Does Nest Thermostat Save Money?

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Does Nest Thermostat Save Money


It’s a fun and cool technology gadget, but does Nest thermostat save money? Truth be told, I had my heart set on buying one of these regardless of the answer to the money-savings question. There are lots of things I already knew I liked about the Nest thermostat. Before we talk about the possibility that Nest might save money on my energy bill, let me delve into these:

What I Like about the Nest Thermostat

For one thing, I like the looks of the Nest. I like the large, round display. I like the round appearance with easy-to-grab, hand dial for turning temperatures up and down. I also like how I can change the display to analog clock, digital clock, weather, actual temperature, or set temperature. I like that I can adjust the temperature from any room in the house. Installation of the Nest thermostat was very logical and straightforward with the included instructions. The Nest company took every care and precaution to make sure all steps are followed. They even were smart enough to recommend taking a picture of the wiring before removing anything. I installed mine without having to turn off my main breaker. I simply took Nest’s advice, turned off only the switch to the thermostat, then verified the power was off by attempting to turn up the heat. I was very comfortable removing and reinserting wires and the installation was simple. Using the basic features of Nest was equally simple to learn. I grabbed the large outer dial and turned it to 70 degrees and voila. I was set. Next, I downloaded the app to and set it up for my iPhone. No problem there either. It is also very clear how to program a set schedule for the Nest. What isn’t so clear is instructions that tell me how Nest is actually going to learn my habits and program itself? How many days must I turn he heat down and up before it recognizes the pattern? After a week thus far, my Nest is still not adjusting temperatures by itself. What is also not clear in the instructions is whether or not I can use the manual programming setting and auto-learning feature at the same time. I setup a schedule and the Auto-Learning is still on and informing me that it is learning. Will the manual schedule disrupt it or will it continue to learn adjacent to my manual schedule that I have already set? This leads us right back to the question: How does Nest thermostat save money?

Does Nest Thermostat Save Money?

I have always used a manual schedule to program my thermostat. My thermostat adjusts according to our habits. I turn it down to 62 when I go to bed at night and warms the house back up to 70 by the time I get up at 5:00AM. At 6:30AM the temperature goes back down to 64 while I’m at work for the day. The house is warm once again when I get back home in the afternoon. That’s me. Well, after talking to a few people, I was surprised to learn that not everyone has a manual schedule setup for their existing thermostats. For this reason, the Nest company can probably truthfully claim that it saves a lot of people a great deal of money. For someone who already has a specific and effective temperature schedule, I see very little ways Nest’s auto-learning can improve upon that. Having the ability and convenience to set temps away from home and in other rooms in the house might play a small role in helping with the energy bill. So, my conclusion (yet to be prove) is that the Nest thermostat can save a household owner some money depending on how they were using their previous thermostat.

Bowflex Max Trainer M7 vs M8

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Bowflex Max Trainer M7

The Bowflex Max Trainer M7 is basically the same machine as the Bowflex M8 except for some technology differences and just a slight modification to the console to hold various mobile devices. You will have a difficult time getting a concise answer as to the essential differences of the M7 vs. the M8. In a practical sense, I’ve owned both machines, so I will spare you some time and explain the difference as best as I can: Other than the console layout, the mechanical hardware of the M7 vs the M8 is 100% the same. In a nutshell, the difference is that the Bowflex M8 includes interactive Bluetooth technology. Here’s what that does for you.

Max Intelligence, Console, and Software

Bowlflex Maxtrainer M7 vs M8 Differences

Bowflex M7 vs M8


The M8 Bluetooth technology means you can use the machine with Bowflex’s Max Intelligence software which basically gives you intelligent video and training workouts that are displayed and interact with your workout on your mobile devices; iPhones, iPads, etc. You can also stream the interactive software to your television with the use of an Apple TV or other streaming hardware device. The Max Intelligence App basically takes over the job for your console. For example, when you plug the Bowflex M8 Maxtrainer into your iPad, the display on your console will switch to your iPad. When your are connected to your mobile device, you will no longer see anything displayed on your console. This isn’t necessary, because the iPad gives you everything you need; heart rate, RPM, time, etc.. The console of the M8 is a little bigger to allow you to snugly mount various sized screens for your moble devices. There is also room on the bottom for a remote or water bottle.

Read moreBowflex Max Trainer M7 vs M8

Apple Pencil Cap Replacement

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I did not even own my Apple Pencil a full day before I found myself already looking for an Apple Pencil cap replacement. For such an innovative company, Apple still does some things that don’t make sense. The included Apple Pen cap which is magnetically attached, comes dislodged very easily. My cat knocked my Apple Pencil off the kitchen table while I was upstairs getting ready for work. When I came back down to the table for breakfast, the Apple Pencil was on the floor, but the cap was no where to be found. I searched and searched for it, and only found it hours after I had already researched new cap replacements on Amazon and found the Tranesca Aluminum Apple cap replacement in 3 colors for $8.95. Furthermore, it comes with an adapter which even secures the little lightening adapter to your charger’s adapter cable. Genius! Two products in one. Why couldn’t Apple have done this?

This product is well made. These pencil caps were very nicely packaged with a professional Thank You card. Obviously, Tranesca is a company who cares and wants to satisfy their customers. The caps are well made and fit very snugly onto the Lightening Port of the Apple Pencil. The big bonus with this product is that Tranesca even includes an adapter for the lightening adapter; another small piece that is likely to get lost which Apple overlooked when they sold us their $100 Apple Pencils. While they are rather nice in appearance, my one small disappointment is that the aluminum up closes really looks as though it is spray-painted plastic. It does not have that ultra-glossy finish of a metal product. I’m being overly picky here. This Apple Pencil replacement cap which comes in a set of 3-different colors and serves two purposes in one will make you glad you lost your original Apple Pencil cap.