12 Things You'll Want 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 features designed around maximizing 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 people are looking to add devices like a Nest to their HVAC system. If you want to put in a Nest for your own home, call your nearest expert for smart thermostat installation in Lincoln.

From automated scheduling to optimizing energy efficiency, Nest helps 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. How to Reset a Nest Thermostat

A key piece of information to know about resetting a Google Nest Thermostat is that there's a difference between a restart and a reset.

• Restart: A common feature in consumer electronics, including your phone or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat means a quick off / on cycle. 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: A more drastic function, a reset should restore your Nest to its original settings from the manufacturer. People normally only use 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 behind for the next resident.

To initiate a reset, first write down your temperature settings so you have them if they get erased. Next, go to Settings -> Equipment and write down the details about your system wires, heating type and safety temperature settings.

Once you have recorded your preferences, go to Settings, select Reset and press. You can choose from five options:

• Restart: Deactivates your Nest before rebooting it with your settings. You can also press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it goes black, and then pull your hand away.
• Schedule: This reset clears all scheduling information—including for your hot water, if that has been connected to your Nest. If you choose this, you’ll need to create a new schedule or wait while your Nest learns your schedule.
• Away: Choosing this reset option removes anything your Nest has learned about how often you walk by, so that it can change the temperature accordingly.
• Network: If you select this reset option, it erases connection info and your Nest will no longer be connected to Wi-Fi. Use this option if you want your Nest to forget your Wi-Fi password.
• All Settings: This reset clears all your personal settings and learning.

2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi

Connecting to Wi-Fi is important if you want the most use of its online features.

To connect your Nest to the internet:

• Turn the thermostat ring to the Quick View menu.
• Select the Settings icon.
• Press Network.
• Once your Nest scans available networks, locate your Wi-Fi and, if you have one, 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 also have a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup in situations where the power cuts out. According to Google, the maker of Nest, a Nest Thermostat battery should last several months. Recharge it with the USB cord that comes included.

4. Shutting Off a Nest Thermostat

If you won't be home for a while, you can set your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode is another solid choice. The Off mode option deactivates your regular heating and cooling schedules, although the Nest will still use your Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting especially hot or cold.

To find Off mode on the thermostat:

• Press and hold the touch bar until it displays “Turn Off” and then slide 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 is available on the Google Home app as well:

• 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. Alexa voice controls are also available 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 Work Without Wi-Fi?

The good news is that a 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. Can You Lock a Nest Thermostat?

When family members can't stop bickering over temperatures, Nest has a function to give you the upper hand.

Nest has a locking feature that allows a user to stop any temperature adjustments outside of a preset range. This won't mean you have to make do with just one temperature—a locked Nest still has access to programmed settings—but simply keeps these settings from being changed.

To lock a Nest:

• Select 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.
• To lock your Nest in Heat or Cool mode, select 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. After you've entered the 4-digit pin, your device will be unlocked.

8. Adjusting a Nest Thermostat from Your Phone

A Nest Thermostat is controlled by the Google Home app, which can be accessed from your phone as well as a computer. Other versions of Nest, including the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat, can also be controlled remotely by the Nest app.

Before you can control 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.
• Connect your Nest Thermostat.
• Access 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, for those needing extra assistance in connecting.

Once you’ve added your Nest to your Home app, you can access it by clicking Thermostat on the home screen. Once you do that, you can make changes to the temperature by dragging your finger along the screen or tapping on a plus or minus sign.

You also can change preset Nest temperatures on the app. From the home screen, choose Thermostat and then select Settings. At this screen, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. Current presets for Comfort, Eco and Sleep modes will be displayed. Choose the appropriate setting to change the temperature for that preset.

9. Creating 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.

There are two ways you can set up a schedule on your Nest:

• 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 enables you to set the temperature with a schedule. When choosing this 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: For changing the Nest's preset temperatures, open the Google Home app and select Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and choose 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. Choose the day of the week where you want to make changes. 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. How to Set a Temperature Range on a Nest Thermostat

The Nest features an Eco mode ideal for setting custom temperature ranges. This is a function that adjusts the temperature in your home depending on if anyone is in the residence or if it is empty.

To access Eco mode for customized temperature ranges, 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 your preferred changes. Once you're finished, select Done.

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

A Nest Thermostat is compatible with most HVAC systems. Google, Nest's manufacturer, offers a compatibility tool that asks a series of questions about your location and existing setup to learn which Nest model would be compatible with your system.

If you don't think your Nest is compatible with your system, you should get in touch with local pros for smart thermostat installation in Lincoln. 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 want to control a Nest manually like a normal thermostat.

Remember, by doing this you are turning off all of your temperature schedules and letting the Nest 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, and select 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.