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NESTs were blamed for compressor failures when they first came out but I haven't heard much about that lately. If you're not going to use a "C" wire you're better off taking the nest back to where you bought it....it needs a complete circuit all the time to be (less) trouble free. I condemn more nests that any other thermostat thats 5 years old or newer. Needless to say, I won't sell them.
Thanks, I have come to that same conclusion. I suspect the C wire I have is not hooked up at the furnace, and that is in the attic, it would be a bit of a pain to get up there and do that since I am not exactly handy with wiring and appliances anyway.
I guess the high price has me re-thinking the purchase, too, considering some of the reviews I've read where people had technical trouble and had to spend over an hour on hold to get through to support. I have computers to do that with when necessary, I don't need that headache for issues with my thermostat. I think I'll go back to the standard programmable one that I had in place and save the money. (that one was, after all, a pretty decent modern Honeywell unit since the house and equipment are only 4 years old)
Luckily it was purchased at Costco just a few days ago- they will take it back no questions asked.
I love the device, cool gadget and it looks great- but it just seems like a potential major hassle one way or another.
Thank you for this explanation! I wondered if a lot of the speculation I have seen elsewhere is baseless, where people think that the Nest is switching the HVAC circuitry on and off frequently to get power and blowing out boards or somehow even blowing out fan motors.
It's not speculation and the potential for this is even mentioned on their site:
We’ve found that in the vast majority of homes, the Nest Thermostat can charge its built-in battery by power sharing over the regular heating and cooling wires. Few installations require a new common wire to power the thermostat. However, if the system does have a C wire, we recommend using it. What are the symptoms of a power sharing issue?
In conventional heating and cooling, or cooling-only systems:
Cooling is always on or on intermittently when Nest isn’t calling for cooling.
Cooling does not activate when Nest calls for cooling.
Cooling intermittently deactivates while Nest is still calling for cooling.
In conventional heating-only systems:
Heating is always on or on intermittently when Nest isn’t calling for heating.
Heating does not activate when Nest calls for heating.
Heating intermittently deactivates while Nest is still calling for heating.
There is an unusual noise coming from the heating system.
Honeywell thermostats can often use their Wiresaver Wiring Module
Quote:
Originally Posted by thecoalman
If you have a c wire none of this matters.
I tried to help a family member install a "smart" thermostat, but not only do they not have a C wire at the existing thermostat, the unused wires in the cable are not wired all the way through to the HVAC equipment, so it wasn't possible to just connect up the unused wire at each end.
Honeywell works around this for some of their thermostats by including the THP9045A1023 (aka "Wiresaver") Wiring Module, which works around the missing C without doing the power stealing trick.
Thank you for this explanation! I wondered if a lot of the speculation I have seen elsewhere is baseless, where people think that the Nest is switching the HVAC circuitry on and off frequently to get power and blowing out boards or somehow even blowing out fan motors. I wasn't sure how that would even be possible, when originally buying this I, too, thought it was nothing more than a smart on/off switch.
With that being said I do hope to get a C wire hooked up. As noted, I saw a black and a blue wire unused behind the thermostat, I will just need to figure out which one of those is in fact the one I need and hook it up.
Well I am one who the Nests blow out 3 motors in less than 6 months and it hasn't happened again since we ripped them out. I will say, I think the Nests we had were defective, and we had the system off for a period of time when it happened. The first time was on our upstairs system where we had the A/C off. We had company coming so I turned it on and it got cool then the motor failed. The second time was on the downstairs and we had been away and on return we turned it a/c on and the motor blew. The last time was the downstairs again and it had been cool so it had been off when the temps for one night dropped so we turned on the heat and woke up to the house freezing, the thermostat saying it was over 90 and the motor blown. That was a year ago and we have not had any issues since we went back to standard Honeywell thermostats. We won't risk it again, but yours and others mileage may vary and we may have just had two bad thermostats.
Well I am one who the Nests blow out 3 motors in less than 6 months and it hasn't happened again since we ripped them out. I will say, I think the Nests we had were defective, and we had the system off for a period of time when it happened. The first time was on our upstairs system where we had the A/C off. We had company coming so I turned it on and it got cool then the motor failed. The second time was on the downstairs and we had been away and on return we turned it a/c on and the motor blew. The last time was the downstairs again and it had been cool so it had been off when the temps for one night dropped so we turned on the heat and woke up to the house freezing, the thermostat saying it was over 90 and the motor blown. That was a year ago and we have not had any issues since we went back to standard Honeywell thermostats. We won't risk it again, but yours and others mileage may vary and we may have just had two bad thermostats.
