The Nest thermostat from Google is arguably one of the smartest and most well-integrated thermostats in the market. Even though a good number of contractors and builders prefer traditional tested-and-proven units, the flashy Nest, has won the hearts of many homeowners – especially those building smart homes.
- They are nice looking
- Easy to install and configure
- They have tons of customizations and automation features
- Frequent software updates
All these features make the thermostat well placed in a modern home teeming with other home automation sensors and actuators.
How Does the Nest Thermostat Work?
Apart from being a programmable thermostat, the Nest takes a shot at learning your daily schedule and automatically programming your daily schedule.
For instance, the Nest thermostat can use previous schedules to learn that you leave for work at 8 am and come back at 4 pm. During this time, there is nobody else in the house.
The thermostat won’t keep the house heated or cooled to a comfortable temperature throughout the day as that is a waste of energy. It will only bring the house up to temperature an hour or so before you come home.
It could also use the same trick by learning your favorite ambient temperature and different parts of the day or night when you are in. It will constantly change the temperature to meet this learned schedule.
Note: Only the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning thermostats have this auto-schedule feature and can gradually adapt temperature changes to your routine.
Why Does My Nest Thermostat Keep Changing Temperature
A couple of things could make your Nest keep changing temperatures on its own.
The Auto Schedule Feature
The auto-schedule feature allows the nest thermostat to make temperature changes depending on what it has learned from your daily routine.
Ideally, you shouldn’t notice these changes as they are tailored to happen when you need them the most. If you are noticing them, it means:
- You are just getting started with the Nest thermostat, and it is still learning your schedule. It can take a couple of weeks to perfect
- You recently changed your schedule, throwing off the thermostat from what it expects
The auto-schedule is perfect for people with a predictable schedule. It helps keep the home at a cozy temperature when there’s someone to enjoy that temperature. Otherwise, it will let things out of the ideal human range when there is no human to complain about, all to cut down on your energy bills.
An Early-On Setting
The early-on feature lets you set a definite time schedule at which the thermostat will aggressively turn on the AC to hit a predetermined temperature.
This could be heating up the house before you get out of bed or just before you get how from work.
Turning off this configuration or moving it to a different time will deal with the now unwanted temperature changes.
Eco Mode is On
Eco mode is another trick the Nest thermostat uses to reduce your HVAC bills. The thermostat uses motion sensors and phone GPS location to detect when you are at home or away.
If it deduces that no one is home, it will turn down the heating or cooling and only turn it back on when you are near home.
You can also set the thermostat to go into Eco-Mode until the ambient temperature rises above or fall below a given figure before it kicks on. Giving the HVAC an operating band instead of a target temperature every time will reduce how often it runs.
For instance, telling it to start cooling only when it gets to 75F will give you a substantial delay if your target temperature is 67F compared to constantly running and trying to hit 67F from the word go.
Home/Away Functionality is Active
Give your Nest access to one or more smartphones. You can use geofencing and let the Nest thermostat operate on different temperature settings when you leave a given GPS location and resume targeting a comfortable temperature once you enter the location again.
Stopping Your Nest From Automatically Changing Temperature
While these automatic changes are meant to make the home as comfortable as possible without using much energy, they are unpleasant if it happens too often.
Luckily, stopping these automatic changes is as simple as disabling the above mention features. Here are the steps you should follow:
- On your Nest App, Navigate to the thermostat’s Menu
- Turn off Eco Mode, Auto Schedule, Home/Away, and Early on
- Enter your desired target temperature
- Tap confirm to save the settings
With these settings, your thermostat will hold a steady temperature as much as possible. It will modify the temperature to suit your schedule if it is still in learning mode.
Temperatures will also change automatically if you have fed in a manual schedule as in any other programmable thermostat.
Stop Your Thermostat from Auto Adjusting By Using Hold
If you want the temperatures to remain as fixed as possible, you have to choose a specific temperature and tell the thermostat to hold it.
Holding a temperature means sticking to a set temperature regardless of what is happening.
Tip: This strips away all the power-saving efficiencies of the Nest. Modifying the automatic temperature-changing features such that the thermostat meets your expectations is better than forcing it to hold a specific temperature.
Check this too: Why Does My Nest Thermostat Say Delayed?
When using the hold feature, you can configure it only to hold the temperature when you are home. This will let it automatically change temperatures when you are away, making your home more predictable but still energy friendly.
- Select hold from the Menu
- From the new menu, choose Eco or Current Temp.
- Enter the time you want the thermostat to hold the time
- If you choose Eco, you can select ‘None,’ and the thermostat will hold the temperature until you disable the setting
- Confirm to save the settings
How to End a Temperature Hold
If you want to program a new hold or want to stop it altogether:
- Navigate into the Menu
- Select Hold
- Choose Stop
Should I Stop My Nest From Automatically Chaing Temperature?
While the temperature swings might be annoying, letting the thermostat learn your schedule and helping by manually changing back the temperature will lead to a more efficient temperature.
For instance, if the thermostat notices that you constantly change the temperature to 70F between 4 pm and 10 pm, it will figure out this is your preferred setting and start doing that on its own.
Teaching the thermostat what you love and correcting it when it gets it wrong is the best way to put the massive energy-saving powers of the Nest to good use.