A Nest Thermostat is an excellent tool for keeping your home comfortable, regardless of the season or weather. With features designed around maximizing efficiency, convenience and comfort, a Nest Thermostat is an easy way to manage your energy use — saving you money in the process.
That’s why more people are looking to add devices like a Nest to their HVAC system. If you want to put in a Nest for your own home, reach out to an expert for smart thermostat installation in Crystal and Twin Cities.
From auto scheduling to monitoring your home’s energy efficiency, Nest makes controlling the climate of your home effortless.
Want all the details? Take a look at 12 things you need to know about your Nest Thermostat.
1. How to Reset a Nest Thermostat
One of the first things 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 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 more drastic function, a reset should restore your Nest to its original settings from the manufacturer. People normally only use a reset as they're moving into a new house and bringing the thermostat with them, or if they are moving out and want to erase all personal info from the Nest before leaving it for the next homeowner.
If you want to perform a reset, it helps to record existing temperature settings so reapplying them is faster. Next, find Settings -> Equipment and write down the details about your system wires, heating type and safety temperature settings.
Once you have recorded your preferences, go to Settings, select Reset and press. You can choose from five options:
- Restart: Deactivates your Nest and starts it back up while remembering your settings. Another way to restart is to press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it goes black, and then pull your hand away.
- Schedule: This reset setting clears all scheduling information—including for your hot water, if you've connected it to your Nest. With this option, you’ll need to create a new schedule or wait until the Nest learns your schedule.
- Away: Choosing this reset option erases all the information your Nest has learned about how often you walk by, so that it can update the temperature on its own.
- Network: If you select this reset option, 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: This reset clears all your personal settings and learning.
2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi
Connecting to Wi-Fi is important if you want the most use of its online features.
To connect your Nest to the internet:
- Open the Quick View menu by turning the thermostat ring.
- Select the Settings icon.
- Choose Network.
- After your Nest scans available networks, find your Wi-Fi and, if you have one, put in your password.
3. Does a Nest Thermostat Use a Battery and How Long Will the Battery Last?
Nest thermostats are powered indirectly through HVAC system, but they also include a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup in case of a power outage. According to Google, the maker of Nest, a Nest Thermostat battery last an average of several months. Recharge it with the USB cord that comes included.
4. Shutting Off a Nest Thermostat
If you won't be home for a while, it's a good idea to set your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode is another solid choice. The Off mode option deactivates your regular heating and cooling schedules, while maintaining existing Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting dangerously hot or cold.
To choose 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.
- You can also go to Mode from the main menu and select Off.
Off mode is available on the Google Home app as well:
- Select Thermostat from home screen
- Tap Temperature mode
- Select Off
5. Can Alexa Control 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. Can a Nest Thermostat Work Without Wi-Fi?
In short, yes. Your Nest Thermostat will still be able to adjust the temperatures without Wi-Fi. However, without Wi-Fi a Nest doesn’t have access to all the key features that most people enjoy.
7. Are You Able to 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.
A user can 'lock' the Nest to prevent others from adjusting the settings or changing the temperature outside of a preset range. This doesn't mean you're stuck with a single temperature—a locked Nest still has access to programmed settings—but simply prevents people from changing the settings.
To lock a Nest:
- Select the Settings icon, scroll to the bottom and locate the function listed as Lock.
- Enter a 4-digit pin number you can remember, and keep in mind this has to be entered twice.
- If locking in Heat or Cool mode, define your maximum and minimum temperature range and then tap 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. Controlling Your Nest Thermostat from a Phone
Nest thermostats can be controlled by your Google Home app, accessible through your phone as well as 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, if you have an advanced model, the Nest app to your phone.
- Hook up your Nest Thermostat.
- Open the Google Home app on your phone and complete the setup process, link to your new device and connect to Wi-Fi.
- Google has created a more comprehensive setup guide, for those needing extra assistance in connecting.
As soon as you've connected the Nest to your Home app, it's accessible by clicking Thermostat on the home screen. Once you do that, you can change your Nest temperature 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, select Thermostat before selecting Settings. Once there, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. This will display your preset Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. Choose the appropriate setting to change the temperature for that preset.
9. Making a Nest Thermostat Schedule
A Nest allows you to set temperatures schedules 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, can also be adjusted by using the Nest app.
There are two ways you can set up a schedule on your Nest:
- Quick Schedule: The Quick Schedule feature is based on the national average schedule for energy efficiency. As you complete your Nest's setup process, 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: To change the temperature presets on your Nest, open the Google Home app and press Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and select Edit. After the changes are complete, select Done.
For anyone wanting to edit their 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. How to Set a Temperature Range on a Nest Thermostat
You can set a temperature range on a Nest Thermostat in the Eco mode. A key part of this feature is the Nest's ability to adjust the temperature based on whether it detects you at home or not.
To create a custom temperature range in Eco mode, go to Settings and select Eco. The display will show any current “Heat to” and “Cool to” temperature settings. You can select each and make any and all adjustments. When complete, select Done.
11. What Should I Do If My Nest Thermostat Isn't Compatible?
Nest thermostats can be integrated with most heating and cooling systems. The maker of Nest, Google, has an online compatibility checker that shares questions concerning your location and current setup to determine which Nest model would be compatible with your system.
If you have a Nest and believe it’s not compatible with your system, consider reaching out to professionals for smart thermostat installation in Crystal and Twin Cities. Experienced technicians evaluate your system and, if your Nest is compatible, install it quick so you can jump right into the savings and convenience.
12. How Do 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.
Bear in mind, 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.
Setting your thermostat to manual controls can be accomplished with the following 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, 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: After you've cleared 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.
