I’m Perpetually Cold, and the Nest Thermostat Has Finally Made My Home the *Perfect* Temp

Nest thermostats let you control the temperature of your home via its sleek little dial or through the Nest app, creating schedules of when you’re home and away to adjust the temperature, saving energy—and money—in the process. (Nest says that people save 12 percent on heating bills and 15 percent on cooling, on average, which is in line with what I’ve experienced.)

The Nest Learning Thermostat takes the traditional Nest thermostat to the next level. As the name implies, it “learns” based on your habits and creates an energy-saving schedule, adjusting the temperature for you. This design is also a bit sleeker, with a few extra bells and whistles (more on that in a sec). It also works with the Nest Temperature Sensor, which you can place in an area far from the thermostat to get a better read on the house as a whole (ideal if you have a multi-story or drafty house, where the temp can vary from one area to another).

1. It’s Almost Foolproof to Set Up

I owned the first-gen Nest thermostat, and I had to call in two experts to help me set it up. (One for the initial setup; another when the first couldn’t figure out how to get the heat to work in my 70-year-old house with it.)

The latest Nest Learning Thermostat, the Fourth Generation, guides you through the process. You simply pop off the old thermostat, take a picture of the wires and the app tells you what to plug in where. The thermostat was up and running within minutes.

2. Its “Away” Mode Is a Game-Changer

I love how it learns your temperature preferences and habits and automatically adjusts things for you. So, when I’m away on a chilly winter day, it’ll set the default temperature a few degrees cooler and won’t waste energy keeping the house my ideal 70 degrees when I’m not there. But, a few hours before I get home, it’ll start warming things up, so it’s just the way I like it when I walk through the door.

3. The Weather Feature Is Oddly Mesmerizing

This iteration of the Nest thermostat is like jewelry for your wall. The three color options (from a classic polished Obsidian black to a flashy gold) and sleek interface are stunning to look at, but even more so when you have the local weather displayed. The digital face can get misty on a foggy day or show lightning strikes during the thunderstorm…and it’s strangely captivating. As in, I’ve had people stop mid-sentence to admire it, which I never thought I’d experience with a thermostat. (But as someone who loved those nature stores in the mall in the late ‘90s, I am here for it.)

4. It’s Kept My A/C from Freezing Over

I Airbnb my home, and one of the first things every host warned me about was what a headache the A/C would be. First, the bills, because everyone would crank it as low as possible during their stay (true) and second, that in doing so, they could freeze the unit and force you to call out an HVAC pro (also true).

Having my thermostat linked to an app means that if someone says the A/C isn’t getting cold enough or there’s some other issue, I can easily take a look and troubleshoot. And if they check out and leave the house at 55 degrees, I can remotely bring it back to a more energy-saving temp. That alone has helped save a few A/C repair visits—and serious bills, so the house isn’t running at 55 for a week (in July, in Florida) between guests.

It can also alert you to potential issues, like if your A/C is working overtime to keep your house cool—a feature that helped clue us in to our need for better insulation, which brought down our summertime air conditioning bills by almost $100 a month.

5. It Integrates with Google Assistant

So you can yell “hey, Google, set the temperature to 68!” without having to walk across the room and touch the dial. Or root around for your phone. Peak lazy.