Nest Labs, which was acquired by Google in a $3.2 billion deal earlier this year, has launched its range of smart thermostats in Ireland earlier today.

The Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest Protect: Smoke + Carbon Monoxide alarm have been customised for the Irish market with the former connecting the heating system using high-voltage cables, and professional installation is highly recommended.

It has been estimated that Nest Thermostats have already saved two billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy compared to what their owners would have spent on heating and cooling at a constant temperature- enough energy to power 180,000 American homes for a year.

This is good news, considering the Directorate-General of the European Commission estimates that around 44% of the average household energy bill is spent on heating, which is equal to €876 per year.

The Nest Thermostat for Europe programmes itself. Users simply turn it up and down like a manual thermostat for about a week and Nest will take it from there, creating a personalised schedule that is refined over time. And this can all be done remotely on your smart[hone of course.

So what is Nest Protect? Futureproof’s Jonathan McCrea met with Lionel Paillet, general manager for Europe, Nest who explains how the products work in the short video below.

The Nest Learning Thermostat costs €219 while the Nest Protect: Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm is available for €109.

Nest products are available in Harvey Norman retail stores across the country, as well as online from today.