16 Nest Tips to Help You Take Control of Your Smart Home

Nest Labs is one of the first companies to try to take the smart home a little more mainstream, first with the Nest Learning Thermostat in 2011 and then the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in 2013.

After Google snapped up the company in January 2014 for $3.2 billion, Nest turned around and bought Dropcam for $555 million. It succeeded that award-winning line of home surveillance cams with its own Nest Cam($245.98 at Amazon); an outdoor version($179.99 at Amazon) was recently released and became our Editors' Choice. Nest is now a full subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company.

That makes it sound like roses and sunshine, but the transitions within Nest haven't always been easy. Nest Labs co-founder Tony Fadell stepped down as CEO earlier this year [we previously said "ousted"] to become an advisor; the former owner of Dropcam says he regrets selling his company to Nest. There have also been reports of some security issues, but Nest says they it nothing to do with personally identifiable information, just zip codes of weather stations, with no proof that anyone ever intercepted the info except researchers. A glitch last winter left some Nest Thermostat owners in the cold, but was quickly patched. No matter what, it's not always easy to be the poster child of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Still, Nest has a LOT of products in the market. They're sold in all the major big-box stores in the US, as well as Canada, France, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the UK—7 countries sell them, with Nest devices installed in 190. Time Magazine called the Nest Learning Thermostat one of the 50 most influential gadgets of all time, something our review concurred with at launch. All the current Nest products are PCMag Editors' Choices, with the exception of the indoor Nest Cam, and even that got four stars.

In North America, 4.5 million homes had smart thermostats of some kind by the end of 2015, up 78 percent from 2014. They're not all from Nest—Ecobee and others make nice options—but about 25 percent of homes with a Nest product of some kind have at least one other IoT product that falls under the "Works with Nest" banner. Despite growing pains aplenty, Nest has managed to make an ecosystem that works.

But it can always work better, so these tips and tricks will help you get the most out of whichever Nest gadget you own.

1. Embrace IFTTT

IFTTT is all about getting different Web services and IoT products to communicate, and it's seriously useful when it comes to Nest products. To make sure Nest devices are hooked to the account, go to IFTTT.com and sign in. Click the Channels and search on the word "Nest" to bring up all three. Click the ones you own, and on the channel page hit "Connect." If you're already signed in at Nest.com on the same browser, you'll just have to approve the connection. You can get started immediately back at IFTTT.com by searching for "Nest" to pull up recipes that do things like link your thermostat to your Philips Hue smart lights, make a phone call if your Nest Protect goes off, log motion or sound alerts from Nest Cam to a Google Sheet, and an almost infinite combo of others actions.

You can also link up Nest products with the iOS-only Stringify, which does some similar linkage as IFTTT; but you can't use Nest products on Zapier.

2. Voice Control Temp With Google Now

Voice control is the holy grail of the smart home, and with Nest products, you can tap into Google Now for that functionality. You need to have your Google account linked to your Nest account. Then, just tell the Google app in iOS or Android "set the temperature to 75 degrees" and it'll handle the rest. Or, if you're on the desktop using Google Chrome as your browser, type that into the search box—it pulls up some menus in Google search that make it easy enough to switch the temp (or switch between thermostats). But it's not as easy as talking.

3. Voice Control Temp With Amazon Echo

Naturally, using the Alexa service on Amazon Echo is a primo way to control the temp. Start in the mobile Alexa app. Go into Skills > Smart Home or search on Nest. Once the skill is enabled, ask Alexa "Discover my devices." Once it's set, asking for a change in temperature is simple enough, but you have to say the thermostat name (typically it's the location for the Nest) in your statement—even if you only have one thermostat. For example: "Alexa, change living room to 68 degrees" or "Alexa, raise living room temperature by 10 degrees." This is why it's best not to have two thermostats registered as the same location name, such as "hallway."

Another skill to enable: Underscore Research's Thermostat Controller. It links with the Nest Thermostat specifically, giving you a little more flexibility because it always defaults to the last thermostat used, so you don't have to say "living room" or "hallway"—but you do have to include the words "tell the thermostat." For example, say "Alexa, tell the thermostat that it is too cold" and the heat will go up. Or try "Alexa, ask the thermostat what the temperature is." Check Underscore's page for a full list of voice options to try.

