Last year we bought a Nest Thermostat E, along with their camera and Nest Protect fire alarm/CO2 detector. I always wanted a smart thermostat but never looked into it, I thought it would be too expensive. But it is totally worth it!

Disclaimer: This post is my own opinion and I was not compensated by Nest for my review. I do participate in Amazon affiliates. There is no additional cost to you when you click on my Amazon links to purchase the product and it helps me keep this blog up and running. Thank you for your support!

We paid $169 on the Nest website for the Nest Thermostat E. The indoor Nest camera and Nest Protect was cheaper through Amazon. The Nest camera was $168 here but $199 on the Nest website. The Nest Protect fire alarm was $99 here but $119 on the Nest website. If you buy the battery operated version of Nest Protect, you’ll also need to buy 6 AA batteries. We talk about all three Nest products below and my video of installing the Nest.

Is Nest Thermostat Worth It?

Yes, the Nest thermostat is worth it but not because it saved us so much money. We have about the same electric bill as we did prior to the Nest (maybe a few dollars cheaper). Of course, we also would turn off our AC or heat before we left each day, which meant we typically came home to a very hot or very cold home.

What made the Nest Thermostat worth it for us was the mobile app. We can now change the temp anywhere, which is really handy now that we have a dog. We also use the ‘Eco’ feature a lot and have it set to turn on when we are away, which Nest recognizes by our phones’ GPS.

The ‘Eco’ feature puts a low and high temp for the internal temperature to stay at. If the temp goes below 64 or above 72 in our home the Nest will kick on the air to get it back to our ‘acceptable levels’.

Is Nest Hard to Install?

It was easy to set up the Nest Protect and Nest Camera. However, the Nest thermostat did take some work to install. I did it by myself with the instruction pamphlet, without the guidance of a video, within 20 minutes.

The hardest part about installing the Nest was pushing the wires down to fit the top part on. The second hardest part was figuring out where some random wires went. Every thermostat brand is different so some might have a W2 wire and others might not. I had a random white cord connecting my W2 to E but just didn’t include that in the Nest (since there isn’t a place to connect two areas like that).

How to Install Nest Thermostat (with Video!)

Before you buy a Nest, make sure your home is compatible by taking this quiz.

To install the Nest thermostat, you’ll need a drill, I recommend and use this one. You’ll also need needle nose pliers to flatten out your wires.

As you can see in the video below, don’t forget that if you just want the Nest thermostat on the wall, you’ll most likely have to fill in holes and paint the wall. Otherwise, Nest provides a plate to go under the Nest thermostat to hide that paint job!

Before starting to set up your Nest, turn off the power switch on the circuit breaker that controls your thermostat.

Next, use the stickers Nest provides to label each of your wires and then unscrew the wires from the screws and the old thermostat from the wall.

Loosely put on the Nest thermostat just to get idea of where your new screws need to go on the wall. Mark with a pencil in the spot for the screw then take off the Nest thermostat and drill new holes on pencil marks.

Then place plate on, if using, and the Nest thermostat on top. Screw the screws into the new holes you just drilled. Then match up the wires with each hole in the new Nest.

Push down the wires so the ‘elbows’ lie flat enough to put the top of the Nest thermostat on.

Turn on your power and follow the prompts on the Nest to connect to Internet. Install the Nest app on your phone and follow the prompts. You can have other members also install the Nest app in order to control the temperature.

At the end of the video below, after I explain how to install the Nest Thermostat, I give my honest review.

Is there a monthly fee for Nest Thermostat?

There is no monthly Nest fee to run a Nest Thermostat. However, there is a monthly fee for the Nest cameras if you want to record video. While you can see the live feed with a Nest camera on the app for free, you can not go back to watch video.

For example, Groot, our dog, destroyed a candle holder while we were out of the room. I couldn’t find the candle anywhere so I assumed he ate it. I ended up rushing him into the pet ER for them to get him to throw up (I tried giving him hydrogen peroxide and he refused to drink enough to barf). After a $300 bill, found out there was nothing in his stomach.

If I had the Nest Aware feature, which is $5/month for the 5 day video history, I could have looked at the video history to find that the candle rolled under the couch. But all the Nest app can show me in my history is occasional screenshots when it detects movement.

Best Nest Product

While I would definitely get all three Nest products again, I think the best product was the camera. Even though we don’t have Nest Aware currently, it still allows us to ‘check in’ on Groot any time of the day.

It is also very sensitive to movement and sound and will notify us (if you have notifications allowed) whenever it detects movement or sound. Our Nest camera is currently in our living room and when my husband opens the front door (which isn’t even in that room), Nest notifies me because it could hear the door opening. How awesome is that!

You can also talk through the Nest camera. There is a slight delay but it has been handy if I catch Groot trying to eat something he isn’t suppose to. I just hit the camera voice on the app and tell Groot to knock it off (he usually does listen…).

The Nest Protect is pretty cool, too! Not only is it a fire alarm and CO2 detector I can put anywhere, because we got the battery operated version, but it also lights up when it detects movement. We ended up placing it upstairs in the hallway right before the stairs so it lights our way whenever we approach. Totally not its main function, I know, but super handy!