12 Things You Need to Know About Your Nest Thermostat

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 the perfect solution if you want to manage your energy use — saving you money in the process.

That’s why more people are looking to add devices like a Nest into their home. If you're interested in trying a Nest yourself, get in touch with an expert for smart thermostat installation in Pocatello.

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

Curious to learn more? Take a look at 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 that there's a difference between a restart and a reset.

• 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 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. For the most part, homeowners will perform a reset as they're moving homes 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 for the next homeowner.

To reset, it doesn't hurt to write down current temperature settings so they're still available if you forget or erase them. Next, find 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 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 turns black, and then pull your hand away.
• Schedule: This reset setting clears any info about your temperature schedule—including for your hot water, if that has been connected to your Nest. If you choose this, you’ll have to input a new schedule or wait while your Nest learns your schedule.
• Away: An Away reset gets rid of any programming your Nest has picked up 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 erases connection info and your Nest can no longer connect to Wi-Fi. It also forgets your Wi-Fi password.
• All Settings: The most far-reaching option, using the All Settings reset option strips away all your personal settings and learning.

2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi

A stable internet connection 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.
• Select Network.
• As your Nest scans available networks, select your Wi-Fi and, if necessary, 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 also have a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup in case of a power outage. According to Google, Nest's manufacturer, 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 plan on being away for a couple weeks, you can set your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode would be another 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 select Off mode on the thermostat:

• Hold the touch bar until the display reads “Turn Off” and then slide 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, Amazon's Alexa is compatible with a Nest Thermostat. Alexa can also be integrated with with Nest doorbells and cameras. You can even operate a Nest Thermostat with Google Assistant.

6. Can a Nest Thermostat Function Without Wi-Fi?

Yes, your Nest Thermostat can still control temperatures even without Wi-Fi. That being said, a lack of an internet connection means your Nest doesn’t have the smart thermostat 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 has a function to give you the upper hand.

Users can lock the Nest 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:

• Tap 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.
• To lock your Nest in Heat or Cool mode, fine-tune your maximum and minimum temperature range before tapping 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

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, 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, 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.
• Plug in your Nest Thermostat.
• Start 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.
• There is a guided setup tool on Google, if you prefer additional assistance in connecting.

As soon as you've connected the Nest to your Home app, it's accessible 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 app also allows you to change the Nest's preset temperatures. From the home screen, find your Thermostat before selecting Settings. Once there, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. This will display your preset Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. Select one of these options 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.

The two easiest ways to schedule your Nest are:

• Quick Schedule: Quick Schedules are based on the national average schedule for more energy-efficient use. When you are setting up your Nest, the Google Home app allows you to change the temperature with a schedule. If you choose that option, it displays a preset schedule and allows you to make changes. Once setup is complete, that’s the schedule it will use.
• Temperature Presets: If you prefer other basic preset options, open the Google Home app and press Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and select Edit. As soon as you're finished making updates, select Done.

For anyone wanting to edit their 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 select the preset you want. Finally, select Time before touching and dragging the numbers to change the time. Select Done to save changes.

10. How to Set 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 display will show any current “Heat to” and “Cool to” temperature settings. You can select each and make your preferred changes. When complete, select Done.

11. What to Do if a Nest Thermostat Is Not Compatible

Nest thermostats are compatible with most HVAC systems. The maker of Nest, Google, features a compatibility checking tool that presents a few questions related to your location and current setup to determine which Nest model is compatible with your system.

If you have a Nest and believe it’s not compatible with your system, consider reaching out to professionals for smart thermostat installation in Pocatello. Technicians with the proper experience can assess 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 packed with features designed to make life more comfortable and save money. However, there is a way to turn off the smart features if you want to control a Nest manually like a normal thermostat.

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 you to make 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 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: 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.