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 — saving you money in the process.
That’s why more people are looking to add devices like a Nest to their homes. If you're interested in trying a Nest yourself, reach out to an expert for smart thermostat installation in Lake Worth.
From auto scheduling to energy efficiency monitoring, Nest helps make securing your sense of comfort effortless.
Curious to learn more? Take a look at 12 things you need to know about your Nest Thermostat.
1. How to Reset a Nest Thermostat
The first thing to know about resetting a Google Nest Thermostat is that there's a difference between a restart and a reset.
- Restart: Similar to restarting any electronic device, including your phone or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat means a quick off / on cycle. This maintains all your settings and is a step to take 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 when they’re moving to a new home 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 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 be presented with five options:
- Restart: Deactivates your Nest and reboots it while saving your settings. You can also press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it goes black, and then pull your hand away.
- Schedule: This type of reset clears any info about your temperature schedule—including for your hot water, if you've connected it to your Nest. With this option, you’ll have to input a new schedule or wait until the Nest learns your schedule.
- Away: This kind of reset removes anything your Nest has learned about how often you walk by, so that it can change the temperature accordingly.
- Network: If you select this reset option, it will remove all your network information and your Nest will no longer be connected to 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 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.
- Find the Settings icon.
- Select Network.
- As your Nest scans available networks, find your Wi-Fi and, if necessary, put in your password.
3. Does a Nest Thermostat Use a Battery and How Long Does It Last?
Nest thermostats are powered indirectly through HVAC system, but each one also features a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup in situations where the power cuts out. According to Google, who manufactures the thermostat, a Nest Thermostat battery should 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, consider setting your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode would be another 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 particularly 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. Will Alexa Work with a Nest Thermostat?
Yes, your Amazon Alexa can be used to control a Nest Thermostat. This voice control function is also available with Nest doorbells and cameras. And of course, you can use Google Assistant to control 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. At the same time, being disconnected from Wi-FI means the Nest doesn’t have access to all the key features that most people enjoy.
7. Can You Lock a Nest Thermostat?
When family members can't stop bickering over temperatures, Nest offers a handy feature that keeps things simple.
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 lock in a specific temperature—a locked Nest continues to use existing program settings—but simply prevents people from changing the settings.
To lock a Nest:
- Tap the Settings icon, scroll to the bottom and locate the function listed as Lock.
- Enter a 4-digit pin number you can remember, and then enter it twice.
- To lock your Nest in Heat or Cool mode, select 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. After you've entered the 4-digit pin, the Nest will be unlocked.
8. Adjusting a Nest Thermostat from Your Phone
A Nest Thermostat is controlled by the Google Home app, which is accessible on your phone or desktop 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.
- Connect your Nest Thermostat.
- Access 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, for those needing extra 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 and then select Settings. At this screen, press 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. How to Set a Nest Thermostat Schedule
A Nest allows you to set temperatures schedules 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, are also controllable with the Nest app.
The two easiest ways to schedule your Nest are:
- Quick Schedule: Quick Schedules are based on the national average schedule for energy efficiency. When you are setting up your Nest, the Google Home app enables you to set 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 will use.
- Temperature Presets: If you prefer other basic preset options, open the Google Home app and press Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and select Edit. As soon as you're finished making updates, 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. Your update won't be applied until you select Done.
10. Setting 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 customize the Nest 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 adjust them to your desired temperature. When complete, select Done.
11. What to Do if a Nest Thermostat Is Not Compatible
A Nest Thermostat is compatible with most HVAC systems. The maker of Nest, Google, has an online compatibility checker that presents a few questions related to 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 Lake Worth. 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. How Do I Manually Control My Nest Thermostat?
Nest Thermostats come with many features designed to make life more comfortable and save money. However, you have the ability to turn off the smart features if you want to control a Nest manually like a normal thermostat.
Take into account, 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 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 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.