Nest Thermostats and Charging; A Comprehensive Guide

Nest thermostat is a revolutionized way of heating your home. A relatively new technology, it helps your home’s temperature to be regulated more efficiently and with lesser energy consumption. The product uses AI to keep track of your routines and schedules. These algorithms keep you away from the hassles of constantly having to set the temperature and other trivialities. 

But everything can’t be all roses, right? Or can it be? We can only know once we get the answer to the main question here, how often do nest thermostats need to be charged?

How often do nest thermostats need to be charged?

Nest thermostats very rarely need charging. These thermostats are wired to your home’s heating/ cooling system; thus, they don’t need charging. Even in the case of a power failure, the thermostat can keep on working for two hours. Even when it does need recharging, you simply need to replace the batteries or put it on charge (depending on the model). 

You will only need to charge it when the battery drains. All you’ll have to do is connect it to a power source through a micro USB or USB A cable. If it drains too often, you need to get it checked. 

How long does a nest thermostat battery last?

The battery can last 5 to 10 years with a constant power supply. However, it has also been known to only work for 2 years if there is a strain. 

The charge, however, can last for almost 2 hours after power breakdowns, as has been mentioned above too. 

How would I know if the Nest thermostat’s battery has fully charged?

The thermostat shows a blinking red light while it is being charged. When this light stops blinking, it means that the thermostat has fully charged.

How to charge the nest thermostat?

Though there are quite many ways to do that, a few have been discussed below.

Charging it with a USB

Although under normal circumstances, you will not need to charge it at all, however, if the battery drains, here is how you can charge it with a USB. 

Step 1: Pull off the display of the thermostat

Step 2: Plug the USB port into a wall socket or your laptop

Step 3: you will notice a blinking light when it starts to charge. The color will indicate the battery level. If the battery was fully drained, the thermostat might take almost as long as 2 hours to charge. 

However, please keep in mind that this is a temporary solution and that your thermostat is supposed to charge itself from the wiring. 

Charging it using a C wire

You will essentially be connecting your furnace to your thermostat in this method, so it has a constant supply.

Step 1: switch off the power supply to your furnace for your safety

Step 2: Remove the thermostat from the base unit

Step 3: try to locate a C connector, remember the color of its wire (if there is one)

Step 4: now, have a look at the wires of the furnace

Step 5: try to ensure that a wire, the same color that you made a note of earlier, is connected to the furnace’s C terminal

Step 6: if you find that there is no cable that is connected, install a new cable between the furnace and thermostat

Step 7: connect a C connector to the C terminals of both

Step 8: the Nest can now be refit to its base unit

Step 9: switch on your furnace and check if it is working

Charging it using a common wire transformer

If you don’t want to use the method described above, there’s another way to tackle the problem too. You can connect the thermostat to a common wire transformer to provide a constant supply of power. Here is how you can do that:

Step 1: switch off the power supply to your furnace for your safety

Step 2: Remove the thermostat from the base unit

Step 3: take the cables of the transformer from behind the base unit and pass them from the center hole

Step 4: disconnect any cable connected to the Rh connector

Step 5: connect the transformer’s cable to the C connector

Step 6: Connect your transformer to a mains outlet, then turn it on

Step 7: refit the Nest to its base

Step 8: test. The indicator light should start to flash

Nest thermostat not charging? Troubleshoot

There are quite a few reasons why your thermostat might not be charging. Here we have discussed a few and their solutions. 

Possible software issues

Though this may sound a little alarming, it’s nothing to be worried about. If your

nest thermostat has a software issue, you can easily fix it yourself without any technical support.

The first step to address this problem is the old school “restart” method. Turn the thermostat off and restart after a few minutes. More often than not, it might fix the problem.

If the above does not help, you can try to factory reset the thermostat. Just click on the reset button for about 10 to 15 seconds. Then you can set the thermostat up again. You can also reset it by changing the settings in the settings application. Both these methods will help you reset the settings to your liking while also eliminating the problem which was causing hindrance to charge. 

Hardware issues

Of course, there could be some issue with the hardware too, but this sort of problem will be a little difficult to detect and resolve. 

One problem might be the thermostat not charging because of low voltage or any other reason. Luckily, we have discussed above how to deal with this problem with the help of a USB cable.

However, if it appears to be some other issue, and you are a person who is not very familiar with wires and hardware, you can always call the NEST support helpline. They might send a technician your way, and your issue will be fixed.

Concluding our thoughts on Nest thermostat and charging!

We have compiled a comprehensive guide on why and when you might need to recharge your thermostat and how to do it. However, if the problem seems to be unsolvable, giving the support helpline a call could help a lot. 

Please do remember that dealing with electric connections has its own hazards; thus, one should always be careful and take precautionary measures.