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How To Install A Nest Learning Thermostat

Everywhere we turn these days there are things that need updating. Some just for aesthetic reasons. Some for functional. Some for both.

DSC 7435

Enter our old timey, first floor thermostat in our office. We figured with our new furnace system it’d be a good time to update this to something more energy efficient.

Nest 2 Old School

We made the swap to a programmable thermostat in our first house, so this time around the tech geek in me begged Sherry to let us take this upgrade a step further – especially since so many of you have commented about loving your Nest. To my surprise, she agreed. And that’s how I found myself holding one of these babies.

Nest 3 New School

But let me back up for a second. Nest is a “learning thermostat” that keeps a record of your habits (when you turn the heat or AC up, when you’re home or away, etc) and creates and adjusts a schedule for you. Meaning it can be even more intuitive than a typical programmable thermostat – and therefor can save you more money. It can even sense when you’re home (and turn itself down if you’re not). It was designed by people who helped make the iPhone, so it has a bunch of other cool features I’ll get into later. I’ve wanted one since they came out in 2010, but they’ve been priced fairly high. But with the recent release of their 2nd generation thermostat, prices on the 1st generation dropped…

In fact they dropped so much that I had trouble finding them. I finally found some across town at a Lowe’s about 30 minutes away. So I ran over there with a change of address coupon that we received after we moved.

Nest 5 Coupon

We decided to buy two Nests since we have two systems (one upstairs and one downstairs). So with the reduced sale price, the additional $25 off from my coupon, and the 5% discount that I got for using my Lowe’s credit card (which the cashier was happy to give me despite it not working initially with the coupon) it took our price per unit down to $158. Still a lot for a thermostat, but considering the new ones are $249 it was a we-saved-$180-on-two-of-them victory. And the fact that our downstairs furnace was replaced by our home warranty helped us rationalize spending $300 after we saved around $5,000 on the new furnace.

Update: First generation Nests are now marked down on Amazon, so here’s an affiliate link to the same one we bought for anyone interested. 

As for the installation, I’ll admit it had me a little worried. I’d heard that it’s not compatible with all HVAC systems (and our upstairs unit is pretty old) and generally I worried about breaking this expensive little thermom-o-robot in the process.

Nest 6 Inside Box

I started downstairs. The first step was removing the old unit, which was pretty straight forward. First I pulled off the face. Then (with the power turned off at the breaker!) I unscrewed the inner plate so I could reveal all the wiring behind it. Nest kind of thought of everything, so they even included a small screwdriver that made this easier. (PS: Nest isn’t paying me to gush – they don’t even know we bought these – I’m just kind of in love with this thing).

Nest 8 Small Screwdriver

Here’s the inside of our unit. It looks kind of like you’re about to defuse a bomb. But following the installation instructions eliminated just about any fear that this project was going to blow up in my face.

Nest 9 Wires

In addition to a handy installation video, they have this cool “Compatibility Check” online that helps guide you through how your wiring works (or doesn’t work) with Nest. Admittedly, I probably should’ve done this before I took so much trouble to buy the darn things…

Nest Look At Your Wires

But good news. We were compatible. And not only that, the instructions included a personalized guide for how I should connect my wires to the Nest unit. Seriously. If only all instruction manuals were this easy.

Nest Youre Compatible

Also filed under “thought of everything:” the paper manual that came in the box included these wire labels so you wouldn’t risk confusing which red wire went where once everything was removed from the old unit. I didn’t use them since mine were so straight forward, but this still earned points in my tech-nerd handbook.

Nest 12 Wire Labels

I detached all of my wires and then removed the last bit of the old unit from the wall.

Nest 13 Removing Old Box

Then I just slid the Nest base back in its place.

Nest 14 Adding Nest

I was also crazy for the fact that there was a tiny little level built into the base so you could be sure it was hanging straight on your wall. Genius.

Nest 15 Built In Level

Then, based on my personalized wiring guide, I just popped my wires back in place using the little tabs. Super easy.

Nest 16 No Screws

For the grand finale, I snapped the face into place and…

Nest 17 Snap Into Place

…turned the power back on. There were a few set-up steps to get Nest going, like telling it what type of heating we had and connecting it to our wi-fi. This was perhaps my only gripe with the whole thing – entering in a long alphanumeric password was a bit tedious. #firstworldproblems

Nest 19 Entering Password

The wi-fi is cool because it allows me to access our thermostats from my phone. Nest always touts this as a feature to use when you’re traveling so I didn’t think I’d find much use for it. But on the first night I found myself turning the AC up from bed because it was too hot in our bedroom. Yup. Felt like I was sleeping in my fancypants.

Nest 20 IPhone

It says it takes a couple of weeks to learn your schedule, so we’ve yet to experience the beauty of that. But I’m especially grateful to have it in this house because we’re already finding that temperatures fluctuate a lot in here thanks to the intense afternoon sun we get. Hope you catch on quick, Nest-dog.

