Nest connectivity and charging problems solved:

I have two NEST thermostats; one first generation and one second generation.  I experienced intermittent connectivity issues with my gen1 Nest soon after I installed it.  Initially I determined that it was not charging properly so I brought out the “C” (AC Common) wire from my furnace control board to the NEST and the charging problem was solved.  When I  installed the gen2 NEST, I made sure the “C” wire was available at installation.  I have no charging problems with either NEST now.

Connectivity problems would come and go, sometimes going many weeks or months between incidents.  I tried many solutions (port forwarding .lease times, static ip, etc) with varying degrees of success.  The connectivity problems were irritating rather than debilitating; most of the time the NEST worked fine.  The same pattern occurred after I installed … Read More »

I have two NEST thermostats, one v1 and one v2. The v1 had been ticking along fine until about July 2014 when I began to experience connectivity problems. More specifically, the thermostat itself would say that it was connected properly,  but the NEST browser and mobile apps would show it as offline. I tried all the usual fixes: reboot, restart, reset, both (router and NEST), static ip, DHCP Leasetime tweaks, etc.  Long story short, nothing I did solved the connectivity issues.

As it turned out, I was reconfiguring my home network and decided to change my main router from a Netgear WNDR4500 to an ASUS RT-AC68U. This change has resolved all my NEST connectivity issues. NEST Connectivity Issues Solved !  Both my NEST thermostats are fully connected and accessible any time I check them. It turns out that the RT-AC68U has … Read More »

NEST Thermostat Update and Voltage Measurements

I have had my NEST Gen1 for almost 16 months now and I probably could not go back to a regular dumb thermostat, given the choice.  The NEST charging problem has been solved by connecting the “C” (AC Common) wire from my furnace to the NEST.  See this post for details: Nest Thermostat Charging Solution

I find the monthly NEST Energy Reports very useful, and I am saving them so that when I make important changes to our house (new windows, more insulation, more efficient furnace, etc) I can see an actual difference.

I thought it would be helpful to anyone still troubled by the charging problem if I posted my NEST reported and measured voltages:

Furnace running (heating) NEST Reported Voltages: Voc 38.33V, Vin 31.57V, Vbat 3.864V, Lin 100mA (i)

Voltage measured between Rc and C (Power and … Read More »

NEST Thermostat Functioning Well after Wiring Change:

Over a month on since I changed my NEST v1 thermostat wiring to include the “C” or 24Vac Common wire, it is working flawlessly again. We have had several cycles of cold (-20C) and warm (+8C) and there have been no problems with charge levels, network communication or connectivity.

I wonder why NEST does not strongly recommend the use of the “C” wire when it is so simple to install? BTW, if you are looking for a wiring diagram of your furnace and controller, check the back side of the access panel (Doh!!) on the furnace; it should be there.

I have e found a couple of very useful links for anyone in a similar situation and seeking a solution:

Adding a C wire to a Thermostat

When-Nest-needs-a-common-C-wire

Shaun M

Nest thermostat battery charging problem and solution

My NEST (Generation 1) had been working flawlessly for several months, both summer and winter (heating and cooling) until about January 23rd, 2013 or so. Then it began to struggle with recharging, had network dropouts, disconnects, and began to insert Delay Times (apparently randomly, and up to 2 minutes in duration) into the heating cycle. I recharged the NEST using the USB interface a couple of times, only to find that it would run down within 8 or 10 hours and never recharge. With -25c temperatures for days on end, the last thing you want are strange delays and the resultant furnace cycle down/up and an unreliable thermostat. In fact one day with -40c windchill, the furnace would run for about 10 minutes and then cycle off as NEST inserted a Delay Time for … Read More »