tarag28•17h agoMost Upvoted

I finally dropped $300 on a smart thermostat and it took 2 weeks to convince me

I bought one of those Nest ones back in March because my electric bill was getting crazy in the summer. My buddy kept telling me it would pay for itself. First week I kept messing with it manually because I didn't trust the scheduling. Then a heatwave hit and my AC ran like 6 hours less per day just from the auto-away thing when I was at work. My bill dropped by like $40 that month. But man, installing it was a pain because my old wiring was from the 90s and I had to call an electrician for $75 extra. Anyone else had to rewire their whole system just to get one of these things working?

2 comments

2 Comments

price.tara14h ago

Wait, your buddy said 6 hours less per day from the auto-away feature? That seems like a lot unless you work like 12 hour shifts. Anyways, I'm glad it worked out for you even with the old wiring headache, my house is from the 80s so I'd probably be in the same boat. But yeah, that $40 savings is nice but I feel like people get carried away with the "pays for itself" stuff, especially when you factor in the electrician fee like you said.

martin.paige15h ago

Wait, did your buddy really say it would "pay for itself" after just one month? That math doesn't add up. You spent $300 plus $75 on an electrician, so that's $375 total. Even with a $40 monthly savings, you'd need almost 10 months just to break even. And that's assuming your bill stays exactly $40 lower every single month which it WON'T during spring and fall when your AC barely runs. Don't get me wrong, I like my programmable thermostat too but I think people overhype how MUCH they actually save. The real win is convenience, not this huge financial return everyone talks about.