Nest 21 Pretty Vignette

Oh, and part of me worried I’d regret not spending the extra dough to the 2nd generation version, but besides working with more HVAC systems (which isn’t an issue for us, luckily) the differences are apparently mostly cosmetic. The newer version is a little slimmer, doesn’t have the small grill at the bottom, and has a shinier side so it better reflects your wall color. Those all sound like nice-to-haves, but not worth the extra $180. So personally I’m glad we got the units we did. Perhaps I’ll bite my tongue when they release the 3rd generation that babysits your kids and folds your laundry too.

Nest 22 From Side

Oh, and before I end this lovefest (lovenest?) I have to share one more anecdote about installing it upstairs, where we had a less ancient thermostat already in place on the wall. I expected it to be the easier install, but when I went through the compatibility check I got this alert. Ruh roh. .

Nest 24 Call Us

But I followed instructions and in like five minutes I was already getting off of the phone with a Nest representative who had looked at the photo I emailed and described how I should hook up my wires. Brilliant.

So I think overall it took me less than an hour to install both units – which is a miracle for any project where I’m also stopping to take blog photos. I couldn’t be happier.

Nest 24 Upstairs

Well, I could be a smidge happier I guess. Apparently a lot of localities offer rebates to reward Nest owners for making an energy efficient choice (Nest has a list of them here). Our area isn’t doing that yet, so after a few phone calls to our electric company and gas company I struck out at getting any sort of money back. Oh well, at least I’ll get a tiny write off for donating our old units to Habitat for Humanity (along with actually saving money by heating/cooling the house more efficiently).

Nest 25 ReStore

Anyone else out there have a Nest? Got any tips for me? Or has anyone else made a tech-y upgrade lately? Wait, maybe forget that last question. Sherry probably doesn’t want you guys giving me any more ideas…

Comments

  2. Gina says

    We got a Nest and loved it for a few days – and then it didn’t work with our unit any longer. Nest has sent us something to try with the wiring, but it is a real disappointment. We so loved being able to adjust the temperature from our phones! And it was SO easy to set a daily schedule. All of the information on the site said Nest should work with our unit and wiring, but it doesn’t.

    Reply

  3. Kimberly says

    I have the nest in my house & when I bought it I was able to get $100 rebate from the power company, making the purchase price only $150. You should look into that if someone hasn’t already suggested it. I am in GA, but your state may have something similar!

    Reply

  4. Teresa W says

    We built an addition on to our house this winter and put in a new HVAC system. My husband was more excited about knowing he could finally get the Nest! It definitely learns our schedules, but we probably work it overtime. My husband really loves reaching over to his phone in the middle of the night when he gets too warm and turning the temperature down a degree or two (and freezing the rest of the house). He is better now that the new has worn off, but for awhile there, my daughter and I kept threatening to delete the app from his phone each day! It does work at saving energy. We added 500 square ft of living space and our power bill is actually less.

    Reply

  5. Kristin says

    We bought a Nest a year ago for my in-laws in their vacation home. We love it and have recently bought two more for our new home! I stopped reading some of the Negative Nelly comments about this post…waste of energy! ;) Love YHL, you guys are my favorite home blog!

    Reply

  6. Grace says

    Oh. Man. My husband and I have had what we named “Nest Lust” since they came out. We don’t have a programmable thermostat and have wanted one but nothing else measured up to our desire for the Nest! One day, we stood at Lowe’s looking at them longingly and almost bit the bullet then. We both just drooled with envy over this post! Nest year’s, heh heh, I mean, next year’s tax return will help fulfill all our wildest thermostat dreams. :)

    Reply

  7. Megan says

    Wanted to say thank you so much for this post!! The hubs and I have been seriously drooling over the Nest for a couple years now, but we could never bite the $250 bullet. So after this post, I jumped on the phone and tracked down our own Lowes discount 1st Generation (it was the last one in the region), and finally made the purchase with a 10% off coupon. It ended up being a perfect and fun little anniversary gift to the both of us. We installed it last night and it was so fantastic to turn the temperature down from bed on my phone while holding my sleeping newborn, instead of trekking back down the stairs in the middle of the night to turn it down. SO THANK YOU! I respect that some folks might be in parts of their lives where getting a deal doesn’t matter to them, but for us it’s a really big deal at the moment with tiny humans and grad school loans. So I truly appreciate you guys sharing that part of things with us as well!

    Reply

  8. Steph Piontkowski says

    We super love our Nest thermostat, and ours learned our habits in less than a week! I love the auto-away feature and that you can change it remotely with your phone. It’s amazing. It’s so nice when we go visit someone over a weekend and on the way, we realize we never turned up the air. No fear, Nest to the rescue! Lol. Yay for having awesome gadgets AND saving $$!

    Reply

  11. Max says

    Stupid Newbie question – what do the colors mean? When I first installed it, it was a pretty blue background now it is black…anybody know?

