In the late 2000s, while he was building himself a “green” home in Lake Tahoe, Calif., Tony Fadell, one of the creators of the iPod, went looking for a thermostat, and was unimpressed by the limited features and dated technology he found.
Fadell teamed up with former Apple AAPL +1.23% colleague Matt Rogers in 2010 and set to work crafting a “smart” thermostat. A year later their company, Nest Labs, introduced a brushed stainless steel “Learning Thermostat” incorporating an iPod-like wheel user interface, WiFi connectivity, and software that could learn to adjust the settings based on usage patterns. The price: $249.
“We took tech from a smart phone and … put it in a package on your wall,” says Rogers.
Today the Nest Learning Thermostat is sold at about 5,000 stores, from remodelers like Home Depot HD -0.77% and Lowe’s to the Nest co-founders’ former place of employment, Apple. The device cuts energy usage by about 20%, amounting to roughly $170 in annual savings for the average U.S. homeowner, says Rogers, and some utility companies have begun offering rebates as well.
Now, the company is rolling out a combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarm that connects to WiFi and interacts with the homeowner through its smartphone app. Dubbed Nest Protect, it monitors when and where an early threat may be manifesting, and if it’s a false alarm, turns off with the wave of a hand.
“The iPhone started this revolution. Now people are used to a product in their hand that they can use to control the rest of their life,” explains Rogers. “But the home hasn’t caught up yet and Nest sees that as an opportunity.”
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