US smart home giant Nest launches in Australia today, minus its flagship product and ignoring local retail heavyweights in favour of a unique online partner.

An internet of things pioneer, Nest found success in the US with its smart thermostat which learns homeowner's habits to optimise their heating and reduce energy bills. The company was acquired by Google in 2014, fuelling international expansion plans, but Nest will not sell its smart thermostat locally due to the low number of Australian homes with compatible central heating.

The Nest Protect can detect smoke and carbon monoxide, sounding an alarm and alerting your phone. Credit:Nest

Instead Nest is focusing in Australia on its Nest Protect smart smoke / carbon monoxide alarm, as well as home security cameras, with plans to sell devices exclusively through online insurance and utilities broker iSelect.

While Nest has partnerships with insurers like Liberty Mutual in the US, an exclusive deal with a service like iSelect is a first. iSelect brokers around 20 per cent of Australia's home insurance purchases, 12 per cent of energy contracts and 5 per cent of broadband deals.