Nest Thermostats

[RickFLM4]

Anyone ever have one fail and figure out a temporary work around?

Yesterday, our condo AC seemed to flip from AC to heat, of course at the end of the day. I had an ac tech out after hours who checked the air handler and the condenser on the roof. No issues noted so he disconnected the Nest to bypass it (something I now wish I watched him do) and it started cooling. Reconnected the Nest and fiddled with the wires a bit and all was fine. I almost had him replace it while he was there because all this coincided with a major storm in the area yesterday afternoon and the building’ security system had some issues following the storm. But it was working…

Until 4 a.m. when I woke up to a condo 10+ degrees warmer than the outside temp. Fucking ac flipped from ac to heat again. I turned it off and went back to sleep. It was cooler when I woke up.

I called for service and they can’t send anyone until tomorrow to replace the thermostat. I tried resetting the thermostat, turning breakers off and on and opening the air handler to fiddle with the orange wire. I turned system off, left off, turned back on multiple times. No cooling and I swear it gets hotter every time I turn it on, although that might just be my blood boiling.

So just wondering if anyone has any ideas to try before it’s time to go to sleep tonight. 80 degrees and 60% humidity in condo now. It will cool off some as the night goes on but I am not happy right now.

[Fredcohiba]

This video explains it pretty well. Good luck.

[Rich.Wolfson]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Anyone ever have one fail and figure out a temporary work around?

Yesterday, our condo AC seemed to flip from AC to heat,....

Are you sure there is no programing in the NEST? How it got there would be a different question but....

///Rich

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Rich.Wolfson

Are you sure there is no programing in the NEST? How it got there would be a different question but....

///Rich

I programmed it myself and it was fine for the past 2 weeks so I don’t think that’s it.

It’s cooling off outside. Will be sleeping with windows open. Good thing we have screens (and are on third floor).

[dreamingat30fps]

Not sure about nest, but I have an ecobee and it has a threshold setting buried in the settings. Basically if it's set to auto cool/heat it will decide to heat or cool based on the threshold. Also I can set it to auto, heat or cool. If you have the same maybe try setting it to cool only. Lastly I always keep the old "dumb" thermostat stashed somewhere as a last resort in cases like this or when our AI overlords take over everything and decide they will control my AC from now on.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Not sure about nest, but I have an ecobee and it has a threshold setting buried in the settings. Basically if it's set to auto cool/heat it will decide to heat or cool based on the threshold. Also I can set it to auto, heat or cool. If you have the same maybe try setting it to cool only. Lastly I always keep the old "dumb" thermostat stashed somewhere as a last resort in cases like this or when our AI overlords take over everything and decide they will control my AC from now on.

Actually that’s what I did. I had a heat / cool program and switched to cool only and it still turns the heat on. Good idea on keeping a dumb thermostat around. I have had 2 service techs tell me these Nest thermostats are garbage and break all the time. I guess they were right. We have Lennox in our home in FL. They will occasionally drop off wifi but have been reliable otherwise.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Actually that’s what I did. I had a heat / cool program and switched to cool only and it still turns the heat on. Good idea on keeping a dumb thermostat around. I have had 2 service techs tell me these Nest thermostats are garbage and break all the time. I guess they were right. We have Lennox in our home in FL. They will occasionally drop off wifi but have been reliable otherwise.

Weird. Definitely sounds like crossed wires, but not sure how that would suddenly happen.

I've had very few issues with my ecobee. I have one in both houses. The only time I've had an issue is when I lose internet and that's to be expected with any smart thermostat. The one in FL is probably like 12 years old.

Our AC in NC went out earlier this year (luckily right before the summer heat kicked in) and the tech who came out to fix it was an older guy and he just stood there staring at it. I was like don't worry about that, it's the AC, trust me. Luckily just ended up being the capacitor. Had it actually been some setting or something with the thermostat... I would have definitely been on my own.

