Nesting

When I think of nesting, I think of that blissful time just before my kids were born.  It was a time when I felt that the world was filled with possibilities.  It was a time when I actually thought that puttering around my house would actually culminate with my getting something accomplished.

I'm wiser now.

Now when I think of nesting, I think of my new, really cool thermostats.  You laugh, but we just got the  world's coolest (or warmest, depending on the weather) thermostats.  They're called The Nest.

Here's a picture.

They even come in cool packaging.  Take a look.  Nice, huh?  And who said packaging didn't count?

The Nest was designed by Tony Fadell, who was part of the team that brought us the iPod.  Need I say more?  The Nest is very attractive and incredibly user friendly, which is a nice switch from our old thermostats, which were both ugly and difficult to read for those of us who can't see a thing unless it's lit in a way that would be visible from outer space.

There's a touch wheel that controls the temperature.  To engage the main button, all you do is press on the face.  From there it's very easy to tell it what you want it to do.  You've just got to love those Apple-type people.  User friendly on steroids.

The best thing about The Nest, and the part that sold Ted (who is not as much of a sucker for fancy packaging as I am), is that it "learns" your heating and cooling preferences and adjusts itself automatically.  This means that it will save money by not heating or cooling when there's no one home.  You can also control The Nest from your iPhone or  iPad or from any computer.  Ted loved the whole iPad thing.  He finally has a reason to schlep that thing around with him.  (Although truthfully, I doubt he'll ever adjust the thermostat "from the field".)

Now, I realize that not everyone is going to get all excited about new thermostats.  I get that.  But here's the thing.  It looks good and it saves money.  Finally, nesting that accomplishes something.