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After much research, my conclusion is that my HVAC system didn't have one of the wires connected, Common, C. This was not a problem until some update that cause

After much research, my conclusion is that my HVAC system didn't have one of the wires connected, Common, C. This was not a problem until some update that caused the rest of the wires to be insufficient to recharge completely. Over the next year or so, the battery was killed. Who knows though. It was fine for the first few years, aside from when my power company overrode my settings on hot days and my kid had a life threatening fever.

tivert 3y ago
> After much research, my conclusion is that my HVAC system didn't have one of the wires connected, Common, C. This was not a problem until some update that caused the rest of the wires to be insufficient to recharge completely. My Ecobee doesn't have a battery at all, so that's something I had to deal with immediately upon installation. Luckily, I had an unused wire going to my own thermostat that I could repurpose. I believe it also came with a kit that would allow it to use a nonstandard signaling protocol so it could get needed power even if I didn't have an extra wire. I'm kind of puzzled why a Nest would even have a battery. Just a kludge to allow unreliable installation in places that don't have the proper wiring? One of the things I hate about modern software/product engineering is the over-reliance on updates and the mindset that aggressively obsoleting "old" versions. It creates a huge amount of unreliability and wasted time. IMHO, updates break things as much as they fix them. > Who knows though. It was fine for the first few years, aside from when my power company overrode my settings on hot days and my kid had a life threatening fever. Could they do that through the Nest, or did they have a separate cutout on the AC? My home has a remote operated cutout, which I'd assumed wad inactive until I randomly read by bill very carefully and realized it was active even though I never signed up for it (apparently the previous homeowner had it active, and that carried forward to my account).

tivert 3y ago

> After much research, my conclusion is that my HVAC system didn't have one of the wires connected, Common, C. This was not a problem until some update that caused the rest of the wires to be insufficient to recharge completely. My Ecobee doesn't have a battery at all, so that's something I had to deal with immediately upon installation. Luckily, I had an unused wire going to my own thermostat that I could repurpose. I believe it also came with a kit that would allow it to use a nonstandard signaling protocol so it could get needed power even if I didn't have an extra wire. I'm kind of puzzled why a Nest would even have a battery. Just a kludge to allow unreliable installation in places that don't have the proper wiring? One of the things I hate about modern software/product engineering is the over-reliance on updates and the mindset that aggressively obsoleting "old" versions. It creates a huge amount of unreliability and wasted time. IMHO, updates break things as much as they fix them. > Who knows though. It was fine for the first few years, aside from when my power company overrode my settings on hot days and my kid had a life threatening fever. Could they do that through the Nest, or did they have a separate cutout on the AC? My home has a remote operated cutout, which I'd assumed wad inactive until I randomly read by bill very carefully and realized it was active even though I never signed up for it (apparently the previous homeowner had it active, and that carried forward to my account).