A Nest Thermostat is the perfect way to keep 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. If you want to put in a Nest for your own home, reach out to an expert for smart thermostat installation in Lexington.
From automated scheduling to monitoring your home’s energy efficiency, Nest is designed to make securing your sense of comfort 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
A key piece of information 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 simply turns it off and then back on. 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. 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 any personal details from the Nest before leaving it for the next homeowner.
To initiate a reset, first write down your temperature settings so you have them if they get erased. 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 then have five options:
- Restart: Shuts your Nest down before rebooting it with your settings. Another method is to press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it goes black, at which point you can remove your hand.
- Schedule: This type of 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: This kind of reset gets rid of any programming your Nest has picked up 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. Use this option if you want your Nest to forget your Wi-Fi password.
- All Settings: Self-explanatory, an All Settings reset clears all your personal settings and learning.
2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi
Staying connected to your Wi-Fi 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.
- Locate the Settings icon.
- Choose Network.
- Once your Nest scans available 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 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, Nest's manufacturer, a Nest Thermostat battery should last several months. The Nest's battery is rechargable with a USB cable included with the thermostat.
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 would be another option. Off mode shuts down all your regular heating and cooling schedules, while maintaining existing Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting dangerously hot or cold.
To select Off mode on the thermostat:
- Hold the touch bar until the display reads “Turn Off” before sliding 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. Can Alexa Control a Nest Thermostat?
Yes, you can use Amazon Alexa to control a Nest Thermostat. Alexa voice controls are also available with Nest doorbells and cameras. And of course, you can use Google Assistant to control your Nest.
6. Will My Nest Thermostat Function Without Wi-Fi?
Yes, your Nest Thermostat will still be able to adjust the temperatures without Wi-Fi. At the same time, a lack of an internet connection means your Nest doesn’t have access to all the key features that most people enjoy.
7. Are You Able to Lock a Nest Thermostat?
When family members can't stop bickering over temperatures, Nest has a function to give you the upper hand.
A user can 'lock' the Nest to prevent others from adjusting the settings or changing the temperature outside of a preset range. This won't mean you have to make do with just one temperature—a locked Nest continues to use existing program settings—but simply prevents other users from constantly changing the settings.
To lock a 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 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 press Lock at the bottom of the screen.
When you're ready to unlock the Nest, open the settings and choose Unlock. As soon as you've provided your 4-digit pin, your device will be unlocked.
8. Adjusting a Nest Thermostat from a Phone
You can control the Nest through your Google Home app, accessible through your phone or desktop computer. Other versions of Nest, including the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat, are also controllable through the Nest app.
Before you can control 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.
- Open 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.
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, making adjustments is done by dragging your finger along the screen or tapping on a plus or minus sign.
The preset temperatures on your Nest can also be changed from the app. From the home screen, find your Thermostat and then select Settings. At this screen, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. The display will show your preferred Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. Choose the appropriate setting 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.
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 more energy-efficient use. 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 presents a preset schedule before letting you customize it. Once setup is complete, that’s the schedule it uses.
- Temperature Presets: To change the temperature presets on your Nest, open the Google Home app and press Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and choose Edit. After the changes are complete, select Done.
If you already have a schedule and want to change it, 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. Your update won't be applied until you select Done.
10. How to Set a Temperature Range on a Nest Thermostat
The Nest features an Eco mode ideal for setting custom temperature ranges. 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. That should display the 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 are compatible with most HVAC systems. Google, Nest's manufacturer, features a compatibility checking tool that shares questions concerning your location and current setup to determine which Nest model is compatible with your system.
If you don't think your Nest is compatible with your system, you should get in touch with local pros for smart thermostat installation in Lexington. 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 are loaded with innovative features designed to improve comfort while keeping costs low. However, you can actually 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 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.
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 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.
