Nest

I got a Nest thermostat for Christmas. I'm all about saving money and this thermostat has lived up to it's claims. Very easy to install and setup. It connects wirelessly to your internet and you can control it from your laptop or smartphone.

Once up and running I programed it to fit my habits and after a while it learned my pattern and started to operate on it's own. I leave my heat set at 67f during the day while I'm home and down to 63f at night. That might be too cold for some but for me it's comfortable. I also travel a lot for work and while I'm out of town it drops down to 58f on the "away" option.

If I leave the house during the day while it's currently set to 67f and the Nest detects no one is home (how it does this I don't know) it will switch itself to the "away" option and take the heat down to 58f. Before coming back I get on my IPhone and turn off the away option and by the time I get back home it's back to the temperature I want.

I installed it in January and on my February bill the gas company did an "estimate" reading and my bill was $96. I just got my March bill which was an "actual" reading of the meter and my gas bill for March was $6 and some change. This was the result of what they estimated I would use and what I actually used in January and February.

Now I travel a lot so my bill will be lower than most but even so that's pretty darn good. My last home (a Ryan) built in 2004 never saw a gas bill under $100 at this same time of year. That just goes to show just how energy efficient Ryan Homes are now and along with the Nest thermostat helps you improve on that efficiency. I recommend this product to everyone.

You can buy this online or at Lowes or Homedepot. We have the 2nd generation Nest and paid $198.

One Year Down

Today makes a year we've been in our Ravenna. I can honestly say that I'm happy with everything about our home. We haven't been issue free in this year but most problems were man made issues.

We had water intrusion from hurricane Sandy from the transition window in the half bath on the first floor. Glad that we were home to catch it, however not before it was under our wood floors and they started cupping. Instead of putting wood floors down again and go thru that hassle we switched to tile and brought it out to the foyer and stopped at the kitchen doorway.

When we scheduled our 10 month review in January we had only 3 minor things that needed fixed. I was very impressed with the fact that not only did they resolve our 3 issues, they came in the house and walked every room and checked all the walls, window seals, baseboards and anything else they could see that needed attention and took care of it. So when you schedule your 10 month review be prepared to have them in your house for half the day.

Would I do it again with Ryan Homes? Yes