12 Things You'll Want to Know About Your Nest Thermostat

A Nest Thermostat is an excellent tool for keeping 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 easy way to manage your energy use — saving you money in the process.

That’s why more people are looking to add devices like a Nest to their HVAC system. To add one to your home, call your nearest expert for smart thermostat installation in Muldrow.

With everything from automatic scheduling to energy efficiency monitoring, Nest is designed to make home climate control effortless.

Curious to learn more? Here’s a look at 12 things you should know about your Nest Thermostat.

1. How to Reset a 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: A common feature in consumer electronics, including your phone or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat turns it off before starting it right back up again. This preserves current settings and should be attempted if your Nest is frozen or not connecting to Wi-Fi.
• Reset: A reset erases some or all of your settings. For the most part, homeowners will perform a reset when they’re moving to a new home and bringing the thermostat with them, or if they're moving out and prefer to erase their personal information from the Nest before leaving it for the next homeowner.

To reset, it doesn't hurt to write down current temperature settings so you have them if they get erased. Next, locate Settings -> Equipment and record 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 will then have five options:

• Restart: Turns your Nest off and reboots it while saving your settings. Another method is to press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it turns black, at which point you can remove your hand.
• Schedule: This type of reset clears all scheduling information—including for your hot water, if that has been connected to your Nest. With this option, you’ll be given the chance to plan out a new schedule or wait until the Nest learns your schedule.
• Away: Choosing this reset option erases all the information your Nest has learned about how often you walk by, so that it can change the temperature accordingly.
• Network: With a network reset, it erases connection info and your Nest is disconnected from Wi-Fi. It also forgets your Wi-Fi password.
• All Settings: Self-explanatory, an All Settings reset clears all your personal settings and learning.

2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi

Connecting to Wi-Fi is important for making the most of your Nest's features.

To connect your Nest to the internet:

• Turn the thermostat ring to the Quick View menu.
• Locate the Settings icon.
• Choose Network.
• Once your Nest is finished scanning for local networks, locate your Wi-Fi and, if you have one, enter your password.

3. Does a Nest Thermostat Use a Battery and How Long Does It Last?

Nest thermostats get the power they need directly from your HVAC system, but also have a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup in case of a power outage. 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 aren’t going to be in your home for a long time, consider setting your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode is also a good option. The Off mode option deactivates your regular heating and cooling schedules, but it will still adhere to any current 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” 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 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 voice controls are also available with Nest doorbells and cameras. And of course, you can use Google Assistant to control your Nest.

6. Will My Nest Thermostat Work Without Wi-Fi?

In short, yes. Your Nest Thermostat can still control temperatures even without Wi-Fi. However, being disconnected from Wi-FI means the Nest doesn’t have the ability to use the smart functions that most people enjoy.

7. Can You Lock a Nest Thermostat?

If different members of your family can't agree on the ideal temperature, 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 won't mean you have to make do with just one temperature—a locked Nest still has access to programmed settings—but simply prevents other users from constantly changing the settings.

To lock a Nest:

• Press the Settings icon, scroll to the bottom and tap on Lock.
• Enter a 4-digit pin number you can remember, and do so twice.
• If locking in Heat or Cool mode, define 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, your device will be unlocked.

8. Adjusting a Nest Thermostat from a Phone

A Nest Thermostat is controlled by the Google Home app, accessible through your phone or desktop 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 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, with premium Nest models, the Nest app to your phone.
• Plug in your Nest Thermostat.
• Open the Google Home app on your phone and complete the setup process, link to your new device and connect to Wi-Fi.
• Google has created a more comprehensive setup guide, if you prefer additional assistance in connecting.

As soon as you've connected the Nest to your Home app, you can find and adjust it 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.

You also can change preset Nest temperatures on the app. From the home screen, find your Thermostat before selecting Settings. Once there, press 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

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: Quick Schedules are based on the national average schedule for more energy-efficient use. As you set the thermostat up, the Google Home app gives you the option to change the temperature with a schedule. If you select this feature, it will show a preset schedule before letting you customize it. 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 select Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and select Edit. After the changes are complete, 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. The changes won't save unless you select Done.

10. Setting a Temperature Range on a Nest Thermostat

Your Nest's Eco mode is great for setting 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 adjust them to your desired temperature. Once you're finished, select Done.

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

Nest thermostats can be integrated with most heating and cooling systems. The maker of Nest, Google, offers a compatibility tool that presents a few questions related to your location and existing setup to see which Nest model would be compatible with your system.

If you don't think your Nest is compatible with your system, it’s best to reach out to a professional for smart thermostat installation in Muldrow. An experienced technician will be able to evaluate your system and, if your Nest is compatible, get it installed and on the road to saving you money in no time.

12. Can I Manually Control My Nest Thermostat?

Nest Thermostats are packed with features designed to increase comfort and decrease costs. However, you can actually turn off the smart features if you prefer manual controls similar to normal thermostats.

Bear in mind, by doing this you're eliminating your temperature schedules and allowing the Nest to work like any other thermostat—it will display the temperature and allow you to make 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 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.