Why Nest is the next iPhone

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Thermostats haven’t ever made the most fascinating dinner conversation – until now. The new Nest Learning Thermostat is beautiful, functional, and efficient, and since its developers founded their own company after working for Apple, it comes with the hipster-seal-of-approval. After designing iPods, iPhones, and their software, these guys know a little about convincing us we can’t live without something we’ve never needed before – but thermostats?

The rationale behind this suprising product line is simple: Heating and cooling account for about half of a home’s energy use. Properly programmed thermostats can cut heating and cooling costs by 20%, but as many as 90% of programmable thermostats are rarely or never programmed.

Their solution is a thermostat that’s Apple-inspired elegant and can:

Learn your preferred temperatures and schedule.
Sense when you left the house or came home.Give you tips and feedback on your energy use.
Connect to Wi-Fi so you could control it from anywhere.
Look good (of course).
Make you feel proud to own it.
Have a positive impact on the world.

Nest can do that.

Is Nest the coolest thing that’s ever happened to thermostats? Absolutely. But Nest retails for $249 – at least five times the price of a good-quality programmable thermostat – and you need one for each heating zone. Is it really worth it? It’s too soon to tell – but then again, I’m happily paying for a smart phone that seemed ridiculously unnecessary a few years ago.

Energy efficiency geeks can become early-adopters and keep the rest of us posted. In the meantime, I’ll follow Energy Star’s guidelines for my boring-but-efficient programmable thermostat – and keep investing in improving my home’s thermal envelope. Insulation and air-sealing aren’t as flashy as Nest, but I know they’ll work.

Contact us today to learn more!

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We initially contacted Evergreen through Efficiency Maine for an energy audit, which was conducted promptly and professionally by Justin McEdward, one of their Energy Advisors who is BPI-certified. After a thorough inspection of our newly purchased home, Justin explained in great detail what we needed and did not need. It was agreed that Evergreen would remove all of the existing attic insulation, which was not adequate, and replace it with blown in cellulose, to a rating of R-60.

Thomas W.

Scarborough

The folks at Evergreen did a great job fixing a rather major insulation problem in my house, which they helped identify with a great audit. When the work began, they were thorough, upbeat, and -- dare I say it -- efficient. I strongly recommend them.

Michael Williams

Thorough, smart, informative, integrated, and communicative -- that's how my experience was with Evergreen even with the covid interruption midstream. The team picked up where they left off, insulated basement and air sealed attic and knee wall in 100' temps under the eaves! This business group was a pleasure to work with.

Karen W.

Gray

Evergreen is a terrific company to deal with. Polite and efficient crews, meeting deadlines and major reduction in our heat bills. They corrected a lot of issues we suffered from doing work with a shoddy building contractor. We would recommend them to anyone.

Mary Carey

Evergreen did everything they said they would and more. I actually don't mind going into the basement now since they sealed it. The air quality in the house is noticeably better and it's warmer in the winter. We can even store clothing down there where before, whatever was in there would mildew. Even the spider population declined! I used to vacuum so many of them from the corners of the ceilings in the house. Not any more!

Loriel Van Dusen

Evergreen is the "go-to" company for improving the efficiency of your home. There are others to choose from but none so effective, honest, and capable as Evergreen. They did a great quantity of dense packing cellulose to improve our home (both for energy efficiency and for sound insulation) and it was totally successful. They are on-time, helpful, and caring. They clean up to a level that can't be over emphasized. This was the second time we employed them and we'd use them again if the opportunity came. You'll not be sorry to select Evergreen.

Dirk F.

Belfast

Evergreen was so helpful in securing us Efficiency Maine funding for a big attic insulation project early this winter. They did all of the paperwork, and totally guided us through a vermiculite removal process that included a payment from a trust for the procedure. I could instantly feel the second floor being so much warmer than before. The boiler does not kick on nearly as frequently since they completed the job. It was worth every penny! Brian Robinson was so thorough throughout the whole process including a full walk through after the job had been completed.

Todd W.

Camden

Working with Evergreen was a dream! Professional, knowledgeable, and super clean work. Communication was fast and service impeccable. The bedroom floors in our 1960's split ranch will be warm with the new insulation between them and the garage. Bring on the snow! (not really, but sort of)

Jess Dee Proctor

Led by Brian Robinson, the Evergreen Home Performance team just completed an insulation refit at my home. It was truly a great experience from start to finish, a period of time that was a fraction of the time that I originally anticipated due to the team's unbelievable work habits and professional knowledge of their tasks. As impressive were the communication skills and friendliness of each and every member of the team.

Anne W.

Rockport

Our basement was the eyesore of the house. I wanted to make improvements, but first needed to make structural, insulating and moisture mitigation improvements. Evergreen was professional and competent in taking on a complex project of not only encapsulation and insulation of basement and crawlspace, but completed needed improvements to the structural integrity of the wood floor platform above a crawlspace and brought in a concrete contractor to pour where there was once a rotting, tiered wood platform - replacing that area with a more functional and tight tiered concrete area.

Duane B.

East Boothbay

We couldn't be more pleased with the easy, professional, high-value service from Evergreen. Having purchased an older home that had been in our family for generations, we needed multiple upgrades, including insulation throughout. Evergreen insulated our attic with blown-in cellulose, built a new, super-insulated attic hatch, sealed off the old one (which was just a piece of plywood in a closet ceiling), and also talked us through our best options to upgrade our heating system given the plans we have to add onto the house.

Tom G.

South Thomaston

Evergreen Home Performance shows its expertise from start to finish. Evergreen did three house projects in winter/spring/summer 2020 for me, attic insulation, crawl space under a porch insulation, and basement foam/vapor barrier. From my initial discussion with Bryan, I understood the reasons for choosing different types of insulation, the associated costs, and time estimates. Evergreen scheduled in advance, came when they said they would, and the crews were highly professional in their work and demeanor.

Iris S.

Portland

I have always been impressed by the high level of service, quality of work, and excellent follow-through provided by Evergreen Home Performance in the three projects that they completed at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm over the past several years.

Paul D.

Wells

We needed basement encapsulation to stop moisture coming up into the house from our regularly flooding basement. We had mold growing on windowsills and furniture. All the staff were friendly, respectful of our home, and easy to work with. Humidity has gone from 70% down to 40% and mold has not grown back after two months. Very grateful.

Sarah C.

Belfast

They were highly recommended. I found them to be very knowledgeable and so helpful, with practical ideas. Despite my not living within their service area, they were generous with their knowledge, describing the usual solutions to correct leaks in my basement, and what the result is likely to be by following path A, B or C, and why. I was discouraged. Talking with Evergreen helped me see that my basement problems are far from insurmountable and really, fairly common in 100-year old homes. There are proven solutions.

Rosalind J

Damariscotta

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