We’re sure many of you guys have heard of the Nest thermostat. For those unfamiliar, the Nest thermostat is a smart device meaning that over the course of time, it will learn your habits and will be able to adjust itself accordingly.
In fact what managed to garner the Nest a huge amount of attention was the fact that it was made by former Apple designer, Tony Fadell. Safe to say that the attention and feedback that Nest was getting managed to catch the attention of Google who promptly acquired the company earlier this year for $3.2 billion.
Not everyone was thrilled by the acquisition but for different reasons, and now according to a recent lawsuit filed against Nest, it seems that some users aren’t happy with the device not because it is now owned by Google, but because they claim it simply does not work.
With Nest, the idea is to help homeowners save money by correctly adjusting temperature so as not to leave it too hot or too cold. However the person filing the lawsuit, Justin Darisse, claims that instead of saving him money, it actually resulted in him paying a higher electricity bill at the end of the day.
It seems that he is not alone in this and he points towards message boards where other users have complained of similar problems. According to Darisse, “Nest’s base and faceplate heat up, which causes Nest’s temperature reading to be from two to ten degrees higher than the actual ambient temperature in the surrounding room. This defect prevents the thermostat from working properly. As a result, Nest users do not experience the advertised energy savings.”
Darisse plans on making this a class-action lawsuit in which he is seeking $5 million in damages on behalf of other Nest users. As we do not have a Nest unit ourselves we can’t attest to Darisse’s claims, but any Nest owners out there who are experiencing similar problems with their units as well?
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