Nest thermostat concerns

[MEDTECH]

I was able to get the basic Nest thermostat for free from my local power company. Currently have a RiteTemp unit which works fine.
I was reading about issues with the Nest and the "common wire" needed to power the display and Wifi.
Question is: should I just go with a Honeywell or Ecobee and sell the Nest? Didn't receive it yet but it seems a lot of people and HVAC pros aren't too happy with it.
I am going to see if my furnace board has the C wire connected; my current tstat has nothing attached to the C screw. But, there is a blue wire that is not connected on my current unit, which isn't wifi.

What would you suggest? Thanks

 

[yeldogt]

I was able to get the basic Nest thermostat for free from my local power company. Currently have a RiteTemp unit which works fine.
I was reading about issues with the Nest and the "common wire" needed to power the display and Wifi.
Question is: should I just go with a Honeywell or Ecobee and sell the Nest? Didn't receive it yet but it seems a lot of people and HVAC pros aren't too happy with it.
I am going to see if my furnace board has the C wire connected; my current tstat has nothing attached to the C screw. But, there is a blue wire that is not connected on my current unit, which isn't wifi.

What would you suggest? Thanks

The nest learns .... this thinking can cause problems with some systems. My memory is you can turn it off.

You should be able to google your furnnace and see if others have had problems. Also with the extra wire there you can connect and make it a c at both ends

 

[smackey05]

Which nest is it?

I believe the 3rd gen learning Nest doesn't "need" a C-wire but the $99 one does. I personally like the Nest and Ecobee ecosystem so I would stick with it and add a third wire (or use the adapter to add a c-wire you can purchase).

I have been extremely happy with my Nest thermostats in multiple homes.

 

[MEDTECH]

Which nest is it?

I believe the 3rd gen learning Nest doesn't "need" a C-wire but the $99 one does. I personally like the Nest and Ecobee ecosystem so I would stick with it and add a third wire (or use the adapter to add a c-wire you can purchase).

I have been extremely happy with my Nest thermostats in multiple homes.

It's the $99 non-learning version.

After re-reading the PSEG website, they also offer the Emerson Sensi Tstat for free, as well. Saw another thread where people were very happy with it.

Can actually get 2 offers through PSEG so maybe I'll just return or sell the one I don't keep.

PSE&G | Smart Thermostats

Shop for energy-saving smart thermostats at PSE&G. See if you qualify for instant online rebates on top brands like Nest, ecobee and Honeywell.

marketplace.pseg.com

 

[yeldogt]

It's the $99 non-learning version.

After re-reading the PSEG website, they also offer the Emerson Sensi Tstat for free, as well. Saw another thread where people were very happy with it.

Can actually get 2 offers through PSEG so maybe I'll just return or sell the one I don't keep.

PSE&G | Smart Thermostats

Shop for energy-saving smart thermostats at PSE&G. See if you qualify for instant online rebates on top brands like Nest, ecobee and Honeywell.

marketplace.pseg.com

You can get two ... I did. FYI -- the Sensi touch is worth the $29 bucks. It's a really nice setup IMO

 

[MEDTECH]

You can get two ... I did. FYI -- the Sensi touch is worth the $29 bucks. It's a really nice setup IMO

For $29, it seems like a no-brainer. Thx for the rec.

One question. Do you notice any power cycling to charge the batteries or maintain the screen? Was reading about that in all wi-fi stats. Of course, the unit may only be off during comfortable weather. I assume if I put the stat switch to "off" it won't cycle my system. Maybe 2 weeks before summer and winter. Not sure if I'm over-thinking this. My system is over 20 yrs old but works great. Don't want to jinx it. Thx.

Edit: I can always disconnect it from wifi temporarily to avoid the unit from trying to always connect, too.

 

[yeldogt]

The C wire comes off the transformer -- that's what powers the unit. No batteries.

It actually has a tiny battery on the board that lets you power up two LED's -- these LED's light up the connection points -- so you don't need a flash light to see them. Slick. Make sure you don't leave it "on" ... thinking the "On" is for the thermostat. It's just for the lights.

Ask me how I know .... !

 

[MEDTECH]

The C wire comes off the transformer -- that's what powers the unit. No batteries.

It actually has a tiny battery on the board that lets you power up two LED's -- these LED's light up the connection points -- so you don't need a flash light to see them. Slick. Make sure you don't leave it "on" ... thinking the "On" is for the thermostat. It's just for the lights.

