Firstly, the premise of that scenario, is the house is cold while the person is gone. That means SAVING on energy costs by not heating the house unnecessarily while no one is inside, which is the current de facto standard. (Do you turn off the heat when you go to work? I certainly don't)
Secondly, it's silly to object to innovation that allows humanity to be frivolous or wasteful according to their desires. Where do you draw the line? Why have central heating in the first place? Is it that difficult to wear a sweater indoors? If people want to be warm, they will utilize technology to be warm. And if that technology progresses to allow this process to be simple, efficient, and automated, people will use it. And not just those in the luxury market.
Yes I have the heating on a timer and its off when I am at work. I turn it on if its cold and I working from home or its the weekend. I believe this is normal...
Any HVAC system installed or revamped in the past 15 years is likely to have a programmable thermostat. Whether people are using these _correctly_ or not (which as others have touched on here is not necessarily super intuitive, part of the problem Nest is meant to solve), I think attempts of some sort at saving energy with these is pretty common.
Secondly, it's silly to object to innovation that allows humanity to be frivolous or wasteful according to their desires. Where do you draw the line? Why have central heating in the first place? Is it that difficult to wear a sweater indoors? If people want to be warm, they will utilize technology to be warm. And if that technology progresses to allow this process to be simple, efficient, and automated, people will use it. And not just those in the luxury market.