With new Nest compatibility, your Big Ass Fan can now talk to your thermostat

By Drew Prindle August 20, 2014

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Here’s some cool news: Big Ass Fans, the Kentucky-based maker of enormous ceiling fans, is finally ready to ship the smart, connected fan it announced back in June. But that’s not all — not only will this thing have all the nifty smart features the company originally promised, it’ll also be compatible with your Nest thermostat.

For those of you who might be unfamiliar, the Haiku fan (which was pretty impressive to begin with) will come equipped with BAF’s new SenseME technology built in, which gives it the ability to recognize when somebody is in the room and turn itself on or off automatically. Additionally, as you’d expect from any card-carrying smart device these days, the fan will also connect to your home wireless network, allowing you to control it from anywhere via an accompanying smartphone application.

Related: Cut down your monthly heating bill with a Big Ass Fan

That being said, however, BAF also went the extra mile and designed the Haiku so that, in most situations, you won’t even have to open up your phone to control it. The fan is outfitted with a range of temperature and humidity sensors, so it can tell when the room is about to become uncomfortable and automatically adjust the speed of its rotation to compensate. It’s also got the ability to learn your preferences, so even without any input from you, the user, the new Haiku fan will begin to recognize your usage patterns and utilize that data to predict your optimal settings.

Now, thanks to the new “Works with Nest” integration, Haiku owners will be able to control basic functions of their Nest thermostats directly through the SenseMe app — including the ability to turn the heat up or down, or even get in-app tips on how to use the two devices together to optimize comfort and energy savings.

It’s also worth noting that both Google’s Nest Labs and Big Ass Fans are founding members of the Thread Group: a non-profit alliance of tech companies that aims to standardize the smart home with a new networking protocol called Thread. Other members include ARM and Samsung — the company that recently got into the smart home space by purchasing Smart Things for $200M. Perhaps we’ll see a Nest/Smart Things integration in the near future? Something tells us it’s just around the corner.

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Internet of Things (IoT)

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…

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