A Nest Thermostat is a great investment for keeping your home comfortable, no matter what the season or weather. With a number of innovative features meant to maximize efficiency, convenience and comfort, a Nest Thermostat is the perfect solution if you want to 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, reach out to an expert for smart thermostat installation in Moline.

With everything from automatic scheduling to monitoring your home’s energy efficiency, Nest makes 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 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. In most cases, people resort to a reset as they're moving into a new house 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.

If you want to perform a reset, first write down your temperature settings so they're still available if you forget or erase them. Next, locate 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 can choose from five options:

  • Restart: Turns your Nest off before rebooting it with 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 type of reset clears all scheduling information—including for your hot water, if you've connected it to your Nest. With this option, you’ll need to create a new schedule or wait until the Nest learns your schedule.
  • Away: An Away 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: If you select this reset option, it will remove all your network information and your Nest is disconnected from 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

A stable internet connection is important for making the most of your Nest's features.

To connect your Nest to the internet:

  • Open the Quick View menu by turning the thermostat ring.
  • Locate the Settings icon.
  • Select Network.
  • Once your Nest is finished scanning for local networks, find 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 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, who manufactures the thermostat, a Nest Thermostat battery should last several months. The Nest's battery is rechargable with a USB cable included with the thermostat.

4. Shutting Off a Nest Thermostat

If you aren’t going to be in your home for a long time, it's a good idea to set your Nest Thermostat to Off mode, though Eco mode is also a good option. Using Off mode will turn off all of your regular heating and cooling schedules, while maintaining existing Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting especially hot or cold.

To find 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 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, Amazon's Alexa is compatible with a Nest Thermostat. This voice control function is also available with Nest doorbells and cameras. You can even operate a Nest Thermostat with Google Assistant.

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

Yes, your Nest Thermostat can control the temperature of your home without Wi-Fi. However, without Wi-Fi a 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.

A user can 'lock' the Nest to prevent others from adjusting the settings or changing the temperature outside of a preset range. This doesn’t lock in a specific temperature—a locked Nest will still continue to run the programmed settings—but simply prevents other users from constantly changing the settings.

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 tap Lock at the bottom of the screen.

When you're ready to unlock the Nest, open the settings and choose Unlock. After you've entered the 4-digit pin, the Nest will be unlocked.

8. Controlling Your Nest Thermostat from Your Phone

A Nest Thermostat is controlled by the 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 compatible with remote control via 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 offers a more in-depth setup tool, if you prefer additional assistance in connecting.

After you've added the 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.

You also can change preset Nest temperatures on the app. From the home screen, find your Thermostat before selecting Settings. At this screen, select Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. The display will show your preferred Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. Select one of these options 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, can also be adjusted by using the Nest app.

The two easiest ways to schedule your Nest are:

  • Quick Schedule: The Quick Schedule feature is 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. If you select this feature, it will show a preset schedule and allows you to make changes. After you've made all your choices, that’s the schedule it will use.
  • Temperature Presets: To change the temperature presets on your Nest, 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. Choose the day of the week where you want to make changes. 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 adjust them to your desired temperature. When complete, select Done.

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

A Nest Thermostat is compatible with most heating and cooling systems. Google, Nest's manufacturer, offers a compatibility tool that asks a series of questions about 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, you should get in touch with local pros for smart thermostat installation in Moline. 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 increase comfort and decrease costs. However, there is a way to turn off the smart features if you prefer manual controls similar to normal thermostats.

Remember, by doing this you are turning off all of your temperature schedules and allowing the Nest to work like any other thermostat—it will display the temperature and let you change the temperature, 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, 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: 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.