Is this the start of a new energy efficiency trend? Last month, former Apple executive, Tony Fadell, and his team at Silicon Valley start-up Nest Labs, unveiled a revamped, upgraded version of the home thermostat, describing the device as a “thermostat for the iPhone generation.” Designed to help homeowners reduce energy use and in turn save money, the Nest thermostat tracks home occupants’ behavior by using sensory detection as well as recognizing daily patterns, and adjusts its settings accordingly. No sweaters necessary, the thermostat will keep your house warm when you’re in it and keep heating and cooling to a minimum when you’re out. And, you can adjust the temperatures remotely—from a computer or certain smartphones.
New technologies are expensive, and this one is no different. It’s more than double the cost of traditional thermostats on the market, but it lets you save energy allowing consumers to recoup the cost in short order (Nest Labs says it will pay for itself in a year).
One thing that’s not up for debate is that home energy consumption definitely could decline. According to the Energy Information Administration, the residential sector accounted for 23% of America’s energy consumption in 2010.
With the monitoring and self-regulation of the Nest Thermostat, or similar products, consumers have the potential to drastically reduce this energy expenditure—with very little, if any, effort.
If past is prologue, most people will not spend more money on a product even if that product will pay for itself in short order and eventually pay you by lowering your energy bills. So is there a federal role here? We would argue, yes. While this is not a popular sentiment among some people in DC, we believe the Federal Government should play a role where there’s a market failure. That market failure clearly exists when it comes to energy efficiency. You will see that this will be a popular theme in our blogs…stay tuned.
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