[nerdogray]

I have had two Nest Thermostats (3rd Gen) go faulty in this exact same manner. Regardless of AC, they started blowing heat. Two different places and units, as well. If you try to get support through Google, they will insist it is the backplate before just replacing the unit. The backplate is nothing but hard plastic and some metal for the connection points. It's not the damn backplate; they just don't want to send you a new thermostat and hope you give up. Further on this point, I actually bought a new one to prove a point, popped it in place with the old/"faulty" backplate, and it worked fine. I promptly took it back for a refund and told Google support what I did. They still refused to send a new unit. I gave up and went with Ecobee. They are harder to set up, though. I had to tweak quite a few advanced settings to get what I wanted, whereas Nests are easier. However, the Ecobee is still kicking. I was an early adopter of both Dropcam and Nest. Google bought both and made them mediocre (at best). Dropcam suffered the worst.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by nerdogray

I have had two Nest Thermostats (3rd Gen) go faulty in this exact same manner. Regardless of AC, they started blowing heat. Two different places and units, as well. If you try to get support through Google, they will insist it is the backplate before just replacing the unit. The backplate is nothing but hard plastic and some metal for the connection points. It's not the damn backplate; they just don't want to send you a new thermostat and hope you give up. Further on this point, I actually bought a new one to prove a point, popped it in place with the old/"faulty" backplate, and it worked fine. I promptly took it back for a refund and told Google support what I did. They still refused to send a new unit. I gave up and went with Ecobee. They are harder to set up, though. I had to tweak quite a few advanced settings to get what I wanted, whereas Nests are easier. However, the Ecobee is still kicking. I was an early adopter of both Dropcam and Nest. Google bought both and made them mediocre (at best). Dropcam suffered the worst.

Ok thanks. Good to know this weird failure isn’t just mine. No worries on Google support / replacements. No interest in another Nest, but thanks for the heads up.

[vreihen16]

Are you sure that the Google mothership and/or utility company are not "shedding the load" because of high power demands?????

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Are you sure that the Google mothership and/or utility company are not "shedding the load" because of high power demands?????

The common area ac is still running so I don’t think so and this has been going on for 2+ days. Why would the heat turn on?

[zx10guy]

Here's your opportunity to junk that Nest crap. Outside of this issue you're having, don't give Google a free invitation into your home.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Here's your opportunity to junk that Nest crap. Outside of this issue you're having, don't give Google a free invitation into your home.

It came with the place when we bought it. Definitely replacing it now though.

[FrankMstein]

Originally Posted by nerdogray

I have had two Nest Thermostats (3rd Gen) go faulty in this exact same manner. Regardless of AC, they started blowing heat. Two different places and units, as well. If you try to get support through Google, they will insist it is the backplate before just replacing the unit. The backplate is nothing but hard plastic and some metal for the connection points. It's not the damn backplate; they just don't want to send you a new thermostat and hope you give up. Further on this point, I actually bought a new one to prove a point, popped it in place with the old/"faulty" backplate, and it worked fine. I promptly took it back for a refund and told Google support what I did. They still refused to send a new unit. I gave up and went with Ecobee. They are harder to set up, though. I had to tweak quite a few advanced settings to get what I wanted, whereas Nests are easier. However, the Ecobee is still kicking. I was an early adopter of both Dropcam and Nest. Google bought both and made them mediocre (at best). Dropcam suffered the worst.

I can't tell you how hard I worked with Google/Samsuck on their SH!T products. I have two thermostats (up and downstairs) that will not stay online. They are fine while not connected to the wifi but that was 50% of why I got them. I usually contact the engineering department but I don't speak Korean. I even stopped one the local trucks that said "Nest expert" on the side. They said it is a phonena that even the company doesn't understand. I also have the Hello doorbell and it works great. I just keep buying used ones off the internet in my area until something new comes out. Thought about EcoBee as a change. I could give a shit if Google or Amazon is listening, or your phone...I'm doing nothing wrong.

BTW ALL of my friends and I have had trouble with Samsung (Samsuck) products and will never buy then again.

[unluky]

Funny enough - my nest failed this year. Guy could not figure my issue out and was not finding anything wrong and just decided to toss a POS cheap stat on and waalaa - it started working. The Nest seemed to still be working, but would not send for air even after a reboot. I replaced with an Eccobee and it's been working fine ever since.

It was maybe 8 years old if I remember right? It's electronics and shit happens, but the tech said first time he had ever seen that.

