A Nest Thermostat is the perfect way to keep your home comfortable, regardless of 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 — lowering your monthly bills in the process.

That’s why more people are looking to add devices like a Nest into their home. If you want to put in a Nest for your own home, get in touch with an expert for smart thermostat installation in Eastland.

From auto scheduling to monitoring your home’s energy efficiency, Nest is designed to make securing your sense of comfort effortless.

Ready to learn more? Take some time to review these 12 things you need to 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 resetting is different from restarting.

  • Restart: A common feature in consumer electronics, including your phone or computer, restarting your Nest Thermostat simply turns it off and then back on. 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 when they’re moving to a new home and bringing the thermostat with them, or if they just want to erase any personal details 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, find 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 will then have five options:

  • Restart: Shuts your Nest down and starts it back up while remembering your settings. You can also press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it turns black, and then pull your hand away.
  • Schedule: This reset clears your entire temperature schedule—including for your hot water, if that has been connected to your Nest. With this option, you’ll need to create a new schedule or wait while your Nest learns your schedule.
  • Away: This kind of reset erases all the information your Nest has learned about how often you walk by, so it will be able to change the temperature even when you're not around.
  • 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: The most far-reaching option, using the All Settings reset option removes all your personal settings and learning.

2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi

Connecting to Wi-Fi is important to getting the most out of your Nest.

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.
  • Select Network.
  • As your Nest is finished scanning for local networks, find your Wi-Fi and, if necessary, put in your password.

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

Nest thermostats receive power from your HVAC system, but they also include 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. It can be recharged using a USB charger that comes with the Nest.

4. Shutting Off a Nest Thermostat

If you won't be home for a while, it's a good idea to set your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode would be another option. Using Off mode will turn off all of your regular heating and cooling schedules, but it will still adhere to any current Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting particularly hot or cold.

To select 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. Can Alexa Control a Nest Thermostat?

Yes, Amazon's Alexa is compatible with a Nest Thermostat. This voice control function is also available with Nest doorbells and cameras. And of course, you can use Google Assistant to control your Nest.

6. Does a Nest Thermostat Work Without Wi-Fi?

In short, 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 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 offers a handy feature that keeps things simple.

Nest has a locking feature that allows a user to stop any temperature adjustments outside of a preset range. This doesn’t lock in a specific temperature—a locked Nest continues to use existing program settings—but simply prevents other users from constantly changing the settings.

To lock a Nest:

  • Press the Settings icon, scroll to the bottom and find Lock.
  • Enter a 4-digit pin number you can remember, and keep in mind this has to be entered twice.
  • If locking in Heat or Cool mode, select your maximum and minimum temperature range and then tap Lock at the bottom of the screen.

For unlocking it, 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 a Phone

A Nest Thermostat is controlled by the Google Home app, which can be accessed from your phone or other smart device, including 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.
  • Plug in 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 offers a more in-depth setup tool, 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, making adjustments is done by dragging your finger along the screen or tapping on a plus or minus sign.

The preset temperatures on your Nest can also be changed from the app. From the home screen, find your Thermostat and then select Settings. Once there, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. The display will show your preferred Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. Choose the appropriate setting to change the temperature for that preset.

9. Setting a Nest Thermostat Schedule

You can set a temperature schedule on a Nest Thermostat 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, are also controllable with the Nest app.

You have two primary ways to establish a temperature schedule on a Nest Thermostat:

  • Quick Schedule: A Quick Schedule will be based on the national average schedule for energy efficiency. As you complete your Nest's setup process, the Google Home app enables you to set the temperature with a schedule. If you choose that option, it will show 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 select 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. Find the time of week you want to add a temperature to. Once you pick the day, tap Add and select 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. 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 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

A Nest Thermostat is compatible with most heating and cooling systems. Google, Nest's manufacturer, features a compatibility checking tool that shares questions concerning your location and existing setup to see which Nest model is 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 Eastland. Experienced technicians evaluate your system and, if your Nest is compatible, get it installed and on the road to saving you money in no time.

12. How Do I Manually Control My Nest Thermostat?

Nest Thermostats are packed with features designed to make life more comfortable and save money. However, you have the ability to turn off the smart features if you prefer manual controls similar to normal thermostats.

Take into account, 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 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 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.