    I got it yesterday – fyi

    Reply

  12. Cody says

    Have you guys heard about the new Nest Protect Smoke and CO alarm? Looks like it comes out at the end of this month and has some awesome Nest like features, some of which work directly with the Nest Thermostat. Never did I think I would be excited about a thermostat or a smoke alarm! Thanks for this post, the step by step directions helped when installing our Nest this summer!

    http://gizmodo.com/meet-nests-protect-a-smart-smoke-detector-thats-actu-1442224546

    Reply

  13. Scott E. says

    Wanted to check back on this. Since the weather around here has been pretty much perfect for so long (70-75), have you found any problems with it keeping a charge, since I assume your AC hasn’t been coming on very often?

    Any out of the ordinary things since you’ve installed it?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Nope, it has been great! We’re RABID FANS! Looking at how much energy we’re saving each month is downright addictive. Our favorite feature is still being to turn the air up or down from bed. Haha! We’re LAZY.

      xo
      s

  14. Kelly says

    Hello! My husband and I have been eyeing the Nest thermostat for over a year now and are saving pennies/trying to decide where it lands on the priority list. I thought I would check in with yall – do you still like it? I love when you do your posts where you revisit things you reported on previously – if you do another of those (which you should!) you should totally include the Nest!

    I apologize for adding things to your list. It’s not like you’ve got anything else going on (child-growing, wallpaper-removing, sunroom-tiling, life-living, etc.).

    Yall are GREAT!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Kelly! It has been great! We’re RABID FANS! Looking at how much energy we’re saving each month is completely addicting. I’d love to do another update post soon and include little Nesty (as we lovingly call it).

      xo
      s

  15. Tracy says

    Well….I guess I’m not the only one who read about the Nest smoke alarm/carbon monoxide detector today and decided to see if you all were still digging the thermostat. Good to hear! We just signed in for another year of renting, so I’m so jealous for products like these that I can’t use yet!

    Reply

  17. Marsha Abramson says

    Hi all,
    I was wondering how you like your Nest after living with it for a couple of months. How easy has it been to use, and are you seeing a difference in your energy consumption? Would you say it is worth the switch? (we currently have a digital programmable thermostat, but it only does what you tell it to, it doesn’t learn anything:))
    Thanks!

    Reply

  19. Teri says

    Did the Nest make the move with you? If not, are you planning to spring for one in your new house? Just interested to see if the short time together got you hooked.

    Reply

  20. Teri says

    Oh my bad. I just realized this post is at your new house. I’ve been reading the blog so long I forget which house you did the upgrade in. I just retread this post. So jelly of the individualized system for each floor. We have a new build and the upstairs temps are always hotter /colder than the down. I told the hubs that will be the first big spend on updates to this house.

    Reply

  21. Beth says

    So this reply to your post is a little late to the party since your post is months old, but I read it when I was going through your site a couple months ago back when we were waiting to move into our new home. And of course since it had a nice techy aspect to it, I shared with my hubby. Fast forward to moving into our new home a few weeks ago, and the outdated thermostat on the wall. After cashing in some reward points we ended up with a decent gift card to a place that sells the Nest, and now it is installed in our hallway and lights up to tell us what’s going on with the heating when we walk by. Being able to turn on the heat from our phones while coming home from work is a nice treat too. Just wanted to say thanks for posting about the Nest, we are happy with our smart heating! As soon as the Nest compatible smoke detectors are released we’ll be getting a couple of them too. If you haven’t heard about them yet, youtube it! Pretty cool!

    Reply

  22. Holly says

    Per your recommendation, we just got this and I immediately told my husband we would go back to your amazing blog post to help us through the installation, and I’m glad we did. It really helped. Love your blog, but it’s posts like these that I’m incredibly grateful for! Happy Holidays to the 4.5 of you! (counting Burger and your one on the way)

    Reply

  23. emma says

    My mom just bought us one for Christmas, I was VERY excited, I’ve been wanting one of these since they came out. Love the 2nd gen. Super easy install (although we will have to paint and patch the living room walls at some point so we can install it without the mounting plate).
    Im looking forward to the end of the month so we can go through our first report. We had some suuuuper cold weather so the savings might not be fantastic but Im sure in the long run the unit will pay itself back (or save us money since it was a gift).

    Anyway enough about me, I would LOVE to see a recap post of how much energy you guys have used/saved since you’ve had Nesty. It can be a totally geek post with graphs and numbers and stuff, Im sure a lot of people wouldn’t be interested at all but I know all the nesters or future nesters would love to see!

    Reply

  24. Janke says

    Old post, but your “How you like me now?” post from yesterday brought me back to this and I remebered: I’M SO JEALOUS! I would loooove the have a Nest in our house but the heating system in most German homes work completely different, so no way to install it. :(
    But we’re saving up to get a new furnace (no AC required in Northern Germany…) next year to be more eco-friendly. It will be programmable (is this a word?) separately for every day, so it adjusts to weekends and so on. Just not as nice and easy and good-looking as the Nest. ;)

    Reply

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