Review: Newfangled Nest thermostat is hot

— -- "You're reviewing a thermostat?"

That pretty much sums up the incredulous reactions I received when I mentioned the topic of this week's column. After all, the thermostat hanging on your wall is probably like your neighbor's, a blah-looking controller you face only when it's time to warm or cool the house.

Unless heating or cooling is on your mind, there isn't much reason you'd turn to the Nest Learning Thermostat either. Except that this is the coolest thermostat I've ever come across, and I don't mean cool as in temperature. Nest smashes any preconceived notions of what a thermostat ought to look like and how it should operate — whether you're in front of it or accessing it remotely from an iPhone or iPad. It takes advantage of cloud computing and what techies refer to as machine-learning. And it learns from your behavior.

To be sure, controlling the temp and helping you save energy is Nest's primary aim. But you can't help but be drawn to it: The $249 Nest is a thermostat with sex appeal. Nest becomes available in mid-November, though you can preorder a unit now at BestBuy.com or Nest.com.

The thermostat was created by Silicon Valley startup Nest Labs, whose co-founder Tony Fadell used to be in charge of iPods at Apple. Fadell brings the Apple aesthetic to Nest.

Disclaimer: I haven't had a test unit long enough to measure any true energy savings. Nor can I independently verify that the temperature the thermostat is reporting is as accurate as Next claims it to be.

That said, it's extremely simple to use. And this is one beautiful hockey puck of a device with a silver ring and a reflective dark surface that wakes up as you come near—there's a proximity sensor among other sensors for the temperature, humidity, and ambient light.

To raise or lower the temperature you merely rotate the ring in either direction. Click the entire display to access various menu choices.

The display turns orange when the heat is on or blue when it is cooling. Your target temperature is shown in the middle of the screen, along with the time it will take to reach that temperature. Nest advises folks to avoid cranking up the temperature to extremes in an effort to heat or cool your home any quicker. The current temperature is shown at the top of the screen.

Nest can get smarter over time — based on the way you raise or lower the temperature when you come or go at different times. In a week's time, Nest will automatically turn down heating or cooling when you're not around. As part of setup, you can select the highest and lowest temperatures that your heating and cooling system will deliver when you're away. While Nest learns your patterns and preferences, it can adjust accordingly. And if you're leaving for vacation, you can manually choose an Away setting.

To be sure, you'll find programmable thermostats in the marketplace, but Nest says that only around one in 10 are programmed correctly. The company also says that the way you set your thermostat controls about half your energy consumption at home — more than lights, the refrigerator, electronics and other appliances.

If you're operating at what Nest considers to be an ideal energy-saving temperature, you see a green leaf appear on the screen. Nest says that changing your temperature even a single degree can cut your energy cost by 5%.

You can track your energy use from the device, and view a chart that shows the given temperature during a particular time of day.

During setup you can connect Nest to your Wi-Fi network, and then change the heating, cooling and other settings remotely, from the Web, or via an app on iPhone or iPad. (An Android app is due in December.) The iPhone app was a breeze to use , though I got a little confused initially setting it up. I thought I had to enter a special code to have the phone communicate with the thermostat but that turned out not to be the case.

If you're a little bit handy you can install Nest yourself in about 20 minutes. Inside the box is an installation guide, mounting screens and wall anchors, even a screwdriver. The push-in (as opposed to screw type) wire connectors remind me of hooking up wires to a pair of speakers—figuring which color wire goes to which connector is one of the challenges. Nest recommends taking a picture of your old thermostat wiring just in case, and turning off the power before you proceed.

Another thing to keep in mind: Be prepared for what may be underneath your old thermostat — a nasty hole in the wall in my case.

If you're uncomfortable messing with wires and holes, Nest will sell you "concierge" installation service for $112 (plus an additional $25 for any extra thermostats you want to employ).

Nest works with forced air, radiant, heat pump, oil, gas and electric systems. It uses a lithium ion battery that I'm told will last at least as long as the device's 5-year warranty. If you need a new thermostat consider warming up to Nest. It is the Nest Best Thing.

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Nest Learning Thermostat

$249; www.nest.com

Pro. Beautiful and simple to use digital thermostat learns from your behavior. Remote access via iPhone, iPad or Web.

Con. Expensive. Works with most but not all heating or cooling systems

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E-mail: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow him on Twitter @edbaig