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Why Your Nest Thermostat Isn't Running Right and How to Repair It

April 13, 2021

The Nest thermostat is one of the most popular smart thermostats you can buy. And for good reason. It picks up on your temperature preferences and makes an energy-efficient schedule to match. And by geofencing with your phone, the Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest E know when you’re at your residence or out and about and can raise and lower settings to help you save even more.

The Nest is compatible with a wide range of 24-volt heating and cooling systems, but it’s always a wise idea to check the Nest thermostat compatibility checker before purchasing one. Don’t forget to talk with your energy supplier for valuable rebates, because you might be able to get a Nest for free or close to it.

Once you’ve made sure it’s compatible, you can either install it without help or call a HVAC professional like AZ Air Conditioning and Heating. If you’re wiring it yourself, you’ll see a terminal for the C-wire, or common wire. This wire is solely used for powering your thermostat. If your house or HVAC system is older, you might not have one of these wires. Most of the time, Nest says this isn’t a setback since the thermostat can get ample power from other heating and cooling wires.

In some cases, your heating and cooling system could have to have that C-wire. And here’s why.

Why Your Nest Keeps Losing Power and Other Issues

The Google Nest Thermostat is a step up from older programmable thermostats that have a combination of wiring and AA batteries for power. It has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and wiring to link to Wi-Fi, power its digital display and operate your heating and cooling system.

8 Common Nest Thermostat Issues

If it can’t get enough juice, Nest says you might run into some of these issues:

  1. Poor battery life.
  2. Thermostat motion sensing won’t work.
  3. Your thermostat every now and then disconnects from Wi-Fi.
  4. Your system unexpectedly turns on or off, or won’t stop running.
  5. Your system is making weird noises, such as chattering, stuttering, clicking or thumping.
  6. Heating or cooling is short cycling, or repeatedly turning on and off in a short period of time.
  7. There is a delay notice on your Nest thermostat’s screen, along the lines of “heating is delayed for 2:30 minutes.”
  8. The system fan is always on, won’t turn on or turns off and on frequently in a short period of time.

You may believe something is up with your heating and cooling system, but if you just got the Nest, we recommend you begin with your thermostat first. This is especially pertinent if the weather is moderate, and you haven’t been running your heat or air conditioning much.

Our Pros Can Resolve Nest Thermostat Problems

If you’ve gone through Nest thermostat troubleshooting without help but can’t repair the problem, a smart thermostat pro including one from AZ Air Conditioning and Heating can provide support. We can determine the problem and install a C-wire, if necessary.

Smart thermostats like the Nest are created to make your life easier, through automatic energy-efficient programming and the ability to keep an eye on temperatures while you’re on the go. It’s a frustrating experience when yours won’t operate like it should, but our heating and cooling specialists at AZ Air Conditioning and Heating can fix the problem fast.

If you’re going through strange heating and cooling behavior with your new Nest, call us at 800-296-5088 to book your appointment now.