest Learning Thermostat. After observing the energy usage for one year, Nest determined that there was an average gas savings of 10% and a cooling savings of 17.5%. The savings varied from house to house depending on how occupants set their thermostat before the installation of a Nest thermostat, along with differences in occupancy patterns, house characteristics, and weather.
To show that their thermostats save energy and money, numerous smart thermostat producers have conducted models and studies to confirm their savings claims. One popular way that smart thermostat producers calculate energy usage is through energy modeling. In these models, the smart thermostat is compared to a thermostat set at a constant temperature, and savings are calculated. Using this method, ecobee calculated energy savings by correlating how long heating and cooling equipment run to local weather conditions. Energy savings were calculated relative to a constant temperature of 72°F. Upon conducting this model, ecobee determined a 23% savings on heating and cooling costs for those who switch to their smart thermostat. Using a similar modeling method, Nest claimed a 20% energy savings for home owners who install a Nest Learning Thermostat.
Since the release of smart thermostats, a number of third party studies have been conducted to determine if smart thermostats actually save energy and how they compare to manual and programmable thermostats with regards to savings. One study conducted an experiment in which 300 standard programmable thermostats were placed in homes and 300 Nest smart thermostats were placed in other homes. It is important to note that the homeowners involved in this study received proper training on how to properly use all of the thermostat functions. This effectively eliminated the issues regarding human error with programmable thermostats. All homes were located within one region of Indiana and had previously underwent home energy assessment. After 1 year of observation, the study concluded that Nest users reduced their heating gas consumption by 12.5% while users of a standard programmable thermostat reduced consumption by 5%. Additionally, it was concluded that Nest and standard programmable thermostat users reduced their cooling electric consumption by 13.9% and 13.1%, respectively. The major factors that allowed Nest to reduce consumption more than other thermostats was its ability to further reduce human error and set more efficient temperatures. The Nest thermostat used sensors and Wi-Fi connectivity to adjust the temperature on its own and provide more savings. This study helps to suggest that smart thermostats are in fact successful in reducing energy consumption. 
A similar study conducted in 2012 with the ecobee thermostat also concluded that smart thermostats are capable of saving energy. The goal of this pilot program was to determine the gas and electric savings of smart thermostats. This study provided 86 households with 123 ecobee thermostats and monitored the homes for 12 months. The study included 69 houses from Massachusetts and 17 from Rhode Island. The participants either had manual or programmable thermostats before the study was conducted. Gas and electric billing data were provided for 12 months before the study was conducted to use as a baseline. After the 12 months of observation, the study concluded that ecobee thermostats led to an average electricity savings of 16% and an average gas savings of 10%. The gas savings for manual thermostat replacements (10% per thermostat) was found to be larger than for programmable thermostat replacements (8% per thermostat). The difference in electricity savings between homes whose prior equipment was a manual thermostat or programmable thermostat was found to be minimal. 
Although these studies report differing amounts of savings compared to the internal studies conducted by Nest and ecobee, both of these studies show that smart thermostats have the potential to save energy. This suggests that the technologies added to fix the issues with programmable thermostats have been successful.
Nest Labs is an American manufacturer of smart home products including thermostats, smoke detectors, and security systems including smart doorbells and smart locks. Its flagship product, which was the company's first offering, is the Nest Learning Thermostat that was introduced in 2011. The product is programmable, self-learning, sensor-driven, and Wi-Fi-enabled – features that are often found in other Nest products. It was followed by the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector in October 2013. After its acquisition of Dropcam in 2014, the company introduced its Nest Cam branding of security cameras beginning in June 2015.