Nest Thermostat - Wifi Woes

Something I have not hidden is that I am a big fan of the Nest learning thermostat. I purchased one on the first day they were available in the UK and soon after became an authorised installer. Up until recently all had been good, I was saving money and my house was more comfortable to be in but late last year they issued a software update and for a short while all was good.  Soon I noticed that on occasion one or more of my nests were dropping off the network and showing off line.  Sometimes after a few days they would come back on there own, other time  I would have to restart them. On a few occasions even this did not work so I had to reset the networking on them or even in two extreme cases restore the unit to factory defaults.

Out of exasperation I finally made contact with Nest support and as always they tried to say the issue was with my router. Finally after a lot of backwards and forwards with support they have admitted that there is an issue with wifi, on these devices.  Solution? Well at the moment there isn't one although they have suggested they are working on one.

In the mean time there is a work around, remove the nest from the stand or wall and reset it by holding in the button (or to be more accurate push in the back) for 10 seconds or until the screen goes black and then put it back on the stand.  It appears to get them back online for a while but they are still dropping off every so often.

I'm not sure if this issue is affecting many other users having spoken to friend with Nests most seem to of had them drop off occasional but not nearly as often as mine do.  Hopefully they will come up with a long term solution soon, in the mean time I'm retting it as and when needed.

Nest Thermostat - Guess I must be saving money?

I fitted my Nest's about six months ago and whilst for most of that period the heating has not needed to come on, it looks like I am already making a saving.  Just had a letter from my energy provider informing me they are reducing the size of my direct debit as I not using as much energy as before.  Whilst this probably isn't just down to the Nest, I am sure its a major contributor.  Although it will be some time before a recoup the purchase price of three nests. All in all I still very happy with my Nest's and if the energy savings continue I will be very happy indeed!

Nest Protect

Nest Protect

A few weeks ago after a very long wait, first for them to rerelease the Nest Protect after they withdrew the from sale and then for Nest to for fill my order my Nest Protects finally arrived.  I decided to opt for one wired and one battery model, I would of preferred both wired but it would have been awkward to of got a cable to the one in the kitchen without pulling down parts of the ceiling. 

Installation
Fitting in both cases was pretty easy and I would say any competent person could fit either providing in the case of the mains model you are replacing an existing mains unit.  The design is clean and they look good in most rooms, it would however of made fitting much easier if they were round so you did not have to align them with the axis of the room. When fitting the mains version its a bit difficult in some cases to get the cable to come through the ceiling in the right place other than that fitting is easy. I also like the fact they include push on Wago connects and the screws.

Configuration
Setup is well thought out and I like the uses of a QR code to save you entering the device information.  It did however take some time for my phone to connect to it and for it to then connect to my Wi-Fi, in fact it took several attempts. Once connected however it seems to have stayed so with no problems.  One thing to note is that you do require a smart phone or an Android or IOS tablet to configure them, it is not possible to do it from a pc or mac.

Day to Day
On a day to day basis the Nest Protect is very easy to live with.  The quick green glow of the "Nightly promise" is surprisingly reassuring, and the Pathlight gives just enough light to stop you from bumping into things. The nice big button is easy to hit with a broom if your detector is out of reach to silence or test.  I also love the idea that it will shutdown my boiler if CO is detected although the boiler will still come on for hot water.

Conclusions?
So far thankfully I have not had the alarm sound for either Smoke or CO other than during a test, hopefully I am not tempting fate. All in all I am very happy with my purchase, and look forward to see what Nest come out with next.

Nest Thermostat after 28 days.

It has now been four weeks since I installed my first Nest thermostat in my house and since then I have added two additional Nest Thermostat, one to control the kitchen and one for the upstairs, making a total of three. Currently they are all on Nest stands although I will hard wire a couple of them when I am next going to decorate as I will have to chase in new cables.

Over the last few weeks I have had several days when in some of the rooms the heating has not been required at all.  With my old system I would of carried on heating the area.  I have noticed that the auto away seems to be a bit strange about when it triggers, some times it cuts in fine but other days it does not. I am wondering if it might be down to sun light hitting the sensor?

