12 Things to Learn About Nest Thermostats

A Nest Thermostat is an excellent tool for keeping your home comfortable, no matter what the season or weather. With features designed around maximizing 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 homeowners are considering adding devices like a Nest to their HVAC system. To add one to your home, reach out to an expert for smart thermostat installation in The Bay Area.

From auto scheduling to optimizing energy efficiency, Nest makes home climate control effortless.

Curious to learn more? Take some time to review these 12 things you should know about your Nest Thermostat.

1. Resetting Your Nest Thermostat

The first thing to know about resetting a Google Nest Thermostat is the difference between a restart and a reset.

• Restart: This process is similar across most electronics, including your phone or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat means a quick off / on cycle. This records your existing thermostat settings, ad can reapply them once you're done confirming 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 when they’re moving to a new home and bringing the thermostat with them, or if they are moving out and want to erase any personal details from the Nest before leaving it for the next homeowner.

If you want to perform a reset, first write down your temperature settings so reapplying them is faster. Next, locate Settings -> Equipment and record 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 before rebooting it with 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 that has been connected to your Nest. If you choose this, you’ll need to create a new schedule or wait until the Nest learns your schedule.
• Away: This kind of reset 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: By selecting a network reset, it erases connection info and your Nest is disconnected from Wi-Fi. It also forgets your Wi-Fi password.
• All Settings: This reset strips away all your personal settings and learning.

2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi

A stable internet connection is important for making the most of your Nest's features.

To connect your Nest to the internet:

• Access the Quick View menu. This is done by turning the thermostat's outer ring.
• Select the Settings icon.
• Choose Network.
• As your Nest scans available networks, select your Wi-Fi and, if necessary, put in your password.

3. Does a Nest Thermostat Have 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 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. Shutting Off a Nest Thermostat

If you plan on being away for a couple weeks, it's a good idea to set your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode would be another option. 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.
• Or, from the main menu, go to Mode 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. 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. Will My Nest Thermostat Work Without Wi-Fi?

In short, yes. Your Nest Thermostat can control the temperature of your home 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?

When family members can't stop bickering over temperatures, Nest can help you bring a little order back to your household.

Nest has a locking feature that allows a user to keep it from making any adjustments outside of a preset range. This doesn't mean you're stuck with a single temperature—a locked Nest continues to use existing program settings—but simply prevents other users from constantly changing the settings.

To lock a Nest:

• Tap the Settings icon, scroll to the bottom and find Lock.
• Enter a 4-digit pin number you can remember, and then enter it twice.
• For locking a Nest in Heat or Cool mode, fine-tune your maximum and minimum temperature range and then tap Lock at the bottom of the screen.

For unlocking it, open the settings and choose Unlock. Once you enter your 4-digit pin, your device will be unlocked.

8. Controlling Your Nest Thermostat from Your Phone

You can control the Nest through your Google Home app, which is accessible on 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, with premium Nest models, the Nest app to your phone.
• Connect 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.
• 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 find and adjust it 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.

You also can change preset Nest temperatures on the app. From the home screen, find your Thermostat before selecting Settings. Once there, press Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. Current presets for Comfort, Eco and Sleep modes will be displayed. Select one of these options to change the temperature for that preset.

9. Creating 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.

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 energy efficiency. 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 will show a preset schedule before letting you customize it. After you've made all your choices, that’s the schedule it uses.
• Temperature Presets: If you prefer other basic preset options, open the Google Home app and select Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and choose Edit. Once you’ve made the changes, select Done.

For anyone wanting to edit their schedule, open the Google Home app, select Thermostat and then tap on Schedules. You can then pick the day of the week that you want to add a temperature. After the day is selected, tap Add and find 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

You can set a temperature range on a Nest Thermostat in the Eco mode. 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 display will show any current “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 to Do if a Nest Thermostat Is Not Compatible

Nest thermostats can be integrated with most heating and cooling systems. The maker of Nest, Google, features a compatibility checking tool that presents a few questions related to your location and existing setup to see which Nest model works with your system.

If you don't think your Nest is compatible with your system, it’s best to reach out to a professional for smart thermostat installation in The Bay Area. An experienced technician will be able to evaluate 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 come with many features designed to increase comfort and decrease costs. However, you can actually turn off the smart features if you prefer manual controls similar to normal thermostats.

Remember, by doing this you clear all your temperature schedules and letting the Nest 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, 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: 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.