Two of the biggest names in home automation — Belkin’s Wemo and Google’s Nest — just announced that they’ll be working together. The ability of the Nest Learning Thermostat to control Wemo devices increases the power of both the Nest Thermostat and the Wemo devices.
All Wemo switches — the Wemo Insight Switch, Wemo Switch, Wemo Light Switch and Wemo Maker — now work with the Nest Thermostat. How this all integrates together is through the Nest Home/Away Assist feature, so any time the Nest detects Home or Away status, it can turn Wemo devices on or off. In addition, the Wemo App adds the capability to check the status and temperature of the Nest Thermostat, change the Home and Away mode settings, or even set the target temperature of the Nest.
Some of the sample uses of the integration highlighted by Wemo include:
- Having the porch light come on after you’ve left home so it looks like someone is there
- Turning on a fan when you leave so the air in your house keeps circulating even though the air conditioner isn’t running, keeping your house cooler without using as much energy.
- Turning on all the lamps in your living room (or kitchen, entryway, etc.) when you get home so you don’t have to
- Turning off all the lamps in your home when you leave.
The best thing? To enable Nest integration, users just need version 1.15 of the free Wemo app, which just came out today.
