Ranch House Redo | Nesting with the Nest

So far it’s been a nice mild summer, and thankfully, we’ve only had a week or so of really hot weather 90s+. That’s hot for this pregnant Mama, especially when you have no air conditioning…Speaking of temps, this month for our Lowe’s Creative Ideas Network challenge one of the options was energy efficiency. I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for having nice comfy temps all throughout the house, especially when there’s babies involved. A comfy house sometimes means a not so comfy electric/gas bill. Especially since I work from home. We really had some whoppers last winter. Whoops.

So one of the first orders up for my “nesting for baby” stage was making sure we are all set for November when baby deux will arrive. I wanted to make sure we were smarter this year when it came to heating the house and so I insisted on getting a smarter thermostat. Enter the prettiest, smartest thermostat of them all:

I’ve always been a sucker for good design (obvious!). And when something looks good and functions even better, I’m sold. I’ve been wanting a Nest for a long, long time. Thankfully Lowe’s gave me the perfect reason to get one.

It was super easy to install, the Mr had it up on the wall in less than 10mins. from what I recall. And then it was my turn to hook it up to our wifi network and get it up and running. That took less than 10mins. as well. Not too shabby for this functional piece of eye candy wouldn’t you say? The rectangular backplate was included, which was a good thing because the wall behind the old thermostat wasn’t too pretty. That’ll be an easy fix once we get around to painting the hallway. And I’m always a sucker for a good app.

I can’t wait until the cold weather comes so I can start playing around with this puppy! I mean, how awesome is it, that you can adjust the temperature of your whole home from your iPhone? Looove it.

Want more specifics on how to install a nest? Check out Sherry & John from Young House Love’s post here, lots of good installation pics and info. And fellow LCI member Matt from The DIY Village also decided to use the Nest in his home as well this month.

Next order of business? I want yet another piece of functional, eye-candy. This beaut from Dyson. That’s a whole lotta pretty in one compact package. It heats and cools and has its own thermostat built in, so key for a baby’s room. Because, sometimes, you just don’t need the whole house just as cozy as the nursery. It’s an investment though, but it will be worth it. At least that’s what I keep telling myself!

Dyson Tower Heater Fan

^{This post was brought to you by the Lowe’s Creative Ideas Network, which I’m so happy to be a part of along with a crew of other really creative bloggers, you can check out all of our fun projects on the Lowe’s Creative Ideas Blog. As a part of the LCI Network, I’ve received compensation in the form of Lowe’s credit to help with my projects above.}

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7 thoughts on this post

Rob says
August 7, 2013 at 9:45 pm

I love the looks of the Dyson, but the folks over at SweetHome (http://thesweethome.com/) panned it for performance and price.

I just upgraded to a nice Honeywell digital thermostat about 2 years ago, so I can't justify the Nest yet, but I sure want one!
- Reichel Broussard says
  August 7, 2013 at 9:49 pm
  
  Yes, true, because of the price. BUT it's one of the only options out there that doesn't get hot to the touch, so perfect for baby 🙂
- Yolanda says
  August 8, 2013 at 7:18 pm
  
  I just got the Dyson Hot + Cool fan. Yea.. lemme tell ya, SO WORTH THE PRICE. We're taking it camping with us this weekend!
- iffyz says
  August 11, 2013 at 1:44 pm
  
  I have been wondering about the Dyson! I saw mixed reviews so was nervous to spend the money. But our little one's room is the worst – coldest in winter, warmest in summer. I'd love to hear what your experience is with it!
julia says
August 7, 2013 at 11:34 pm

we have the nest and LOVE it. they send you updates on how much you are using/saving. it's amazing to leave the house, have it go on auto, and on the way home from a trip, turn it up/down to your perfect temperature, especially arriving with kids at bedtime. always perfect. and looks amazing too. 🙂
Natalie Gonzalez says
August 8, 2013 at 1:48 am

We love our Nest, too. And my hubs has been jonesing for that Dyson fan for a while now. (I think he would have gladly returned all of our wedding gifts and used the registry discount to bring that baby home. Haha.)
Pat@Life At Lydias House says
August 8, 2013 at 1:48 pm

Reichel, we purchased the Nest last Christmas and absolutely loved it for 2 months. We loved it so much that we purchased another one for our upstairs HVAC unit. The very day my hubs came home with Nest #2, I realized that something was wrong with our heating system. The thermostat was reading 78 degrees but it was cold in the house. When our serviceman arrived, he discovered that the Nest was drawing heat to the thermostat giving a false reading. He installed our previous thermostat and we checked the online reviews for Nest to discover that this was a very common problem with Nest 🙁 So we returned both Nest units to Lowes and went with the Honeywell which also has the phone ap. So far, so good. Don't mean to throw a wet blanket on your new gadget but wanted to make you aware so that you don't have to pay for a service call like we did!