Nest thermostats have become all the rage in today’s world.
These smart thermostats, which take the time to learn about you and set the temperature accordingly, are being installed in several homes around the country.
With everything these thermostats can already do, you may wonder whether you can set up a timer on them.
You can set up a timer on the Nest thermostat by going into the settings on your phone. You can set up a sensor schedule through the settings to turn your thermostat on and off automatically. If you have multiple sensors, you can also set it up to alternate between them.
Today we’ll cover all the basics about Nest thermostats and discuss a step-by-step guide on how you set up a timer on the thermostat. Let’s get started.
How Does a Nest Thermostat Work?
Nest thermostats combine the latest innovative technology with all the functions of a traditional thermostat, producing a result that gives you cooling and heating technology that learns who you are and what you prefer in your house.
The thermostat then adjusts itself accordingly so that you always stay at the perfect temperature.
However, there may be times when your thermostat refuses to learn.
To learn more about why this happens and how to fix it, check out my article on Nest thermostats that aren’t learning.
The thermostat uses built-in sensors to understand what your day-to-day schedule looks like.
From there, it rapidly adjusts your home’s temperature to be perfectly cool or warm after you come home from a long day at work.
The thermostat tracks you primarily through an app on your phone.
It can tell when you’re at work or at home and learns your habits based on what you manually adjust the temperature to when you are at home.
The first Nest thermostat was released in 2011 and has grown exponentially since that point.
Now, these thermostats can do almost anything. Luckily, setting a timer for them is no exception to this rule. We’ll get into how to do that in a few more minutes.
This technology is also highly energy efficient.
Often, with traditional thermostats, they kick on when they aren’t needed.
One of the most significant ways that the Nest thermostat and other smart thermostats are different is that they don’t turn on unless you need them.
They may, for example, observe that you tend to get hotter mid-afternoon.
The thermostat may then repeatedly kick on every day around 3:00 PM.
How Does a Nest Thermostat Learn About Your Preferences?
As I mentioned, Nest thermostats learn about your preferences primarily by tracking your behavior through your phone’s connected app.
The thermostat uses several sophisticated subsystems to track you and begin to understand your habits.
Primarily, it uses the onboard learning module.
Through this, the device uses digital signals to learn your preferences.
Computer scientists often refer to these digital signals as opcodes.
Basically, the artificial intelligence within the thermostat observes you from the moment you install it and, from there, makes adjustments.
Usually, it takes about seven days for the Nest thermostat to become fully acclimated to how you live and begin to calculate what temperature your home should be at any given time.
During the first day, the thermostat doesn’t adjust itself at all. Instead, it waits for manual adjustment.
On the second day, it begins to create a personalized schedule based on the temperatures it observed on the first day.
The thermostat has a basic schedule of your habits from the third through the fifth days.
You can view any information that it has collected in the settings on the device.
The sixth and seventh days are when the thermostat begins implementing what it’s learned about you. It stops recording every small change and instead focuses on the big picture of what’s happening inside your house.
How To Set Up Your Nest Thermostat To Operate on a Timer
Alright, let’s get into the meat of this article – how to get your Nest thermostat set up on a timer.
The best way to do this is through your settings on your app.
The app allows you to set up a schedule for the thermostat.
This is known as sensor scheduling.
It can be adjusted for either a single Nest thermostat or you can adjust it so that it will switch between two different thermostats.
For example, you may have it turn on the air upstairs at a certain time while the downstairs air is off and vice versa.
Let’s look at the steps to set up your sensor schedule.
The first step is to get into the app.
You should already have the app downloaded, as it’s necessary to get the device set up in the beginning when it’s purchased.
However, if you’ve deleted it accidentally, you can easily find it on both iPhone and Android app stores.
Once you get to the app, you’ll want to navigate the settings for whichever thermostat has the external temperature sensor.
From here, you’ll tap the gear icon to access the settings for this device.
If you only have one Nest thermostat, then you’ll select that one.
2. Manage the Sensor
This process is relatively simple. There will be an option to manage the sensor that you’ve selected.
From here, it’s simply a matter of setting up the sensor scheduling.
You will see options to set up a schedule for the sensor to turn on and off in the morning, midday, and night.
There’s also an option to open up a blank spreadsheet where you can select specific times on specific days.
3. Tap Add and Select Your Times
Once you tap add, located in the lower right-hand of your screen, you’ll see a grid pop-up.
You can select specific times you want the Nest thermostat to turn on and off through the grid.
You can also select the temperature you want the thermostat to turn on at any time.
For example, at 2:23 AM, you may want your thermostat to switch to 72 Degrees.
That’s all there is to it!
Can You Set a Timer on Nest Thermostat? Final Thoughts
Nest thermostats are built to learn anything and everything about your heating and cooling habits. It appears that there’s nothing that these nifty thermostats can’t do.
To set up your Nest thermostat on a timer, you’ll need to create a schedule for it to kick on and off at certain times. You can do this by accessing the settings inside your Nest app.