A Nest thermostat is an excellent addition to your home.
As a smart thermostat, it’s designed to learn everything it can about your daily routine and make adjustments accordingly.
This feature is its biggest selling point, but it’s also its biggest weakness as it can sometimes backfire and annoy consumers.
Your Nest may turn on by itself because it was programmed to do so. The device follows your daily routine to decide when it should turn on and change your temperature. These are a few reasons:
- Auto-schedule is turned on
- Farsight is turned on
- There’s a target temperature change
- It’s installed in the wrong place
This automatic behavior may be frustrating, especially if you haven’t invested much time in customizing your Nest’s settings.
In this article, we’ll go through these problems individually and see what you can do to make your nest work better.
What Is Your Nest Supposed to Do?
Unlike a traditional or a programmable thermostat, a Nest is supposed to track your daily habits and learn from them.
This is done to maximize the energy conservation effects of a typical programmable thermostat.
For example, your Nest will detect your movements to see if you’re around.
It’ll use that data to figure out when you’re home and when you’re away, around which it’ll build a schedule for your HVAC system.
The idea is that all the processes of controlling the temperature in your house can be automated, so you can just sit back and relax.
Not only this, but you can also conserve energy and be more eco-friendly.
Theoretically, you should be able to input some basic data and let it go from there, learning and adjusting.
Sometimes, this system can backfire and become more of a pain than an aid.
Auto-Schedule Is Turned On
The auto-schedule option is one of the best things about the Nest.
Still, it can turn into its biggest disadvantage if not used properly.
This may happen because it incorrectly judges your daily routine and turns on the wrong settings.
So, the device may lower the temperature when you want it to be warmer or increase it when you want your house to be cool.
Perhaps you’ve been away for a few days, or you increased your target temperature for a few days due to a cold spell.
Now your Nest has remembered those facts and uses them to control your temperature.
There are a few easy steps to mitigate this.
- Open the Nest app on your preferred device.
- Open the thermostat settings.
- Turn off the auto-schedule option.
- Set the temperature to where you want it.
Alternatively, you can even altogether disable its learning features, though this makes owning a Nest a bit meaningless.
Farsight Is Turned On
The third generation of Nest thermostats comes with the Farsight option enabled by default.
This option lets Nest recognize you from around six feet.
It overrides all other settings that your Nest would otherwise use to control its turning off and on.
This kind of behavior can, understandably, be annoying.
You probably don’t want it to turn on every time there’s a slightest movement around it.
Thankfully, this option can also be turned off in the settings.
So, you can live more peacefully, knowing that your Nest won’t disturb you as soon as you stir.
There’s A Target Temperature Change
If there’s a target temperature change triggered by the schedule, or if someone (a household member, maybe) has changed the settings, your Nest will light up.
This kind of behavior should not disturb you as it will not do this if it detects that the room is too dark, for example.
If it acts in this way for no apparent reason, you might be facing a bug.
Contact customer support or try to see what might be wrong with it.
Alternatively, talk to your family members to see if they’ve changed some of the settings.
It might just be your kids accidentally stumbling upon the Nest app on your device and changing the settings.
In the worst case, your security may have been compromised, but this isn’t very likely.
It’s Installed in the Wrong Place
Where you place your Nest is crucial when installing one.
If it’s somewhere your family members walk very often, the device will likely light up more than necessary.
On the other hand, if you put it somewhere behind a door or in an alcove, it won’t detect enough activity and assume you’re not home.
Find a place where you walk multiple times a day but that is also not hidden from view.
This will allow the Nest to figure out when you’re home without going wild.
It’ll also prevent it from assuming that you’re not home and lowering your temperature when you need it to be hot.
Where to Place Your Nest
There are no guidelines on where you should place your Nest thermostat.
Still, some places are better than others.
Thoroughly thinking about the right place for it is going to save you a bit of trouble in the future.
Some users have recommended putting it in the coldest room and adjusting the temperature based on that.
Putting it in the hallway might also be a good solution if you’re looking to put it in the coldest room.
You should place it at a reasonable height on an interior wall.
The ceiling might be the ideal location when it comes to correct temperature readings, but it’s going to make it difficult to tweak the settings.
There are some places where you should never place it.
- Close to radiators
- Close to other heating appliances
- Close to your cooktop
Placing your Nest close to any source of heat will make it think the room is too hot.
In turn, it will decrease the temperature and you might end up being cold.
Why Is Your Nest Thermostat Turning On by Itself: Final Thoughts
Having a Nest thermostat in your home can be a valuable investment. .
It’s a smart device, but it still needs your help to learn correctly and do its job.
Pay attention to the following things:
- Only turn on the options you really need.
- Make sure no one is changing the settings needlessly.
- Install it in a suitable place.
Are You Still Struggling With Your device?
If you’re still struggling trying to get going your smart device, contact me at nelson.barbosa@myautomatedpalace.com and we can discuss how can we fix it!