12 Things You Need to Know About Your Nest Thermostat

That’s why more homeowners are considering adding devices like a Nest into their home. If you're interested in trying a Nest yourself, call your nearest expert for smart thermostat installation in Laurel.

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

Want all the details? Take some time to review these 12 things you should know about your Nest Thermostat.

1. Resetting Your 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: A common feature in consumer electronics, including your tablet or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat turns it off before starting it right back up again. This maintains all your settings and is a step to take if your Nest is frozen or not connecting to Wi-Fi.
• Reset: A reset erases some or all of your settings. People normally only use 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 behind for the next resident.

To initiate a reset, first write down your temperature settings so they're still available if you forget or erase them. Next, locate 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 before rebooting it with your settings. Another method is to press the outside of the Nest and hold it down for a few seconds until it goes black, at which point you can remove your hand.
• Schedule: This reset setting clears your entire temperature schedule—including for your hot water, if you've connected it to your Nest. With this option, you’ll have to input a new schedule or wait while your Nest learns your schedule.
• Away: An Away 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: 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 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:

• Access the Quick View menu. This is done by turning the thermostat's outer ring.
• Select the Settings icon.
• Press Network.
• As your Nest is finished scanning for local networks, locate your Wi-Fi and, if you have one, put in your password.

3. Does a Nest Thermostat Have a Battery and How Long Will the Battery Last?

Nest thermostats are powered indirectly through HVAC system, but they also include a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup in case of a power outage. According to Google, who manufactures the thermostat, a Nest Thermostat battery last an average of 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 won't be home for a while, consider setting your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode is another solid choice. Off mode shuts down all your regular heating and cooling schedules, while maintaining existing Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting especially 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 can even be accessed from your Google Home app:

• Select Thermostat from home screen
• Tap Temperature mode
• Select Off

5. Can Alexa Control a Nest Thermostat?

Yes, Amazon's Alexa is compatible with 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. Can a Nest Thermostat Function Without Wi-Fi?

In short, yes. Your Nest Thermostat can still control temperatures even without Wi-Fi. However, 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 can help you bring a little order back to your household.

Users can lock the Nest to prevent others from adjusting the settings or changing the temperature outside of a preset range. This doesn't mean you're stuck with a single temperature—a locked Nest will still continue to run the programmed settings—but simply prevents people from 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 keep in mind this has to be entered twice.
• For locking a Nest in Heat or Cool mode, fine-tune your maximum and minimum temperature range and then press Lock at the bottom of the screen.

To unlock a Nest, open the settings and choose Unlock. Once you enter your 4-digit pin, your device will be unlocked.

8. How to Control a Nest Thermostat from Your Phone

You can control the Nest through your Google Home app, accessible through 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 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.
• Hook up 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, 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, 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, choose 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. By selecting one of those three options, you can change the temperature for that preset.

9. Making a Nest Thermostat Schedule

Your Nest allows you to schedule temperature programming 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, can also be adjusted by using the Nest app.

The two easiest ways to schedule your Nest are:

• Quick Schedule: A Quick Schedule will be based on the national average schedule for energy efficiency. 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 presents a preset schedule for you to customize as you wish. Once setup is complete, that’s the schedule it uses.
• Temperature presets: If you prefer other basic preset options, open the Google Home app and select Thermostat. Then, tap presets and choose Edit. As soon as you're finished making updates, 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. You can then pick the day of the week that you want to add a temperature. 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. 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 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 make any and all adjustments. Once you're finished, select Done.

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

Nest thermostats are compatible with most heating and cooling systems. The maker of Nest, Google, offers a compatibility tool that asks a series of questions about your location and current setup to learn which Nest model works 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 Laurel. 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. How Do I Manually Control My Nest Thermostat?

Nest Thermostats are packed with features designed to improve comfort while keeping costs low. However, you can actually turn off the smart features if you want to control a Nest manually like a normal thermostat.

Remember, by doing this you clear all your temperature schedules and your Nest will work like any other thermostat—it will display the temperature and let you change the temperature, 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 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: 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.