After purchasing multiple Nest Smart Home devices, I wondered if there were any really great third-party accessories out there. After doing a bit of research and testing, I found a bunch of awesome accessories for the ultimate Nest Smart Home.
So, what are the nine awesome third-party accessories for a Nest Smart Home?
- Amazon Echo
- Phillips Hue
- Chromecast
- WeMo Smart Plug
- Logitech Harmony Remote
- Nest x Yale Lock
- Phillips Smart Sleep
- MyQ Smart Garage Hub Bundle by Chamberlain
- Awair
Many people attempting to create the ultimate smart home find one company (like Nest) and buy all their products from that one company and think that they have it all, the ultimate smart home. What many people don’t realize is that other smart home product creators allow their devices to be compatible with other-company created devices.
What that means is that you can continue to outfit your smart home with accessories that further link your home together and make it a home that will welcome you home.
1. Amazon Echo
The Amazon Echo is an all around fantastic smart device that is compatible with any smart home.
This device is voice compatible, allowing you to give it commands such as calling your family, playing music or searching the internet.
You shouldn’t need to go on your Nest app every time you want to adjust something, just tell Echo to do it. Voice direction is definitely the best way to control your smart home.
So, what can you actually voice control? Well, everything.
The Nest Thermostat is one of the best Nest Smart Home features on the market. If you just snuggled into bed and decided that the temperature is entirely too hot for you to snuggle properly, all you have to do is ask your Amazon Echo device to turn down the temperature to 70, or whatever you find the perfect sleep temperature.
There are a few Nest Home devices that the Amazon Echo currently does not have connections with, but as Nest is a Google-owned company, they are trying to further integrate.
As of November 2018, the Nest x Yale lock and the Google Home were not connected, but now the Google Home can lock and unlock your door.
If you already have an Amazon Alexa, that smart device can also fulfill most of the same functions that the Amazon Echo can in terms of controlling your Nest Smart Home. However, there are a few commands it does not do as quickly or as well as the Amazon Echo, as the Amazon Echo is much more integrated to your home techonology.
2. Phillips Hue
Phillips Hue is the best smart light on the market. These lights can adjust when you are home and away and turn on and off automatically.
Nest currently does not have any smart lights on the market, so the Phillips Hue lights are the perfect thing you need to greet you when you come home.
You can set your Phillips Hue lights to come on and off at certain times, or you can let them integrate with the rest of your smart home (such as your smart lock) and they’ll learn when you come home and auto-turn on.
You will no longer need to be momentarily frightened when you enter a pitch-black home and fumble for your light switch.
If you have Nest Protect which is a smoke and carbon monoxide sensor, the Phillips Hue can even change colors at the first sign of detection giving you an even earlier warning. Who wouldn’t want that extra safety measure?
3. Chromecast
What’s not to love? It’s cheap, easy, and best of all integrates seamlessly into your Nest Smart Home.
Chromecast brings to the table ease in using and monitoring your Nest smart home. You can send anything on your phone to be displayed on your TV with Chromecast.
The options are endless to what you can send to your TV, but in terms of integrating with Nest, that means you can view a TV size image of the video surveillance feed from any of your Nest cameras or your Hello Nest doorbell camera in real time on the HD big screen.
This will put an end to squinting at the feed on your phone.
4. WeMo SmartPlug
Your smart home would not be complete without WeMo’s smart plugs.
Nest’s products get you pretty far when you outfit your home, but WeMo fills a niche that Nest has yet to fill.
Your Nest smart home does lots of incredible things that as kids we thought were so futureistic, and we are now living that future.
What WeMo smart plugs do that your regular plugs don’t do is stop. They stop that continued electricity pull. Previously when you would leave the house you might accidentally leave your curling iron plugged in, or the iron. Two words: fire hazards.
When WeMo integrates with your other Nest products, it knows when you are home or away and will stop that electricity flow saving your house from burning down because of your curling iron, whoops.
But more than fire hazards, WeMo smart plugs will prevent all your other home devices from sucking electricity. That blender you don’t think about? Yeah, it might make smoothies but it is still sucking juice.
If you aren’t accident prone like those fire hazards I mentioned previously, WeMo plugs will at least save you some on your electricity bill. And who wouldn’t want extra cash?
5. Logitec Harmony Remote
The Logitec Harmony Remote is a must-have for your smart home. So you already have a Google Home, you might be thinking “well then why on Earth would I need a remote. Not having a remote or an app is the exact reason I even got a Google Home.” This response is perfectly valid until you actually know what the Logitec Harmony Remote brings to the table.
This remote allows you to combine several settings of all your smart devices and create one custom setting (actually I lied, you can create more than one).
For example, if you wanted to program a bedtime setting then with one click from the harmony remote, everything happens at once. The lights are dimmed or off depending on if you like to read before bed or go straight to sleep. The doors will lock, the alarm will set, your thermostat will go down to your perfect sleeping temperature, and the garage you forgot to close will close.
Not convinced yet? Ok, let me change things up. Picture this: that hottie from the gym is finally coming over for movie night. You know what that means? The mood needs to be absolutely perfect.
With Logitec Harmony remote it will be. With your “movie date” setting, the lights will dim even more mid-movie. The thermostat will go lower that way they are more likely to snuggle in. Going in for the kiss? Your Google Chrome can play your romance playlist.
