A Nest Thermostat is a great investment for keeping your home comfortable, regardless of the season or weather. With features designed around maximizing efficiency, convenience and comfort, a Nest Thermostat is the perfect solution if you want to manage your energy use — saving you money in the process.
That’s why more homeowners are considering adding devices like a Nest into their home. If you're interested in trying a Nest yourself, call your nearest expert for smart thermostat installation in Buellton.
With everything from automatic scheduling to optimizing energy efficiency, Nest helps make controlling the climate of your home effortless.
Ready to learn more? Here’s a look at 12 things you need to know about your Nest Thermostat.
1. Resetting Your Nest Thermostat
A key piece of information to know about resetting a Google Nest Thermostat is that resetting is different from restarting.
- Restart: Similar to restarting any electronic device, including your phone or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat means a quick off / on cycle. This preserves current settings and should be attempted if your Nest is frozen or not connecting to Wi-Fi.
- Reset: A reset erases some or all of your settings. In most cases, people resort to a reset as they're moving homes and bringing the thermostat with them, or if they're moving out and prefer to erase any personal details from the Nest before leaving it behind for the next resident.
To initiate a reset, it doesn't hurt to write down current temperature settings so reapplying them is faster. Next, locate Settings -> Equipment and record your system wires, heating type and safety temperature settings.
Once you have recorded your preferences, go to Settings, select Reset and press. You will then have five options:
- Restart: Shuts your Nest down and starts it back up while remembering your settings. Another way to restart is to press the outside of the Nest and hold it down for a few seconds until it turns black, and then pull your hand away.
- Schedule: This reset clears your entire temperature schedule—including for your hot water, if you have that programmed into your Nest. By choosing this kind of reset, you’ll have to input a new schedule or wait while your Nest learns your schedule.
- Away: An Away reset removes anything your Nest has learned about how often you walk by, so that it can update the temperature on its own.
- Network: By selecting a network reset, it erases connection info and your Nest will no longer be connected to Wi-Fi. Use this option if you want your Nest to forget your Wi-Fi password.
- All Settings: Self-explanatory, an All Settings reset removes all your personal settings and learning.
2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi
Connecting to Wi-Fi is important to getting the most out of your Nest.
To connect your Nest to the internet:
- Turn the thermostat ring to the Quick View menu.
- Locate the Settings icon.
- Choose Network.
- As your Nest has scanned nearby networks, find your Wi-Fi and, if necessary, enter your password.
3. Does a Nest Thermostat Have a Battery and How Long Does It Last?
Nest thermostats are powered indirectly through HVAC system, but they also include a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup power in case of an outage. According to Google, Nest's manufacturer, a Nest Thermostat battery will generally last several months. Recharge it with the USB cord that comes included.
4. How to Turn Off a Nest Thermostat
If you aren’t going to be in your home for a long time, it's a good idea to set your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode would be another option. Off mode shuts down all your regular heating and cooling schedules, but it will still adhere to any current Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting especially hot or cold.
To find Off mode on the thermostat:
- Press and hold the touch bar until it displays “Turn Off” and then slide the bar to highlight Turn Off, and then touch the bar to select.
- You can also go to Mode from the main menu and select Off.
Off mode can even be accessed from your Google Home app:
- Select Thermostat from home screen
- Tap Temperature mode
- Select Off
5. Is Alexa Compatible with a Nest Thermostat?
Yes, you can use Amazon Alexa to control a Nest Thermostat. This voice control function is also available with Nest doorbells and cameras. You can even operate a Nest Thermostat with Google Assistant.
6. Can a Nest Thermostat Work Without Wi-Fi?
In short, yes. Your Nest Thermostat can still control temperatures even without Wi-Fi. That being said, a lack of an internet connection means your Nest doesn’t have the ability to use the smart functions that most people enjoy.
7. Can You Lock a Nest Thermostat?
If you’re having a battle over the thermostat in your home between people who like things hot and others who prefer them cold, Nest can help you bring a little order back to your household.
Users can lock the Nest to stop any temperature adjustments outside of a preset range. This won't mean you have to make do with just one temperature—a locked Nest still has access to programmed settings—but simply prevents other users from constantly changing the settings.
If you want to lock your Nest:
- Press the Settings icon, scroll to the bottom and tap on Lock.