Ask me how I know .... !

Awesome tip... Thx!

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I can't even count how many nests I've removed (by owner's request) and replaced with other brands.

Tommy

 

[MEDTECH]

I can't even count how many nests I've removed (by owner's request) and replaced with other brands.

Tommy

Orfered the Emerson Sensi through PSE&G.
Thanks... Not confident with Nest.

 

[jlv03]

I've had a Nest thermostat of some sort for nearly 10 years now. Lots of people don't like them, but I have not had much of an issue. I do realize that the energy saving features can be very aggressive, especially how quick it goes to "Away" mode. So much so, I added a Nest thermostat to my garage floor heat, just so that thermostat can see when I am coming/going and put the 2nd floor in "Home" mode more frequently. The auto scheduling can be a bit fuzzy as well, but easy enough to fix once in the app to get a better schedule.

Do note that I went out of my way to make sure I had a C wire on everything that uses a Nest thermostat. Beyond the aggressive features and scheduling, I think the biggest issues most people have is trying to get away from having that C wire.

 

[grant00]

We had the Nest learning thermostat for about 2 years. I just switched over to the Ecobee and couldn't be happier. The Nest app would always lose connection or sign me out automatically. There was also no access to my data of temperatures and run time data. The Ecobee online stores all the temperature sensor data and when your equipment runs and daytime temperature outside to go back and look at which is really nice. The Ecobee app and ecosystem is just much more stable in my opinion.

 

[chrispyny]

I just got 2 of the latest flat screen style nest thermostats from my local power co also. Each 25 plus tax. It was 62 i think shipped. Seeing that these are over a hundred a piece anywhere, i sprung and am happy.
my house is hot water baseboard. When the house was built, thankfully the builder installed 3 wire thermostat wire. I also had my boiler replaced sept of 2020 so i have a new taco zone controller in the boiler closet. It has a ‘common’ din for each thermostat circuit so i jist punched down the third wire(blue) onto the ‘C’ in the taco controller, and punched it down in the next thermostat as well.

its nice to see the temps of the house away from home. It’s nice to set or change heat settings without getting up. You can lock out all the learning features it offers. It in essence acts like a dumb tstat with wifi options.
the only thing i HATE is i can’t add the tstats to my NEST app. As google purchased nest, and the tstats i purchased are google branded, i had to download ‘google home’ on my iphone. It ***** as i have several nest devices including outdoor and indoor cams, as well as carbon monoxide/smoke alarms. I REALLY would have preferred ro see all my devices on one app. Google/apple/microsoft/big gov just can’t seem to leave a great product well enough alone.

 

[chinboys]

I have had 9 Nests of different generations, some newly brought and some brought off Ebay.
I had a single zone force hot air heating system and back in 2014, tore it all out to use hydronic heating hence having all these zones for the home.

I have had support from Nest and Goggle via phone and in person.

The biggest problem is having the right wiring, more important is having the 24V voltages required to charge the Nest via the Rc or Rh wires and a C (common... ground return). Nest is not forgiving when it doesn't have power and is too smart to see all wire connections made to it.
The second problem is the backplane of the Nest where you should always power off the 24V voltage before you make any wire initial connections or re-wiring. Between me and the Nest service tech who came in to troubleshoot the past installations, we "blew" out 5 backplanes. And Nest doesn't tell you this and I was fortunate to have 4 other working units to be used to troubleshoot with.

I am slowly combining zones and replacing my Nests with Ecobees as these units have remote sensors that coordinate with the parent unit.

Would I use Nest if other brands weren't around? Yes.

 

[finn]

The blue wire can be repurposed to provide constant 24 v power to the nest. Simple three minute job.

 

[chrispyny]

The blue wire can be repurposed to provide constant 24 v power to the nest. Simple three minute job.

Right. The blue wire is a spare at your thermostat. On the other end at the boiler, or furnace, connect the blue to “common’ in your control board. Should be good to go.

 

[BillK]

I dont want to take this off topic but I have to ask . . . . . why do you want or need that type of thermostat ?? I have a basic Honeywell programable that is probably 20 years old and once we set the initial settings we probably changed them a few times in the first month or so but once it was set it hasnt been touched other than changing the batteries and setting the clock for daylight savings time.