With one button press, the mood is set. With one button press, you can sleep easier and simpler than having to rattle off your regular commands to the Google Home.
6. Nest x Yale Lock
I know, I know. The title of this article says “third-party accessories.” Not “additional Nest products you need.” However, this technically isn’t a Nest product. Nest worked with Yale to produce the lock so it is kind of a jointly owned product.
Because it is partly a Nest product, it has been made to integrate with all your Nest smart home devices. You don’t have to worry about watching tons of other smart lock videos or vetting them to see if they integrate with Nest. The perfect smart lock is already here.
The Nest x Yale Lock can integrate with your Google Home, and you can use it jointly with your Nest Hello doorbell cam or other Nest Cameras.
Sooo, you went on a spontaneous road trip and forgot to ask a neighbor to feed your cat. Before the Nest x Yale lock, your options were:
- Tell them where to dig up your emergency key
- Oops, there’s no emergency key.
- Your neighbor either has to break a window or you have to turn around if you don’t want fluffy to die
Not great options. But with the Nest x Yale lock, you don’t need a key. Ever. Say so long to getting locked out, and hello fluffy.
With the Nest x Yale lock, you can unlock your front door, or side door, or any of your Nest x Yale lock doors really from anywhere. Anywhere? Anywhere. You could be in Fiji and unlock your front door.
No more awkwardly asking your neighbor to dig up a key that doesn’t exist. No more giving them your passcode. You can just unlock your door for them.
How do you know that you’re unlocking your door for the neighbor or a robber? Well, your Nest x Yale lock integrates with the rest of your Nest smart home. Want to know who you’re unlocking the door for? Check your Nest Hello doorbell cam or your other Nest cameras.
What about your alarm? If you unlock your Nest x Yale lock, it will automatically turn off the alarm for you. No more blaring alarms until the code is typed in. Your smart home is smart enough to know when you’re home.
The Nest x Yale lock integrated with your other Nest smart home devices will ultimately give you peace of mind, and keep fluffy alive.
7. Phillips Smart Sleep
Approximately a third of our lives are spent sleeping. ONE THIRD. That’s quite a bit of time to be dreaming the good dreams. Or not, if you are sleeping poorly. That can be a lot of missed sleep. Not getting enough sleep, or sleeping poorly can negatively affect every other aspect of your life.
What’s the smart solution? Phillips Smart Sleep. The Phillips Smart Sleep is an alarm clock doubled as a lamp that gradually wakes you up with a natural lighting that simulates sunrise. It is one of the best smart sleep solutions on the market for those who struggle waking up in the morning feeling reenergized.
It is especially useful in northern climates during the winter months, when it seems it is always dark, cloudy, or raining. As someone who is not a morning person myself, the Phillips Smart Sleep light has made mornings much easier for me, even when waking up before sunrise.
There is also an app that pairs with the device and gives you feedback on your sleep patterns and provide customized feedback. Over time it will learn your habits, and your sleep will get better and better due to the Phillips Smart Sleep integration with your sleeping habits.
8. MyQ Smart Garage Hub by Chamberlain
You already are planning on getting that sweet Nest x Yale smart lock, so why wouldn’t you upgrade the security on your garage? The MyQ Smart Garage Hub will ensure that your home remains secure, the smart way.
The MyQ Smart Garage Hub like the rest of your smart products has an app where you can control the open and close as well as locking of your garage.
But unlike other regular garage door opener functions, you can auto-turn on the garage indoor and outdoor lights from the app. Additionally, you can give permission to up to three other individuals to control your garage features.
That’s amazing! Turning on your garage lights from anywhere in the world is going to scare someone skulking around your home, and only you will be the wiser.
When you use your MyQ Smart Garage Hub with the rest of your Nest Smart Home functions, it gets even better.
Those Nest cameras you have? You can use them to see potential vandals or intruders and then scare them off by turning on your garage lights.
And when you lay down at night in your nice comfy bed, in a home that is smart enough to keep up with you, you can ask your Google Home, to close your garage door.
Or, you can press the bedtime setting on your Logitec Harmony remote. OR, you can close it from your app. The options are endless depending on the level of laziness you’re currently feeling. Hey, we don’t judge.
9. Awair
You might have Nest Aware, but do you have Awair? Awair is the best smart air-quality monitor.
Even in your house, you can get CO2 buildup. And not just CO2, Awair can sense dust levels. Basically, Awair seeks to make sure you are breathing straight up oxygen, the only thing you should be breathing.
Yeah, your smart devices are meant to keep your house optimum, but this smart device keeps you functioning at optimum capacity, and who wouldn’t want that?
When Awair integrates and collaborates with the rest of your Nest smart home devices it can tell your Nest Thermostat to blow air in a particular room to re-circulate some fresh air.
But if the Awair tells you it’s dust levels, it is probably letting you know that you either need to dust or your air conditioning filter needs replacing. Either way, it’s got your back, the smart way.
Related Questions:
How safe is a Smart Home really? With all your extra smart security measures, there is no way a smart home is less secure. With Nest Aware, you can view up to 30 days of past video surveillance, and with the app, you can see the video feed live. If someone tries to break in, your smart alarm will go off. If they happen to run away, your camera feed still caught them.
Is there a limit to the number of smart devices you can have? You are only limited to the number of devices your WiFi router is capable of supporting.