ETA: We did have a C wire and it was attached.
Sorry to hear about the frustrating (and expensive) experience!
The more I think about it, the paranoid side of me doesn't want to risk any of this- it's a very cool gadget but not worth having if there is even the smallest chance it will do anything like this to our motors or circuitry. Combined with the fact that I don't appear to have a C wire that is connected on the other end, I am just not going to deal with it.
I started to think as well that this is an expensive piece of electronics that won't last nearly as long as a traditional thermostat. Just like a computer or a smartphone, it'll need replacement within a few short years, costing as much or more than I paid now. That is an expensive cycle for something that is truly just a thermostat. (I should have thought of all of this before buying the device in the first place!)
Mine is going to be returned to Costco this weekend and the trusty basic Honeywell thermostat will get put back in place.
Combined with the fact that I don't appear to have a C wire that is connected on the other end, I am just not going to deal with it.
The biggest issue here for most people is not having the wire, e.g it's old home and there is only two wires. If you have unused wire adding it is not that difficult. You will need this for most programmable thermostats unless it has replaceable batteries. There is plenty of tutorials online how to add it properly.
I started to think as well that this is an expensive piece of electronics that won't last nearly as long as a traditional thermostat. Just like a computer or a smartphone, it'll need replacement within a few short years, costing as much or more than I paid now.
I disagree with this. While yeah, an old school mercury thermostat would last forever, I fully expect to get at least 10-15 years out of my two nests. I'm pretty sure you can update the software as time goes on.
In any case, being able to control it from your phone from bed (or anywhere) makes it worth every penny, to me at least.
I must control it or check it at least a dozen times a day from my phone. You get spoiled, fast.
I disagree with this. While yeah, an old school mercury thermostat would last forever, I fully expect to get at least 10-15 years out of my two nests. I'm pretty sure you can update the software as time goes on.
In any case, being able to control it from your phone from bed (or anywhere) makes it worth every penny, to me at least.
I must control it or check it at least a dozen times a day from my phone. You get spoiled, fast.
What about the hardware, though- the display, the wifi radio, for example? I am just doubtful it would last that long since I know those things start to crap out on other electronic devices in a shorter amount of time than that.
Not to disagree, I would hope they can/do last that long.
I am like you, I love the Nest- I am on the app all the time checking out the previous day's history, adjusting it from the living room, and as nerdy as it sounds, I LOVE being able to just walk up to it and instantly see the current temperature and the forecast temperatures for the next day.
I just have too many doubts about it right now given what's been discussed here previously.....
What about the hardware, though- the display, the wifi radio, for example? I am just doubtful it would last that long since I know those things start to crap out on other electronic devices in a shorter amount of time than that.
Not to disagree, I would hope they can/do last that long.
I am like you, I love the Nest- I am on the app all the time checking out the previous day's history, adjusting it from the living room, and as nerdy as it sounds, I LOVE being able to just walk up to it and instantly see the current temperature and the forecast temperatures for the next day.
I just have too many doubts about it right now given what's been discussed here previously.....
I mean, you do have a point. I guess we will find out. I'm pretty confident, though, that mine will last a long time. At least long enough to feel they're worth the money, and certainly as long or longer than any other standard digital thermostat.
I've never, ever heard of anyone having any issues with a Nest, and I think honestly the problem is the wiring, etc. with these posters (in other words, it's not the Nest). Ours both work flawlessly and were a cinch to install. Love that we got that cute screwdriver out of it.
It's very cold here, way below average about 13 degrees. The only complaint I have on mine, and this is "my house's fault" not the Nest, is that due to the 19' ceiling great room in my house and open ceiling, the heat from the bottom floor naturally rises upstairs to the somewhat open hallway and makes the upstairs thermostat read a higher temp than it really is. So mine and other bedrooms will be cold unless I jack the temp way up. That's only when it's bitter, bitter cold which isn't the norm here so it's really not a big deal.
That said, I think it's stupid that there's literally no way to just "turn the heat on for 10...20 mins", etc. I'm pretty sure you can't do that.
But otherwise I absolutely LOVE the Nest and can't imagine my life (or house) without it!
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Honeywell thermostats can often use their Wiresaver Wiring Module
