A Nest Thermostat is the perfect way to keep your home comfortable, regardless of the season or weather. With a range of features and programs designed for maximum efficiency, convenience and comfort, a Nest Thermostat is an excellent choice to help you manage your energy use — keeping costs down 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, call your nearest expert for smart thermostat installation in Los Angeles.
From auto scheduling to monitoring your home’s energy efficiency, Nest helps make controlling the climate of your home 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
A key piece of information to know about resetting a Google Nest Thermostat is the 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: Conversely, resetting eliminates most if not all of your preferred settings. For the most part, homeowners will perform a reset as they're moving into a new house and bringing the thermostat with them, or if they're moving out and prefer to erase all personal info from the Nest before leaving it behind for the next resident.
To initiate a reset, it helps to record existing temperature settings so they're still available if you forget or erase them. Next, go to Settings -> Equipment and write down the details about your system wires, heating type and safety temperature settings.
After writing down this information, go to Settings, select Reset and press. You will be presented with five options:
- Restart: Deactivates your Nest before rebooting it with your settings. Another way to restart is to press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it turns black, and then pull your hand away.
- Schedule: This type of reset clears your entire temperature schedule—including for your hot water, if you've connected it to your Nest. By choosing this kind of reset, 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 that it can update the temperature on its own.
- 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 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.
- Press Network.
- After your Nest is finished scanning for local networks, find your Wi-Fi and, if needed, put in your password.
3. Does a Nest Thermostat Have a Battery and How Long Does It Last?
Nest thermostats are powered indirectly through HVAC system, but they also include 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 last an average of several months. Recharge it with the USB cord that comes included.
4. Shutting Off a Nest Thermostat
If you plan on being away for a couple weeks, 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 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.
- 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. Is Alexa Compatible 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. You can even operate a Nest Thermostat with Google Assistant.
6. Can a Nest Thermostat Function Without Wi-Fi?
In short, yes. Your Nest Thermostat will still be able to adjust the temperatures without Wi-Fi. However, a lack of an internet connection means your 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.
Nest has a locking feature that allows a user 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.
If you want to lock your Nest:
- Press the Settings icon, scroll to the bottom and tap on 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.
To unlock a Nest, open the settings and choose Unlock. As soon as you've provided your 4-digit pin, the Nest will be unlocked.
8. How to Control a Nest Thermostat from Your Phone
A Nest Thermostat is controlled by the Google Home app, which is accessible on your phone as well as 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 control 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.
- Hook up 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, for those needing extra assistance in connecting.
Once you’ve added your Nest to your Home app, it's accessible 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. Once there, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. The display will show your preferred Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. By selecting one of those three options, you can change the temperature for that preset.
9. Setting 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, can also be adjusted by using the Nest app.
There are two ways you can set up a schedule on your Nest:
- Quick Schedule: A Quick Schedule will be based on the national average schedule for more energy-efficient use. When you are setting up your Nest, the Google Home app gives you the option to change the temperature with a schedule. If you choose that option, 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: If you prefer other basic preset options, 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. Find the time of week you want to add a temperature to. Once you pick the day, 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
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. 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
Nest thermostats are compatible with most heating and cooling systems. Google, Nest's manufacturer, has an online compatibility checker that asks a series of questions about 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, it’s best to reach out to a professional for smart thermostat installation in Los Angeles. 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 increase comfort and decrease costs. However, you have the ability 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're eliminating 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, 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: 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.