A Nest Thermostat is a great investment for keeping your home comfortable, no matter what the season or weather. With features designed around maximizing efficiency, convenience and comfort, a Nest Thermostat is the perfect solution if you want 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 homes. If you want to put in a Nest for your own home, call your nearest expert for smart thermostat installation in Brookfield.

From automated scheduling to energy efficiency monitoring, Nest helps 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. Resetting Your Nest Thermostat

The first thing to know about resetting a Google Nest Thermostat is the difference between a restart and a reset.

  • 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: A more drastic function, a reset should restore your Nest to its original settings from the manufacturer. In most cases, people resort to 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 reapplying them is faster. Next, find 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 can choose from five options:

  • Restart: Deactivates your Nest and reboots it while saving your settings. Another method is to press the outside of the Nest and hold it there until it goes black, and then pull your hand away.
  • Schedule: This reset clears any info about your temperature schedule—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 until the Nest learns your schedule.
  • Away: This kind of reset removes anything 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: By selecting a network reset, it forgets connection logins 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 strips away all your personal settings and learning.

2. How to Connect Nest Thermostat to Wi-Fi

A stable internet connection is important to getting the most out of your Nest.

To connect your Nest to the internet:

  • Open the Quick View menu by turning the thermostat ring.
  • Locate the Settings icon.
  • Press Network.
  • Once your Nest scans available networks, locate 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 get the power they need directly from your HVAC system, but they also include a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for backup power in case of an outage. According to Google, the maker of Nest, a Nest Thermostat battery last an average of 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 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 another solid choice. The Off mode option deactivates your regular heating and cooling schedules, while maintaining existing Safety Temperatures to keep your home from getting particularly hot or cold.

To choose 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.
  • 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. Can Alexa Control a Nest Thermostat?

Yes, you can use Amazon Alexa to control 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?

The good news is that a Nest Thermostat can control the temperature of your home without Wi-Fi. That being said, 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?

If different members of your family can't agree on the ideal temperature, Nest offers a handy feature that keeps things simple.

A user can 'lock' the Nest 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 will still continue to run the programmed settings—but simply keeps these settings from being changed.

If you want to lock your 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.
  • To lock your Nest in Heat or Cool mode, fine-tune your maximum and minimum temperature range before tapping Lock at the bottom of the screen.

When you're ready to unlock the Nest, open the settings and choose Unlock. Once you enter your 4-digit pin, the Nest will be unlocked.

8. How to Control a Nest Thermostat from a Phone

You can control the Nest through 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 control 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.
  • Hook up your Nest Thermostat.
  • Start the Google Home app on your phone and follow the instructions to select your account, link to your new device and connect to Wi-Fi.
  • There is a guided setup tool on Google, if you prefer additional 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, you can make changes to the 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, choose Thermostat and then select Settings. At this screen, press Temperature Preferences and then Temperature Presets. Current presets for Comfort, Eco and Sleep modes will be displayed. Select one of these options to change the temperature for that preset.

9. How to Set 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, are also controllable with the Nest app.

There are two ways you can set up a schedule on your Nest:

  • Quick Schedule: Quick Schedules are based on the national average schedule for energy efficiency. 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 will show a preset schedule before letting you customize it. After you've made all your choices, 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. 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. You can then pick the day of the week that you want to add a temperature. 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. 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. 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 any and all adjustments. When complete, select Done.

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

A Nest Thermostat is compatible with most HVAC systems. The maker of Nest, Google, has an online compatibility checker that shares questions concerning your location and existing setup to determine which Nest model would be compatible with your system.

If you have a Nest and believe it’s not compatible with your system, you should get in touch with local pros for smart thermostat installation in Brookfield. 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 can actually turn off the smart features if you want to control a Nest manually like a normal thermostat.

Don't forget, by doing this you're eliminating your temperature schedules and letting the Nest 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 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: 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.