12 Things You'll Want to Know About Your Nest Thermostat

A Nest Thermostat is the perfect way to keep your home comfortable, no matter what the season or weather. With a number of innovative features meant to maximize efficiency, convenience and comfort, a Nest Thermostat is the perfect solution if you want to 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 HVAC system. To add one to your home, call your nearest expert for smart thermostat installation in Holbrook.

From automated scheduling to optimizing energy efficiency, Nest is designed to make controlling the climate of your home effortless.

Want all the details? Take some time to review these 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: Similar to restarting any electronic device, including your phone or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat turns it off before starting it right back up again. This preserves current settings and should be attempted if your Nest is frozen or not connecting to Wi-Fi.
• Reset: Conversely, resetting eliminates most if not all of your preferred settings. People normally only use a reset as they're moving homes and bringing the thermostat with them, or if they're moving out and prefer to erase any personal details from the Nest before leaving it behind for the next resident.

If you want to perform a reset, it doesn't hurt to write down current 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.

Then, to manually restart or reset your Nest, 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. 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 any info about your temperature schedule—including for your hot water, if you've connected it to your Nest. If you choose this, you’ll be given the chance to plan out 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 that it can change the temperature accordingly.
• Network: With a network reset, it forgets connection logins and your Nest is disconnected from Wi-Fi. Use this option if you want your Nest to forget your Wi-Fi password.
• All Settings: The most far-reaching option, using the All Settings reset option removes all your personal settings and learning.

2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi

Staying connected to your Wi-Fi is important for making the most of your Nest's features.

To connect your Nest to the internet:

• Turn the thermostat ring to the Quick View menu.
• Select the Settings icon.
• Press Network.
• After your Nest is finished scanning for local networks, select your Wi-Fi and, if needed, 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 situations where the power cuts out. According to Google, the maker of Nest, a Nest Thermostat battery should 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, you can 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, while maintaining existing Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting dangerously hot or cold.

To find Off mode on the thermostat:

• Press and hold the touch bar until it displays “Turn Off” before sliding 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. This voice control function is also available with Nest doorbells and cameras. You can even operate a Nest Thermostat with Google Assistant.

6. Will My Nest Thermostat Function 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. Can You 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.

Nest has a locking feature that allows a user to keep it from making any adjustments outside of a preset range. This won't mean you have to make do with just one temperature—a locked Nest still has access to programmed settings—but simply keeps these settings from being changed.

If you want to lock your Nest:

• Press 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.
• If locking in Heat or Cool mode, define your maximum and minimum temperature range and then tap Lock at the bottom of the screen.

When you're ready to unlock the Nest, open the settings and choose Unlock. After you've entered the 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 or desktop 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, 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.
• Connect your Nest Thermostat.
• Open 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 would like more assistance in connecting.

As soon as you've connected the 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, select Thermostat before selecting Settings. At this screen, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. Current presets for Comfort, Eco and Sleep modes will be displayed. Choose the appropriate setting to change the temperature for that preset.

9. Setting 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, also can be controlled via the Nest app.

You have two primary ways to establish a temperature schedule on a Nest Thermostat:

• Quick Schedule: Quick Schedules are based on the national average schedule for energy efficiency. As you complete your Nest's setup process, the Google Home app gives you the option to change the temperature with a schedule. If you choose that option, it will show a preset schedule before letting you customize it. Once setup is complete, that’s the schedule it will use.
• Temperature Presets: To change the temperature presets on your Nest, open the Google Home app and select Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and choose Edit. As soon as you're finished making updates, select Done.

To make tweaks or changes to your current 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. 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. 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 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. 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 shares questions concerning your location and current setup to learn which Nest model would be compatible with your system.

If you have a Nest and believe it’s not compatible with your system, you should get in touch with local pros for smart thermostat installation in Holbrook. 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, there is a way to turn off the smart features if you prefer to control your Nest like it's a normal thermostat.

Take into account, by doing this you clear all your temperature schedules and letting the Nest work like any other thermostat—it will display the temperature and let you change the temperature, 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, 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.