[zx10guy]

I hate anything and everything that depends on some sort of cloud server. I get why manufacturers choose this route. For one people want simple to install. And the other reason is it give the manufacturer to push the you own nothing narrative while at the same time allowing them intimate access into your life.

The cost of simplicity feeds into the manufacturer's ulterior motives. I don't need anyone to hand hold me to present up any device for Internet access nor do I need any hand holding to facilitate a secure way of accessing the device without the device needing direct Internet access. But unfortunately, most everything that contributes to a "Smart" home are IoT devices which are loaded with security and personal information liabilities. The few IoT devices I have are totally isolated from the important parts of my network and I still choose to purchase devices which do not utilize any cloud access.

With that said, I got a Honeywell Smart thermostat for my vacation home because I wanted to be able to set the temperature to my living conditions from "storage" mode when I'm coming out to the house. When I looked at all that's available, Honeywell was the less evil approach in my mind. I've had this Honeywell thermostat running at my vacation home since 2012/2013 with no issues at all.

[ezaircon4jc]

Connected to the internet? The first step in someone else (the state) controlling your thermostat.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I hate anything and everything that depends on some sort of cloud server. I get why manufacturers choose this route. For one people want simple to install. And the other reason is it give the manufacturer to push the you own nothing narrative while at the same time allowing them intimate access into your life.

The cost of simplicity feeds into the manufacturer's ulterior motives. I don't need anyone to hand hold me to present up any device for Internet access nor do I need any hand holding to facilitate a secure way of accessing the device without the device needing direct Internet access. But unfortunately, most everything that contributes to a "Smart" home are IoT devices which are loaded with security and personal information liabilities. The few IoT devices I have are totally isolated from the important parts of my network and I still choose to purchase devices which do not utilize any cloud access.

With that said, I got a Honeywell Smart thermostat for my vacation home because I wanted to be able to set the temperature to my living conditions from "storage" mode when I'm coming out to the house. When I looked at all that's available, Honeywell was the less evil approach in my mind. I've had this Honeywell thermostat running at my vacation home since 2012/2013 with no issues at all.

this.

[FrankMstein]

These (and other items) are not connecting to your wifi and listening, being controlled by others, taking pictures, etc. unless you are letting them.

Simple installs are just that. Nest (and other) thermostats will work just fine without connecting to the internet. I hope all the nervous nellies are not this scared that "China is listening". They do not care about you and do not have the resources to care about you and me.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by FrankMstein

I can't tell you how hard I worked with Samsuck on their SH!T products. BTW ALL of my friends and I have had trouble with Samsung (Samsuck) products and will never buy then again.

I feel largely the same, but our (free) washer and dryer have been good, other than the common maintenance items like leaking water jet and dryer belt.

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I hate anything and everything that depends on some sort of cloud server.

I won't buy such a thing.

Our home came with a basic Honeywell when we bought it in 2006, so we upgraded it a bit with a nicer Honeywell and it has been flawless ever since. 17 years strong is how I like my products.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by FrankMstein

These (and other items) are not connecting to your wifi and listening, being controlled by others, taking pictures, etc. unless you are letting them.

Simple installs are just that. Nest (and other) thermostats will work just fine without connecting to the internet. I hope all the nervous nellies are not this scared that "China is listening". They do not care about you and do not have the resources to care about you and me.

I don't know where you've been but there has been many instances of cloud connected products having user data being violated by employees of said company.

I myself caught my DirecTV DVR snooping my network. And that's first hand knowledge. Not hearsay.

What you don't seem to comprehend is these devices are free or cheap for a reason. The valuable commodity is you and your data.

But go ahead and bury your head in the sand.

[FrankMstein]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I don't know where you've been but there has been many instances of cloud connected products having user data being violated by employees of said company.

I myself caught my DirecTV DVR snooping my network. And that's first hand knowledge. Not hearsay.

What you don't seem to comprehend is these devices are free or cheap for a reason. The valuable commodity is you and your data.

But go ahead and bury your head in the sand.

YEAH! CLOUD CONNECTED!! If they AREN'T CLOUD CONNECTED how will they snoop is what I said...