Nest Renew auto-adjusts Nest thermostats to prioritize clean energy and cost savings
The Google service is compatible with the third-gen Nest Learning Thermostat, the Nest Thermostat E and the Nest Thermostat.
The new Google service gives customers a closer look at their energy stats.
Google on Wednesday introduced a free sustainability service called Nest Renew. Designed to shift energy usage from greenhouse-gas-producing energy sources to cleaner alternatives, Nest Renew starts at your HVAC system. Compatible with the third-gen Nest Learning Thermostat, the Nest Thermostat E and the 2020 Nest Thermostat, Nest Renew partners with clean energy plants and automatically adjusts your usage to times of the day when solar, wind and other renewable energy options are more readily available. If you have a time-of-use utility bill (one that charges for peak and off-peak hours), Nest Renew will also automatically use more energy when it's less expensive.
Google has been talking about sustainability for a while now; the tech giant says it's been carbon-neutral since 2007. More recently, the company announced plans to develop geothermal technologies to reduce dependence on carbon emissions. Google is also aiming to be carbon-free (i.e. to emit no carbon at all) by 2030.
In addition to the basic Nest Renew service available for free, Google is also offering an optional premium tier. For $10 per month, you can subscribe to Nest Renew Premium to participate in a service called Clean Energy Match. According to Google, Clean Energy Match will estimate your carbon emissions usage from electricity and offset it for you by investing in renewable energy credits (also called renewable energy certificates) from the Bethel Wind project, with more projects to follow.
Existing services from companies like Arcadia already offer similar services to Nest Renew Premium. You can also invest in your own energy credits to offset usage. Both the basic and premium Nest Renew tiers will be available by invitation only at launch in the US before becoming more widely available.
