A Nest Thermostat is an excellent tool for keeping your home comfortable, regardless of the season or weather. With a number of innovative features meant to maximize 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 into their home. To add one to your home, get in touch with an expert for smart thermostat installation in Reinholds.

From auto scheduling to energy efficiency monitoring, Nest helps make securing your sense of comfort 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 resetting is different from restarting.

  • Restart: This process is similar across most 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: A more drastic function, a reset should restore your Nest to its original settings from the manufacturer. 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 behind for the next resident.

To initiate a reset, it doesn't hurt to write down current temperature settings so you have them if they get erased. Next, go to Settings -> Equipment and record your system wires, heating type and safety temperature settings.

After writing down this information, go to Settings, select Reset and press. You will be presented with five options:

  • Restart: Deactivates your Nest 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, at which point you can remove your hand.
  • Schedule: This type of reset clears all scheduling information—including for your hot water, if you've connected it to your Nest. By choosing this kind of reset, you’ll have to input a new schedule or wait while your Nest learns your schedule.
  • Away: Choosing this reset option gets rid of any programming your Nest has picked up about how often you walk by, so that it can change the temperature accordingly.
  • Network: By selecting a network reset, it erases connection info and your Nest is disconnected from Wi-Fi. Use this option if you want your Nest to forget 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 for making the most of your Nest's features.

To connect your Nest to the internet:

  • Access the Quick View menu. This is done by turning the thermostat's outer ring.
  • Find the Settings icon.
  • Choose Network.
  • Once your Nest is finished scanning for local networks, find your Wi-Fi and, if necessary, enter your password.

3. Does a Nest Thermostat Use 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 power in case of an 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. How to Turn Off a Nest Thermostat

If you plan on being away for a couple weeks, consider setting your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode is another solid choice. Using Off mode will turn off all of 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 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.
  • Or, from the main menu, go to Mode 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. Will Alexa Work 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. Google's own voice control technology, like Google Assistant, can be used to operate 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. At the same time, without Wi-Fi a Nest doesn’t have the ability to use the smart functions 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.

A user can 'lock' the Nest to prevent others from adjusting the settings or changing the temperature outside of a preset range. This won't mean you have to make do with just one temperature—a locked Nest will still continue to run the programmed settings—but simply keeps these settings from being changed.

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.
  • To lock your Nest in Heat or Cool mode, define your maximum and minimum temperature range and then tap 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 a Phone

You can control the Nest through your Google Home app, which is accessible on 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 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, with premium Nest models, the Nest app to your phone.
  • Connect your Nest Thermostat.
  • Open the Google Home app on your phone and select the 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.

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 preset temperatures on your Nest can also be changed from the app. From the home screen, choose Thermostat before selecting 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

Your Nest allows you to schedule temperature programming 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, 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 more energy-efficient use. When you are setting up your Nest, the Google Home app gives you the option to change 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: If you prefer other basic preset options, open the Google Home app and press Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and choose 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. Choose the day of the week where you want to make changes. 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

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 customize the Nest temperature range in Eco mode, 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 to Do if a Nest Thermostat Is Not Compatible

Nest thermostats are compatible with most heating and cooling systems. Google, Nest's manufacturer, has an online compatibility checker that presents a few questions related to your location and current setup to see which Nest model is 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 Reinholds. 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 increase comfort and decrease costs. However, there is a way to turn off the smart features if you prefer to control your Nest like it's a normal thermostat.

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 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: 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.