4. Auto Decide You're Auto-Away

Auto-Away, as the name implies, comes on automatically once Nest's systems realizes no one is home. You can tell your Nest ecosystem to base it on your phone's location (which means Location settings have to be active on the smartphone) and the sensors within the Nest products. Those sensor work when you, say, approach a Nest Thermostat and the front screen comes on, or the Nest Protect shines its nightlight in the dark when it senses movement. You may or may not want it active on your Nest Cam or Dropcam; the only setting for them is to "automatically turn on the camera when no one is home," meaning by default it's is NOT recording if you are at home. Which is nice if you don't want to spy on yourself, but also may not be appropriate if you've got others to spy on even when you're in the other room.

This can also work with third-party smart home/IoT devices. For example, if you have a smart garage door opener from Chamberlain or LiftMaster, it can let your Nest ecosystem know of your comings and goings, and help it learn your schedule.

5. Away vs. Auto-Away

Making sure your Nest products know you're away from home can save you money. Specifically, if the Nest Smart Thermostat knows you're not home, preset it to make sure the heat or air conditioning do not come on. However, Auto-Away (see previous slide) takes time to kick in, during which your HVAC may be running. You can, however, set Away manually. In the browser or in the mobile app (even on an Apple Watch or Google Wear device) click the Nest house logo and you'll get a choice to set Home or Away. Set it on the thermostat itself by picking the blue house icon. You can also tell the Amazon Echo (if you activate the Underscore Research Thermostat Controller) "Alexa, tell the thermostat that I'm away." Just remember, you need to set it back to Home manually, as well. You can also set the manual home or away to automatically start your Nest Cam to record.

6. Add Emergency Contacts

If you have a Nest Protect, you get a notification on your smartphone if smoke or CO are detected, even if you're not home. What are you gonna do about it if you're not there, other than fumble to quickly find the number for the local fire or police department? You can enter an emergency service contact in your account via the mobile app or on the Web ahead of time, so with one tap you get connected to the right department, skipping that whole panicked "what's the number?!" thing. (Or, you know, just dial 911.) You can also just label it "other" and put in any number, in case you want the call to go to a different responder first, like a significant other or landlord.

7. Get Instant Outdoor Weather from Nest

When I say weather, I'm not talking about the outdoor temp, though that does come up when you check your thermostat, even on the Web or in the app. I mean, in those latter two, whenever you load it, look at the background. On a cloudy day it'll show clouds. On a rainy day it'll have animated rain. You get it. Instantly check outside weather on the Nest Smart Thermostat itself—just turn the dial to the checkmark.

8. Keep an Eye Out for the Leaf

Nest wants to save you some money on your heating and cooling. The suggestions are that you always go for an easy change, say 1 degree a day, up or down, whichever is saving you some cash. The way to tell if you're having an immediate impact is if the green Nest Leaf icon shows up on the display. Essentially, the more you see it, the more you're saving yourself compared to previous usage. Nest claims that the 1 degree trick can save you as much as 5 percent on your bill, if you stick with it.

9. Zone the Home With Smart Vents

The Keen Home Smart Vents were so good they sold out, but more are on the way. They go on the forced-air vents throughout your house, and the sensors inside report back to the smart thermostat to get all areas to the desired temperature. They'll regulate the airflow of heat or AC to even things out in every room. They even come with air filters to improve the quality of what you're breathing, and decorative covers make them look like works of art. If you don't like how they talk to the smart thermostat, a separate Keen Home Controls app puts you manually in charge of the vents. They come in four sizes (4x10, 4x12, 6x10, and 6x12 inches), with prices from $72.24 up to $96.49 each. They also require a $33.99 smart bridge to talk to the Nest ecosystem.

10. Share the Nest Cam Coverage

Your Nest Cam's high-quality video stream (which you can set to auto, 360p, 720p, or 1080p) doesn't have to be yours alone—you can let others see it.

First option: Family Accounts. On the Web, before you even go in to look at the camera feed, click the name of the account at the top, opening a menu where the second option is Family. Click "Add a family member" and you can invite anyone, via email, to sign up with Nest and get instant access to your account. This is the smart way to do it, since you can revoke that person's access at anytime and they don't get your password. These users also get access to video history and clips if you have a Nest Aware account. This works for up to nine family members.

Second option: Share the live stream (but not the history/clips) by sharing a link with a password you create for them. Up to 10 people can view the stream this way. You can revoke the stream at any time, or just change the password.

