The Nest thermostat is one of the best-selling smart thermostats on the market today. And for good reason. It learns your temperature preferences and makes an energy-efficient schedule to match. And by geofencing with your phone, the Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest E know when you’re at your residence or gone and can raise and lower temperatures to help you save even more.
The Nest works with a wide range of 24-volt heating and cooling systems, but it’s always a smart idea to use the Nest thermostat compatibility checker before installing one. Don’t forget to talk with your energy supplier for valuable rebates, as you may be able to get a Nest for free or close to it.
Once you’ve made sure it’s compatible, you can either wire it yourself or contact a HVAC professional like Clean Air HVAC. If you’re wiring it on your own, you’ll spot a terminal for the C-wire, or common wire. This wire is only used for powering your thermostat. If your residence or HVAC system is older, you might not have one of these wires. In most cases, Nest says this isn’t a problem as the thermostat can draw ample power from other heating and cooling wires.
Sometimes, your heating and cooling system could require that C-wire. And here’s why.
Why Your Nest Keeps Losing Power and Other Malfunctions
The Google Nest Thermostat is a step up from older programmable thermostats that have a combination of wiring and AA batteries for power. It relies on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and wiring to connect to Wi-Fi, power its digital display and turn on your heating and cooling system.
8 Common Nest Thermostat Malfunctions
If it can’t receive enough juice, Nest says you may have some of these troubles:
- Short battery life.
- Thermostat motion sensing is disabled.
- Your thermostat every now and then disconnects from Wi-Fi.
- Your system unexpectedly turns on or off, or won’t shut off.
- Your system is producing strange noises, such as chattering, stuttering, clicking or thumping.
- Heating or cooling is short cycling, or frequently turning on and off in a short period of time.
- There is a delay notice on your Nest thermostat’s screen, like “heating is delayed for 2:30 minutes.”
- The system fan is continuously working, won’t turn on or turns off and on rapidly in a short period of time.
You could think something is wrong with your heating and cooling system, but if you just started using the Nest, we recommend you check your thermostat first. This is especially true if the weather is moderate, and you haven’t been running your heat or air conditioning frequently.
Our Professionals Can Solve Nest Thermostat Problems
If you’ve gone through Nest thermostat troubleshooting by yourself but can’t fix the issue, a smart thermostat specialist such as one from Clean Air HVAC can assist you. We can determine the problem and install a C-wire, if necessary.
Smart thermostats including the Nest are made to make your life easier, by automatic energy-efficient programming and the opportunity to check temps while you’re away from home. It’s a frustrating experience when yours won’t run properly, but our heating and cooling specialists at Clean Air HVAC can take care of the issue in no time.
If you’re experiencing odd heating and cooling behavior with your new Nest, call us at to request your appointment now.
