Quote:
Originally Posted by Aegypticus
Is there anything stopping me from getting one now, applying for the rebate, then returning and buying it again if it goes on sale in the near future? I don't think that's technically cheating the system, is it?
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Thanks for the heads up, I just nabbed a Nest from the Lowe's website. Apparently the return policy is 90 days, so I presume you can always leave it in the box, ask about a price matching on black friday/cyber monday and return it and grab the better price if push comes to shove.
Yes, you can buy/return/buy again. The system is stupid. I even recall when the rebate was $100, I submitted a receipt on a $90 Honeywell Lyric T5 expecting to get $90 back and I instead received a cheque for $100. Every home is allowed up to 2 smart thermostat rebate requests, but as far as I can tell, you could run the rebate through another address of your control such as a business address. I wouldn't feel too bad about buying and returning the nest if you find a better deal as long as you fully intend to install a smart thermostat. But if you buy, claim the rebate, then return never intending to get a smart thermostat, that's kinda greasy.
Regarding your questions about the the Nest thermostat, I've had a gen 2 Nest for about 5 years now. It's worked perfectly fine. I hear they can get weird and wonky if they rely solely on power steal (no common wire), but mine worked fine for about 2 years on power steal until I had someone hook up the common wire from a bundle inside my wall so I don't know if the unit still continues to work fine after years on power steal. I have Heat/AC/humidifier all hooked up to it and I also grabbed a sensor so that I don't have to manually change the temperatures to make my room warmer/cooler at night.
Installation was relatively easy. Watch the installation video they have. The Nest comes with a sticker kit to label the wires if you want and a plastic mount to make it look nice on the wall. I even remember it came with some crazy screw driver to facilitate the installation. Nest also has a small ecosystem, but I don't know how they all interact together. I bought a Nest tonight fully planning on taking my current one with me and installing both in my new place which has a dual furnace. I hear the units will actually cooperate with each other.