Meet Airwave, from Nest

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From the people who brought you the world’s sexiest-looking thermostat comes Airwave, a new feature of the Nest Learning Thermostat that purports to be able to reduce air-conditioning runtime up to 30%.

Nest brought out the sexy Nest Learning Thermostat last year to great acclaim, and many in the green and tech communities have followed the company with avid interest. Now, Nest is trying to help you save on your air conditioning by introducing Airwave.

Nest also demonstrated on its site the ins and outs of Airwave:

To understand Airwave, you need to understand your AC.

Your air conditioner is made up of two energy consuming parts: the compressor and the fan. The compressor uses a lot of electricity while the fan uses very little.

Other thermostats keep the air conditioner running until your target temperature is reached, then turn it off. They ignore the fact that the compressor coils can generate cold air for 5-10 minutes after the compressor is off.

Nest’s exclusive Airwave technology takes advantage of this fact.

How Airwave works.

Airwave turns the compressor off a few minutes before reaching your target temperature. It then runs the fan alone till it reaches the temperature you want.

What makes Airwave a Nest exclusive is its ability to learn exactly how much cooling can be done with the compressor off. Only Nest automatically shuts off your compressor at the right time to maximize your savings.

Will Airwave work in my house?

While Airwave requires the humidity level inside your home to be low, it works throughout the US – even in areas with high outdoor humidity. This is especially true if your home is relatively new and well-insulated.

The reason Airwave doesn’t activate in high indoor humidity is to keep you comfortable. If it’s very humid, Nest will run your compressor throughout your cooling cycle to lower the humidity and prevent mold.

When does Airwave activate?

Nest automatically turns on Airwave when interior humidity falls below a certain level. This level is calculated by Nest to be optimal for your home.

When Airwave activates you’ll see it on Nest’s display.

Source: Nest