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 a range of features and programs designed for maximum efficiency, convenience and comfort, a Nest Thermostat is an easy way to manage your energy use — keeping costs down in the process.

That’s why more homeowners are considering adding devices like a Nest into their home. To add one to your home, call your nearest expert for smart thermostat installation in McKinney and Frisco.

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

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

1. Resetting Your Nest Thermostat

One of the first things to know about resetting a Google Nest Thermostat is the difference between a restart and a reset.

• 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 preserves current settings and should be attempted 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. In most cases, people resort to a reset as they're moving into a new house and bringing the thermostat with them, or if they just want to erase their personal information from the Nest before leaving it for the next homeowner.

If you want to perform a reset, it helps to record existing 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 can choose from five options:

• Restart: Turns your Nest off and reboots it while saving your settings. You can also press the outside of the Nest and hold it down for a few seconds until it goes black, and then pull your hand away.
• Schedule: This reset clears all scheduling information—including for your hot water, if you have that programmed into your Nest. With this option, you’ll have to input a new schedule or wait while your Nest learns your schedule.
• Away: This kind of reset erases all the information your Nest has learned about how often you walk by, so it will be able to change the temperature even when you're not around.
• Network: If you select this reset option, it will remove all your network information and your Nest is disconnected from Wi-Fi. It also forgets your Wi-Fi password.
• All Settings: This reset 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.
• Choose Network.
• Once your Nest has scanned nearby networks, select your Wi-Fi and, if necessary, enter 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 they also include a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup in case of a power outage. According to Google, Nest's manufacturer, 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 aren’t going to be in your home for a long time, it's a good idea to set your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode is another solid choice. Using Off mode will turn off all of your regular heating and cooling schedules, while maintaining existing Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting particularly hot or cold.

To choose 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.
• You can also go to Mode from the main menu 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, you can use Amazon Alexa to control a Nest Thermostat. Alexa can also be integrated with 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 Function Without Wi-Fi?

Yes, your Nest Thermostat can still control temperatures even without Wi-Fi. At the same time, without Wi-Fi a Nest doesn’t have the smart thermostat functions that most people enjoy.

7. Can You Lock a Nest Thermostat?

If different members of your family can't agree on the ideal temperature, Nest offers a handy feature that keeps things simple.

Nest has a locking feature that allows a user 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 will still continue to run the programmed settings—but simply prevents people from changing the settings.

To lock a Nest:

• Select the Settings icon, scroll to the bottom and find Lock.
• Enter a 4-digit pin number you can remember, and keep in mind this has to be entered twice.
• For locking a Nest in Heat or Cool mode, select 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. As soon as you've provided your 4-digit pin, the Nest will be unlocked.

8. Adjusting a Nest Thermostat from a Phone

Nest thermostats can be controlled by your Google Home app, accessible through your phone or other smart device, including a computer. Other versions of Nest, including the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat, are also controllable through 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.
• Plug in 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.

Once you’ve added your 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 before selecting Settings. At this screen, select 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. Making 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.

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

• Quick Schedule: The Quick Schedule feature is based on the national average schedule for energy efficiency. As you complete your Nest's setup process, 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. After you've made all your choices, 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 select 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. 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

Your Nest's Eco mode is great for setting temperature ranges. Your Nest will adjust the temperature depending on if you're at home or away.

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. When complete, select Done.

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

Nest thermostats can be integrated with most heating and cooling systems. The maker of Nest, Google, has an online compatibility checker that shares questions concerning your location and existing setup to learn which Nest model is compatible with your system.

If you don't think your Nest is compatible with your system, consider reaching out to professionals for smart thermostat installation in McKinney and Frisco. Experienced technicians 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 improve comfort while keeping costs low. However, you have the ability to turn off the smart features if you prefer manual controls similar to normal thermostats.

Don't forget, by doing this you are turning off all of your temperature schedules and your Nest will 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 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.