A Nest Thermostat is an excellent tool for keeping your home comfortable, regardless of the season or weather. With features designed around maximizing efficiency, convenience and comfort, a Nest Thermostat is an easy way to manage your energy use — lowering your monthly bills in the process.

That’s why more people are looking to add devices like a Nest to their homes. To add one to your home, reach out to an expert for smart thermostat installation in Florissant.

From automated scheduling to energy efficiency monitoring, Nest is designed to make controlling the climate of your home effortless.

Want all the details? Here’s 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: 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 preserves current settings and should be attempted if your Nest is frozen or not connecting to Wi-Fi.
  • Reset: Conversely, resetting eliminates most if not all of your preferred 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 are moving out and want to erase all personal info from the Nest before leaving it behind for the next resident.

To reset, it doesn't hurt to write down current 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.

Then, to manually restart or reset your Nest, go to Settings, select Reset and press. You will then have five options:

  • Restart: Deactivates your Nest and starts it back up while remembering your settings. Another method is to press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it turns black, and then pull your hand away.
  • Schedule: This reset setting 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 be given the chance to plan out a new schedule or wait while your Nest learns your schedule.
  • Away: An Away reset erases all the information your Nest has learned 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 can no longer connect to 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

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.
  • Choose Network.
  • As your Nest scans available networks, locate your Wi-Fi and, if necessary, put in your password.

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

Nest thermostats receive power 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. It can be recharged using a USB charger that comes with the Nest.

4. How to Turn 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 is another solid choice. Off mode shuts down all your regular heating and cooling schedules, although the Nest will still use your Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting particularly hot or cold.

To select Off mode on the thermostat:

  • Hold the touch bar until the display reads “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 voice controls are 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, 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 can help you bring a little order back to your household.

Users can lock the Nest to stop any temperature adjustments outside of a preset range. This doesn't mean you're stuck with a single temperature—a locked Nest continues to use existing program settings—but simply prevents people from changing the settings.

If you want to lock your Nest:

  • Press the Settings icon, scroll to the bottom and locate the function listed as Lock.
  • Enter a 4-digit pin number you can remember, and then enter it twice.
  • For locking a Nest in Heat or Cool mode, define your maximum and minimum temperature range before tapping Lock at the bottom of the screen.

For unlocking it, open the settings and choose Unlock. After you've entered the 4-digit pin, the Nest will be unlocked.

8. How to Control a Nest Thermostat from Your Phone

Nest thermostats can be controlled by your Google Home app, which is accessible on your phone as well as 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 make adjustments for 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.
  • Hook up 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, if you prefer additional 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, 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, select Thermostat and then select Settings. Once there, press Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. This will display your preset Comfort, Eco and Sleep temperatures. By selecting one of those three options, you can change the temperature for that preset.

9. Making a Nest Thermostat Schedule

A Nest allows you to set temperatures schedules 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, also can be controlled via 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. As you set the thermostat up, 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. After you've made all your choices, that’s the schedule it will use.
  • Temperature Presets: For changing the Nest's preset temperatures, open the Google Home app and press Thermostat. Then, tap Presets and select Edit. As soon as you're finished making updates, select Done.

If you already have a schedule and want to change it, 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. The changes won't save unless you select Done.

10. How to Set a Temperature Range on a Nest Thermostat

Your Nest's Eco mode is great for setting temperature ranges. A key part of this feature is the Nest's ability to adjust the temperature based on whether it detects you at home or not.

To customize the Nest temperature range in Eco mode, 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 any and all adjustments. When complete, select Done.

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

Nest thermostats can be integrated with most heating and cooling systems. Google, Nest's manufacturer, offers a compatibility tool that shares questions concerning your location and existing setup to determine 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 Florissant. 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, you have the ability to turn off the smart features if you prefer manual controls similar to normal thermostats.

Bear in mind, by doing this you clear all 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: 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.