12 Things You Need to Know About Your Nest Thermostat

A Nest Thermostat is the perfect way to keep your home comfortable, regardless of the season or weather. With a number of innovative features meant to maximize 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. If you're interested in trying a Nest yourself, reach out to an expert for smart thermostat installation in Heflin.

With everything from automatic scheduling to monitoring your home’s energy efficiency, Nest makes securing your sense of comfort effortless.

Want all the details? Take a look at 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 that resetting is different from restarting.

• Restart: This process is similar across most electronics, including your phone or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat simply turns it off and then back on. 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. 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 their personal information from the Nest before leaving it behind for the next resident.

To initiate a reset, first write down your temperature settings so you have them if they get erased. Next, find Settings -> Equipment and write down the details about your system wires, heating type and safety temperature settings.

Then, to manually restart or reset your Nest, go to Settings, select Reset and press. You can choose from five options:

• Restart: Shuts your Nest down and reboots it while saving your settings. You can also press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it turns black, at which point you can remove your hand.
• Schedule: This reset clears any info about your temperature schedule—including for your hot water, if you have that programmed into your Nest. With this option, you’ll need to create 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 change the temperature accordingly.
• Network: With a network reset, it will remove all your network information 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

A stable internet connection is important to getting the most out of your Nest.

To connect your Nest to the internet:

• Open the Quick View menu by turning the thermostat ring.
• Find the Settings icon.
• Select Network.
• After your Nest scans available networks, locate your Wi-Fi and, if necessary, put in your password.

3. Does a Nest Thermostat Use a Battery and How Long Will the Battery Last?

Nest thermostats get the power they need directly from your HVAC system, but also have a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup power in case of an outage. According to Google, the maker of Nest, a Nest Thermostat battery will generally last several months. It can be recharged using a USB charger that comes with the Nest.

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. Off mode shuts down all your regular heating and cooling schedules, although the Nest will still use your Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting particularly hot or cold.

To select 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, 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?

The good news is that a Nest Thermostat can control the temperature of your home without Wi-Fi. That being said, being disconnected from Wi-FI means the Nest doesn’t have the ability to use the smart functions 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 offers a handy feature that keeps things simple.

A user can 'lock' the Nest to keep it from making any adjustments outside of a preset range. This doesn’t lock in a specific temperature—a locked Nest still has access to programmed settings—but simply prevents other users from constantly changing the settings.

To lock a 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, define your maximum and minimum temperature range and then press Lock at the bottom of the screen.

When you're ready to unlock the Nest, open the settings and choose Unlock. Once you enter your 4-digit pin, the Nest will be unlocked.

8. How to Control a Nest Thermostat from a Phone

Nest thermostats can be controlled by your Google Home app, which can be accessed from your phone as well as a computer. Other versions of Nest, including the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat, can also be controlled remotely by 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.
• Plug in your Nest Thermostat.
• Access 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.

Once you’ve added your Nest to your Home app, you can access 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.

The app also allows you to change the Nest's preset temperatures. From the home screen, choose Thermostat before selecting Settings. Once there, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. This will display your preset Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. Select one of these options to change the temperature for that preset.

9. How to Set a Nest Thermostat Schedule

Your Nest allows you to schedule temperature programming 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.

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. As you set the thermostat up, the Google Home app enables you to set the temperature with a schedule. If you choose that option, it displays a preset schedule before letting you customize it. Once setup is complete, that’s the schedule it will use.
• Temperature Presets: If you prefer other basic preset options, open the Google Home app and press 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. Once you pick the day, 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 create a custom 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 make any and all adjustments. Once you're finished, select Done.

11. What Should I Do If My Nest Thermostat Isn't Compatible?

Nest thermostats are compatible with most HVAC systems. The maker of Nest, Google, has an online compatibility checker that shares questions concerning 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, it’s best to reach out to a professional for smart thermostat installation in Heflin. 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 are packed with features designed to make life more comfortable and save money. However, there is a way 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 allow you to make 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 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.