Your Nest thermostat is about to get even smarter when it comes to saving energy, courtesy of a semi-exclusive feature that will soon be enabled for more Nest users.
Google just announced that its Seasonal Savings feature, which was once available only to customers of Nest-partnered utility companies, will start rolling out this month to all Nest users in the U.S. and Canada (except for Quebec, unfortunately).
The free Seasonal Settings feature essentially gives your Nest thermostat a seasonal “tune-up,” making “subtle” adjustments to your Nest heating and cooling schedule depending on what it’s learning about your routine as well as seasonal weather changes in your area.
Once enabled, Seasonal Settings works its magic in the background. A gold gear on the display will let you know that Seasonal Settings is adjusting your Nest settings, although you can always manually tweak your heating and cooling settings later.
Those who enable Seasonal Settings on their Nest thermostats could save anywhere from 3 to 5 percent on their heating and energy costs, according to Google. That’s no small thing now that we’re heading into the summer months in the northern hemisphere.
You’ll know that your Nest thermostat is ready for Seasonal Settings when you see a notification on the thermostat display and in the Nest app.
Once you opt in, Seasonal Settings will start adjusting your Nest heating and cooling settings automatically.