Third option: Make the whole stream public (but not clips and video history). That means anyone with the link you generate in settings can see the stream and share that link with others to view. No password? No problem, they still get access. This is how you embed your video stream in a Web page, if desired. You can revoke it, but if you do, any Web embeds die, too. You'll need to do this from the Web—you can't kill it from the mobile app.

11. Emergency Events Across the Ecosystem

If you've got all the Nest products, an alert from the Nest Protect can propagate across all the devices. If smoke or CO is detected, the Nest Cam will start recording even if it's off by default or you haven't paid extra for Nest Aware. Until conditions with the Nest Protect go back to normal, an emergency video clip is recorded to the Internet so you can see where a problem might have started; it stays there until you delete it. Naturally, alerts go to your phone so you can access the Nest Cam to see what's happening. Here's one of the smartest things in your Nest smart home: if the furnace is running, the alert from Nest Protect communicates to the Nest Thermostat that it should shut the HVAC system off, stat, in case it is the cause.

12. Set Zones for Activity Monitoring

The Nest Cams can monitor not only for sound and motion, but for particular motion in just one area of their field of view. That way, for example, you can set the camera to avoid pets low to the ground, but notice people higher in the field of view.

You have to set this up on a desktop or laptop PC by signing into your Nest account at home.nest.com, viewing the camera, then clicking the ZONES icon at the lower right. Click Create to make a zone. You get a square with multiple circles you can click and drag to reshape the square; click the zone to drag it to a new spot in the view. There is a check box at the bottom of the screen that reads "Notify me of motion in this zone"—you uncheck or check each zone depending on if you want notifications. Rename the zone in the area on the lower left and change zones by going back to the ZONES icon and selecting edit.

You can edit alerts and specify how you get them online or in the app. Go to the Settings > Notifications.

13. Schedule Nest Cams

Your Nest Cam(s) does not have to be activated 24/7. Each camera can be scheduled to turn on or off as you see fit (up to 32 times per week maximum). For example, you can turn off the outside Nest Cam during the day, turn off the Nest Cam in the kitchen during dining hours so alerts aren’t constantly going off, or make sure it's always on out front during prime package delivery hours—whatever you want.

In the Nest mobile app, pick the cam you want to schedule and go into the settings (the Gear icon) > Schedule. Turn it on and you'll see each day in blue, indicating "always on" status. Click a day and then "Add Time" to specify an on/off time; check Repeat if you want the timing to happen daily, or pick specific days. Next time you open the app when it's supposed to be off, the round icon view should say "Your camera is off" (with an option to turn it on instantly for a quick look). Or look at the camera itself; if the green light is not on, it's not transmitting.

14. React with Lighting

Having smart lighting in your home that works with Nest means changes to the environment can be instantly reflected in not just the presence of a light, but the color of the light (a light alarm). Nest works directly with LIFX bulbs as well as the Philips Hue Connected Bulbs. Direct support means you can do stuff like have the lights flash if Nest Cam sees an intruder or pulse red if the Nest Protect detects smoke. If the temperature in the house gets too high, the lights can be switched to blue when the AC kicks on. Your away mode can make sure the smart lights get turned off automatically—and come on when you return home. The combinations are pretty much endless, and head toward infinity if you include IFTTT recipes to add even more events as Nest interacts with the lighting.

15. Control Nest with Harmony

Got a smart remote control from Logitech? If it's hub-based (not IR-based like classic "point at the tv" remotes), then it'll work with Nest Smart Thermostat. In fact, a Harmony remote should auto-detect Nest products when you do a setup, but you can also add it using the Harmony mobile app or via the desktop software. Then you can use the mobile app or the Ultimate or Ultimate Home remotes to set the temperature. In fact, you can set up activities like "Watch TV," which will set the thermostat automatically to a preset temp of your choosing. Never watch the tube in the cold again!

16. Yonomi for Connections

Lots of smart home devices talk to hubs (or are hubs themselves). Yonomi is like that, but all in a smartphone app for iOS and Android. In fact, the CEO thinks apps can and will replace the hubs someday. What Yonomi does is similar to IFTTT in that it lets you link IoT devices like those from Nest with other things in your home. You set the connections and forget them. For example, you can get another layer of telling Nest devices you're home or away by allowing Yonomi to have other devices in the house detect your presence. Yonomi works specifically with the Nest Protect and Nest Thermostat, with an impressive list of other products supported, including Amazon Echo and all the smart devices from Belkin and Withings.