Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
I just picked up a new thermostat for the house. Normally I wouldn't put something like that up here, but this thing is as nice as anything I expected, and then some. It's pricey too, so it's not for everyone.
Nest
It was developed by a guy that left Apple, it came out last fall, and sold out through now. I waited 2 months for production to catch up to get mine, and that was early Dec. . It got a lot of favorable press back in July-Sep when they previewed it. Gadget people drooled over it in reviews. I was skeptical, so I waited. Experiment the first generation on some one else I figure.
It's action is very smooth. precision ball bearing smooth. Set up is very easy & intuitive. An outer dial adjusts it. The screen is normally dark and lights up to display actual & target temperatures. It learns your patterns and adjusts the schedule accordingly. It has a motion detector so it can sense if no one is home, and also adjust. wave a hand 12" in front, and it lights up to display current settings. It's wi-fi enabled, you you can set up and adjust everything on your computer. You can program it 7-24 with as many set points as you need, and because it's wi-fi, you can adjust it with an app on an iphone or touch, so you can turn on the heat a half hour from when you get home from somewhere. You program it with your ZIP code so it can watch the weather, and adjusts for that. If you have multiple systems with multiple thermostats, they all talk to each other. You can lock the settings to a certain range so no one can get happy running the heater through the roof.
It runs $250, and if that doesn't bother you, it's worth every penny. I expect it will make utilities a bit more efficient, so savings there are expected to offset the cost. I'd buy it again in a second, and I'm a cheap *******. It's going with me if I ever sell the house.
Nest
It was developed by a guy that left Apple, it came out last fall, and sold out through now. I waited 2 months for production to catch up to get mine, and that was early Dec. . It got a lot of favorable press back in July-Sep when they previewed it. Gadget people drooled over it in reviews. I was skeptical, so I waited. Experiment the first generation on some one else I figure.
It's action is very smooth. precision ball bearing smooth. Set up is very easy & intuitive. An outer dial adjusts it. The screen is normally dark and lights up to display actual & target temperatures. It learns your patterns and adjusts the schedule accordingly. It has a motion detector so it can sense if no one is home, and also adjust. wave a hand 12" in front, and it lights up to display current settings. It's wi-fi enabled, you you can set up and adjust everything on your computer. You can program it 7-24 with as many set points as you need, and because it's wi-fi, you can adjust it with an app on an iphone or touch, so you can turn on the heat a half hour from when you get home from somewhere. You program it with your ZIP code so it can watch the weather, and adjusts for that. If you have multiple systems with multiple thermostats, they all talk to each other. You can lock the settings to a certain range so no one can get happy running the heater through the roof.
It runs $250, and if that doesn't bother you, it's worth every penny. I expect it will make utilities a bit more efficient, so savings there are expected to offset the cost. I'd buy it again in a second, and I'm a cheap *******. It's going with me if I ever sell the house.
