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Google Wants to Remotely Tweak Your Thermostat to Save the Planet
And to save you cash
Nest, a division of Google’s parent company Alphabet, recently launched Nest Renew, a new program that allows the company to remotely tweak the temperature settings on users’ Nest Learning Thermostats. Nest Renew has two goals: save the planet by prioritizing the use of cleaner power, and save users money by automatically helping customers use power when it’s least expensive. Nest Renew is currently in private beta, and I was among those invited to test it out.
The Problem With Peaks
Many utilities are already on the road to using greener, less carbon-intensive power. The challenge is that the power needs of customers and the power supplied by renewable sources like solar and wind power aren’t constant, nor do they always align. Customers tend to use tons of power in the evening when they get home from work (or leave their work-from-home bedroom for their work-from-home kitchen), cranking up the heat or AC as they settle in for the night. Inconveniently, that’s also when the sun begins to set, solar power drops off and winds die down.
Because power usage surges in the evening and renewables often can’t keep up, many otherwise-green utilities rely on dirtier generation tech to bridge the evening gap. They…
