PSA: That smart thermostat installation actually made my heating bills go up

I put in a Nest at my apartment in Chicago last November and my gas bill jumped 18% compared to the same month last year. Has anyone else seen their efficiency claims totally backfire with these things?

3 comments

3 Comments

sethm461mo ago

Oh man, that's rough. I heard somewhere that if your house loses heat too fast the smart thermostat just runs the heat more often to keep up, so you end up paying more.

fiona_west211mo ago

Got a similar issue with my old house. @sethm46 is spot on about that. I had a Nest for a year and my bill actually went up because it kept kicking on every time the wind blew through my drafty windows. I finally gave up and just put a dumb programmable one in that lets me set it and forget it. Way simpler, and I feel like I have more control instead of some algorithm deciding when to run. Plus I taped plastic over the worst windows, which helped a ton too.

michaeltorres1mo ago

My old place had windows so drafty I'd see frost on the inside... I tried the plastic wrap thing too, but I messed it up so bad it looked like a middle school art project. Then the tape peeled off after a week and it just flapped in the wind. At that point I just figured the heating bill was my punishment for living in a house built in 1920 with single pane glass.