In my way of thinking its just one more thing to screw up and cause me a problem.

 

[chrispyny]

In my case, until last september, i had a boiler for my hot water baseboard which was 51 years old, as old as the house. The boiler worked fine but there were plumbing issues as well as a pipe in a wall freezing and stopping heat to the first floor zone.
i insulated the wall the pipe was freezing in, and decided for peace of mind to have the boiler swapped out and that was done 9/2020.

i have cheap $20 honeywell digital thermostats i purchased in 2011 when i closed on the house. There were mercury stats on the wall at the time.
last month i got an email from my power company which provides
both electric and natural gas to me. several wifi thermostats were on sale for 80% or more off retail sticker price. I paid $64 shipped for 2 nest google learning thermostats which normally cost $120 a piece.
1. i got new nest wifi thermostats which allow me to change and monitor temps from wireless devices Like my ipad and iphone.
2. The nest tstats offer a low temp warning, notifying me when a certain low temp level has been met, potentially saving my home from flooding from frozen pipes when we are away.
3. They were dirt cheap and leaps and bounds better than the 10 year old tstats i had on the walls.
4. i own several other nest products and expected to be able to add these tstats to my NEST app for a ‘whole home single product” package. (As these are google nest tstats, i had to download and add them to ‘google home’ app. So that kinda didn’t work for me)
5. i was going to purchase a hygrometer for the upstairs and downstairs to monitor humidity levels in my home. In the winter my home
gets very dry here in upstate NY. I also occasionally heat with a wood stove insert, which makes it so much worse. The thermostats lcd display offers inside and outside temps, as well as outdoor weather icons and lastly humidity levels in my home.
6. coolness factor and they help in updating the look of my home.

long story short, for $64 shipped for two, they offer waaaaay more for me than what i paid $20 a piece for 10 years ago. Well worth it in my opinion. So far a month now and trouble free.

 

[finn]

I now spend the winters 2000 miles away from my shop. The Nest allows me to monitor my shop temperature for the five or six months that i’m away, and not have to rely on the neighbors to notice that the freeze alarm beacon to go off if something happens to the boiler.

Worth every penny.

 

[yeldogt]

People seem to be mixing a lot of stuff up on this thread .....

All the new thermostats w/ internet control all work about the same. The internet part. I have different ones and don't see any big difference in the interface -- if you are really picky about the app .. spend some time looking over how it's going to look. That includes those who like to track things. I have no problem checking status and changing temps if I want

The problem with the learning thermostats -- some heaters with staging have an internal logarithm that's trying to do the same thing. The nest for example works best on a totally dumb system. Also some houses/ systems don't work comfortably with lots of setbacks and changes. It seems the pros really don't like the Nest .... the ecobee seems to have less issues -- but my local guy in PA will not install them.

I remember reading a while back that some don's use a true relay and that causes problems ....

Same with voice control .... if that is the most important item. Check into that. I also don't use the Geofencing -- but have tried it out as I thought it may have been a good idea for one of my properties. I can see how in some situations this would work for people

 

[FredWanaker]

all I know is that someone hacked the 4-year old Sony flat screen (android) the other day (with latest firmware and security behind several firewalls) and I had to reset it to factory to get it working correctly again. Real pain troubleshooting it and took a couple hours going thru the theater system to find the problem. Fortunately while I am retired, I spent 20 years in IT as my last career. We try to keep as much off the Internet as we can to avoid them pesky hackers. Nest is not immune, nothing connected to the Internet is.

 

[NickH]

We have Nest in our house with our 30 year old oil burner and no C-Wire and haven't had any issues. We shut the boiler right off for 4-5 months a year, so each fall when it's time to clean and fire it for the winter, I pull the 2 Nests down and charge them up using the USB plug on the back. Ever since I started doing that, they've worked flawlessly for the last 3-4 years.

I went with Nest since in the new garage heating system too since it's what we already have. The new furnace has all of the required connections, including the common power connection so there are no issues whatsoever.

Nest gets a bad wrap for some reason, but we like ours. I have a LOT of friends in the HVAC industry and they seem to universally hate them, and most other "smart" thermostats. I am sure there are better Wi-Fi units out there, but for better or worse we're in the Nest family for cameras, smoke/CO detectors, thermostats, etc., so having everything in one app is worth it for us.