- Enter a 4-digit pin number you can remember, and do so twice.
- If locking in Heat or Cool mode, fine-tune your maximum and minimum temperature range before tapping Lock at the bottom of the screen.
When you're ready to unlock the Nest, open the settings and choose Unlock. As soon as you've provided your 4-digit pin, the Nest will be unlocked.
8. Controlling Your Nest Thermostat from a Phone
A Nest Thermostat is controlled by the Google Home app, accessible through your phone or other smart device, including a computer. Other versions of Nest, including the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat, are also compatible with remote control via the Nest app.
Before you can make adjustments for a Nest on your phone with Google Home or the Nest app, you need to follow a few steps:
- Download the Google Home app or, with premium Nest models, the Nest app to your phone.
- Hook up your Nest Thermostat.
- Open the Google Home app on your phone and follow the instructions to select your account, link to your new device and connect to Wi-Fi.
- Google has created a more comprehensive setup guide, if you prefer additional assistance in connecting.
As soon as you've connected the Nest to your Home app, you can access it by clicking Thermostat on the home screen. Once you do that, making adjustments is done by dragging your finger along the screen or tapping on a plus or minus sign.
The app also allows you to change the Nest's preset temperatures. From the home screen, choose Thermostat before selecting Settings. At this screen, press Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. This will display your preset Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. By selecting one of those three options, you can change the temperature for that preset.
9. How to Set a Nest Thermostat Schedule
You can set a temperature schedule on a Nest Thermostat either on the device or on the Google Home app. Newer and advanced models of the Nest, such as the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat, also can be controlled via the Nest app.
You have two primary ways to establish a temperature schedule on a Nest Thermostat:
- Quick Schedule: A Quick Schedule will be based on the national average schedule for more energy-efficient use. When you are setting up your Nest, the Google Home app allows you to change the temperature with a schedule. If you select this feature, it displays a preset schedule before letting you customize it. After you've made all your choices, that’s the schedule it will use.
- Temperature Presets: If you prefer other basic preset options, open the Google Home app and select Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and select Edit. Once you’ve made the changes, select Done.
To make tweaks or changes to your current schedule, open the Google Home app, select Thermostat and then tap on Schedules. Find the time of week you want to add a temperature to. Once you pick the day, tap Add and find the preset you want. Finally, select Time before touching and dragging the numbers to change the time. Your update won't be applied until you select Done.
10. Setting a Temperature Range on a Nest Thermostat
Your Nest's Eco mode is great for setting temperature ranges. This is a function that adjusts the temperature in your home depending on if anyone is in the residence or if it is empty.
To access Eco mode for customized temperature ranges, go to Settings and select Eco. The thermostat's display should list existing “Heat to” and “Cool to” temperature settings. You can select each and make your preferred changes. When complete, select Done.
11. What to Do if a Nest Thermostat Is Not Compatible
Nest thermostats can be integrated with most heating and cooling systems. Google, Nest's manufacturer, features a compatibility checking tool that asks a series of questions about your location and existing setup to learn which Nest model is compatible with your system.
If you don't think your Nest is compatible with your system, consider reaching out to professionals for smart thermostat installation in Buellton. Technicians with the proper experience can assess your system and, if your Nest is compatible, install it quick so you can jump right into the savings and convenience.
12. Can I Manually Control My Nest Thermostat?
Nest Thermostats are loaded with innovative features designed to improve comfort while keeping costs low. However, you have the ability to turn off the smart features if you prefer to control your Nest like it's a normal thermostat.
Don't forget, by doing this you are turning off all of your temperature schedules and allowing the Nest to work like any other thermostat—it will display the temperature and let you change the temperature, but that’s about it.
You can achieve this by disabling the settings in a series of steps:
- Auto-Schedule: From the main screen, go to Settings and then scroll to Nest Sense. Go to Auto-Schedule, select No and click Done.
- Eco: From the main screen, go to Settings, scroll to Eco. Once in Eco, select Off for both the Heat to and Cool to temperatures, before selecting Done.
- Home/Away Assist: From the main screen, go to Settings and select Home/Away Assist. Then, select Stop Using and click Done.
- Reset: Once you’ve turned off the settings, reset your nest. From the main screen, go to Settings and select Reset, highlight Schedule and then select Reset to clear out any saved scheduling data.