A Nest Thermostat is the perfect way to keep your home comfortable, no matter what the season or weather. With a range of features and programs designed for maximum efficiency, convenience and comfort, a Nest Thermostat is an excellent choice to help you manage your energy use — lowering your monthly bills in the process.
That’s why more people are looking to add devices like a Nest to their homes. If you want to put in a Nest for your own home, get in touch with an expert for smart thermostat installation in Sacramento.
From automated scheduling to optimizing energy efficiency, Nest makes home climate control effortless.
Curious to learn more? Take a look at 12 things you should 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: A common feature in consumer electronics, including your phone or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat turns it off before starting it right back up again. This maintains all your settings and is a step to take if your Nest is frozen or not connecting to Wi-Fi.
- Reset: Conversely, resetting eliminates most if not all of your preferred settings. For the most part, homeowners will perform a reset as they're moving homes and bringing the thermostat with them, or if they are moving out and want to erase their personal information from the Nest before leaving it for the next homeowner.
To reset, first write down your temperature settings so reapplying them is faster. Next, go to Settings -> Equipment and write down the details about your system wires, heating type and safety temperature settings.
After writing down this information, go to Settings, select Reset and press. You will be presented with five options:
- Restart: Turns your Nest off and reboots it while saving your settings. Another method is to press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it turns black, and then pull your hand away.
- Schedule: This reset clears all scheduling information—including for your hot water, if you have that programmed into your Nest. By choosing this kind of reset, you’ll need to create a new schedule or wait while your Nest learns your schedule.
- Away: Choosing this reset option erases all the information your Nest has learned about how often you walk by, so it will be able to change the temperature even when you're not around.
- Network: If you select this reset option, it erases connection info and your Nest will no longer be connected to Wi-Fi. It also forgets 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
Staying connected to your Wi-Fi is important if you want the most use of its online features.
To connect your Nest to the internet:
- Turn the thermostat ring to the Quick View menu.
- Select 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 Use a Battery and How Long Does It Last?
Nest thermostats receive power from your HVAC system, but each one also features a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup in case of a power outage. According to Google, the maker of Nest, 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 is also a good option. The Off mode option deactivates 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:
- Hold the touch bar until the display reads “Turn Off” and then slide the bar to highlight Turn Off, and then touch the bar to select.
- Or, from the main menu, go to Mode 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, your Amazon Alexa can be used to control a Nest Thermostat. Alexa voice controls are also available with Nest doorbells and cameras. Google's own voice control technology, like Google Assistant, can be used to operate your Nest.
6. Does a Nest Thermostat Function Without Wi-Fi?
The good news is that a Nest Thermostat can still control temperatures even without Wi-Fi. That being said, being disconnected from Wi-FI means the Nest doesn’t have the smart thermostat functions that most people enjoy.
7. Are You Able to Lock a Nest Thermostat?
When family members can't stop bickering over temperatures, Nest has a function to give you the upper hand.
Users can lock the Nest to prevent others from adjusting the settings or changing the temperature outside of a preset range. This doesn’t lock in a specific temperature—a locked Nest will still continue to run the programmed settings—but simply prevents other users from constantly changing the settings.
If you want to lock your Nest:
- Tap 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, define your maximum and minimum temperature range and then press Lock at the bottom of the screen.
To unlock a Nest, open the settings and choose Unlock. Once you enter your 4-digit pin, the Nest will be unlocked.
8. Adjusting a 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, there are a few steps to complete first:
- Download the Google Home app or, if you have an advanced model, the Nest app to your phone.
- Hook up your Nest Thermostat.
- Start the Google Home app on your phone and select the account, link to your new device and connect to Wi-Fi.
- There is a guided setup tool on Google, if you would like more assistance in connecting.
Once you’ve added your Nest to your Home app, it's accessible 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, find your Thermostat before selecting Settings. At this screen, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. The display will show your preferred Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. By selecting one of those three options, you can change the temperature for that preset.
9. Making a Nest Thermostat Schedule
You can set a temperature schedule on a Nest Thermostat either on the device or on the Google Home app. More advanced versions of the Nest, such as the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat, are also controllable with the Nest app.
There are two ways you can set up a schedule on your Nest:
- Quick Schedule: Quick Schedules are based on the national average schedule for energy efficiency. As you set the thermostat up, the Google Home app allows you to change the temperature with a schedule. If you select this feature, it will show a preset schedule for you to customize as you wish. Once setup is complete, that’s the schedule it uses.
- Temperature Presets: For changing the Nest's preset temperatures, open the Google Home app and select Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and select Edit. As soon as you're finished making updates, select Done.
If you already have a schedule and want to change it, open the Google Home app, select Thermostat and then tap on Schedules. Choose the day of the week where you want to make changes. After the day is selected, tap Add and select the preset you want. Finally, select Time before touching and dragging the numbers to change the time. The changes won't save unless you select Done.
10. How to Set 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 customize the Nest temperature range in Eco mode, 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 adjust them to your desired temperature. Once you're finished, select Done.
11. What Should I Do If My Nest Thermostat Isn't Compatible?
A Nest Thermostat is compatible with most heating and cooling systems. The maker of Nest, Google, has an online compatibility checker that asks a series of questions about your location and existing setup to see which Nest model is compatible with your system.
If you don't think your Nest is compatible with your system, you should get in touch with local pros for smart thermostat installation in Sacramento. An experienced technician will be able to evaluate your system and, if your Nest is compatible, get it installed and on the road to saving you money in no time.
12. Can I Manually Control My Nest Thermostat?
Nest Thermostats come with many features designed to increase comfort and decrease costs. However, you have the ability to turn off the smart features if you prefer manual controls similar to normal thermostats.
Don't forget, by doing this you're eliminating your temperature schedules and allowing the Nest to work like any other thermostat—it will display the temperature and allow changes, 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 current Heat to and Cool to temperatures, and select 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.