Nest Renew is now available to anyone in the US; ‘Energy Shift’ optimizes renewable energy use

Ben Schoon | Oct 4 2022 - 7:17 am PT

Google is expanding support for its initiative to help you save money and use renewable energy with the Nest Thermostat, as Nest Renew is now available to anyone in the US.

The Nest Thermostat has long featured the ability to adjust the temperature of your home based on the time of day and encouraged “eco” friendly temperatures when possible. The smart thermostat can also connect to your energy provider to adjust the temperature when demand is at its highest.

Nest Renew takes that a step further.

Launched in a limited preview last year, Nest Renew has the ability to match the fossil fuel energy used for heating and cooling your home with renewable energy. This is a part of a “Premium” program that costs $10/month. Google explains:

If you want to extend your impact even further, you can upgrade to Nest Renew Premium for only $10 a month, which matches the fossil fuel electricity used in your home with enough clean energy to cover the average U.S. household with high-quality renewable energy credits generated from projects within Google’s own clean energy portfolio.

But the bigger part of Nest Renew is actually “Energy Shift.” This program allows the Nest Thermostat to intelligently change your temperature settings throughout the day based on the cost of energy as well as increasing the use of clean energy sources.

Energy Shift in Nest Renew gathers information from energy providers around the continental United States regarding emissions every five minutes and then uses that data to adjust thermostats. This might result in running heating or cooling earlier in the day, when demand is lower. Or perhaps, running later, when cleaner energy sources are being used primarily. Google says that the changes are “so subtle that you won’t notice” them.

During the preview period alone, Google says that Nest Renew users prioritized clean energy for over 20 million hours. The company illustrates what a typical day using Energy Shift might look like below.

Nest Renew is available now to anyone in the continental United States with the latest Nest Thermostat, the Nest Thermostat E, or the 3rd Generation Nest Learning Thermostat. You can sign up for free, or spend the extra $10/month for Premium.