On the client side, we have now installed several for clients with all types of heating systems and so far everyone is really happy.  I just wish the Nest Protect was available, just about every client we have installed a thermostat is keen to get a couple.  Hopefully they will get there issues sorted soon.

Nest Thermostat after 14 days - Victor Kiam moment.

It has now been a fortnight since I installed my first Nest thermostat in my house and in the mean time I have added an additional one to control another zone.  According to my energy history it is already saving me money.  The Auto Away feature is now working and has cut in a few times, I look forward to seeing more changes appear to my schedule.

Last week I had a few concerns, lets recap.

1. "How long will it take it to learn how long my Underfloor Heating takes to come to temperature?  Currently it seems to be going at least 3C over temp."  Slowly the amount it goes over temperature seems to be reducing as it learns how long it takes my under floor heating to heat up and cool down.
2. "Will having the Nest on the stand on a counter top slightly lower than the ideal have a major effect on performance?"  This does not seem to be causing any problems but intend to check the temperatures with a thermometer just to make sure.
3. "What should I do in the summer, traditionally I have always turned my heat off from May till the end of September but I am not sure this is the way to go with a Nest."  I have decided I will leave my heating on all year round and see how the Nest Learning Thermostat handles things.
4. "It would be really nice if you could put the stat into demo mode to disable learning when give demo's to friends and family." This is one thing I would like to see, every friend who come round seems to want to play with!

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I have had a Victor Kiam moment, I like the Nest Thermostat so much I have purchased the company.  Well that's not exactly true, first of all Google beat me to it and secondly the price would of been a bit out of my reach.  I have however done the next best thing, and become a certified installer.  Having owned a heating company for many years it seem an ideal blend of IT and heating.

Nest Thermostat after 7 days.

Well its one week since I installed my first Nest thermostat in my house and so far I am very pleased but do have a few minor concerns.

1. How long will it take it to learn how long my Underfloor Heating takes to come to temperature?  Currently it seems to be going at least 3C over temp.
2. Will having the Nest on the stand on a counter top slightly lower than the ideal have a major effect on performance?
3. What should I do in the summer, traditionally I have always turned my heat off from May till the end of September but I am not sure this is the way to go with a Nest.
4. It would be really nice if you could put the stat into demo mode to disable learning when give demo's to friends and family.

Time will tell, and I will be posting regular updates.

Nest Install Uk

Well after a long wait Nest have released there learning thermostat in the UK.  The product that we have got is quite different from the US model, whilst much of the basic functionality remains the same the installation is very different.  Unlike the US model the UK version can operate via wireless and requires a base station, if you currently have a wireless stat it is very much the same thing.

Should I install it myself?

First of all installing the Thermostat involves mains voltage electrical connection unless you are both competent and confident doing this I would strongly recommend you employ a certified installer to do the install for you. Assuming you are happy doing this type of work the next thing you need to identify is what type of heating system you have.  I would say that unless you are a plumber or electrician you should only consider installing yourself if you have a combi boiler or fancy the challenge of figuring out a maze of wiring!

The install

I decided to install it myself mainly because I have underfloor heating and felt it could take a while to explain how this is set up to an installer.  The install was very simple and took me about 45min.  I opted to mount my Nest on the stand which you need to purchase separately, it costs an extra £29.

The configuration

I found the configuration very quick and easy it takes you through the steps one by one. A few things you need to be aware of:

1. During the install you are asked if you currently have a programmer, if you say yes you have to enter your program into the stat. I found this very awkward to do at the stat, I would suggest its much easier to set this up through the web portal.
2. The Nest does not support 5Ghz wifi, this did not cause me much in the way of problems but I know others have had issues with interference from neighbours etc.
3. The auto away function does not work until it has had time to learn your habits.

Conclusions

To be honest its to soon to make any but so far my first impressions are good. I will update once I have some more experience with it.