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I have a Nest an generally love it. I upgraded to it from a previous "smart thermostat" mostly for new-technology and to support some friends who were working o

by jgeorge 12y ago

I have a Nest an generally love it. I upgraded to it from a previous "smart thermostat" mostly for new-technology and to support some friends who were working on Nest when it launched. I have kind of an unusually-shaped house and the Nest doesn't do well to learn when I'm not home (because of it's placement I can be in several places in my home where it doesn't "see" me). For me it's not quite as hands-off as it probably could be, but I've been able to measure a significant energy savings from pre-Nest to post-Nest home heating and cooling. Edit: I installed it myself and as long as your HVAC system is a) decently installed in the first place and b) not too unconventionally weird, you should be able to install it yourself. It's mostly just matching up the wire colors in the wall to the wire colors in the base.

VLM 12y ago
"It's mostly just matching up the wire colors in the wall to the wire colors in the base." I'd add a minor suggestion to make a wiring diagram of what was there and then match the letters on the old thermostat to the letters on the new one. I've seen some weird stuff where the old thermostat works perfectly with the white wire connected to the "G" terminal... so I'd strongly encourage replicating that weirdness with the new thermostat and connect it to the "G" on the new terminal much like the old, regardless of its insulation color. I think it comes from using non-standard wire and/or remodeling. I remember running into this with a house that converted from no AC and a humidifier to no humidifier and AC and the wiring colors didn't match the letters but it worked perfectly in the end. Or maybe this was the place that had independently controllable fan but not enough wires to supply thermostat power so fan control wires were stolen for thermo power and the colors certainly don't match but the letters did match and it worked. I suppose the "correct" thing to do is open up the furnace and rewire it the right way and wire the thermostat the right way. In my infinite spare time. Also if someone finds thermostat wiring intimidating I'd advise not opening the cover of a modern furnace, looks like a cross between a water cooled PC and a bad star trek episode in there... Anyway the general point is whatever was connected to "G" on the old thermo had better connect to "G" on the new thermo, and ditto for all the other letters, and don't worry about the wire insulation color. Make a map (schematic) and snap some pix before unscrewing anything. Good luck to OP, its fun to install and complete projects and have a new techno toy. A neurotransmitter hit like the first time a program passes all the required unit tests, or hitting vers 1.0 or whatever else.

by jgeorge 12y ago

VLM 12y ago

"It's mostly just matching up the wire colors in the wall to the wire colors in the base." I'd add a minor suggestion to make a wiring diagram of what was there and then match the letters on the old thermostat to the letters on the new one. I've seen some weird stuff where the old thermostat works perfectly with the white wire connected to the "G" terminal... so I'd strongly encourage replicating that weirdness with the new thermostat and connect it to the "G" on the new terminal much like the old, regardless of its insulation color. I think it comes from using non-standard wire and/or remodeling. I remember running into this with a house that converted from no AC and a humidifier to no humidifier and AC and the wiring colors didn't match the letters but it worked perfectly in the end. Or maybe this was the place that had independently controllable fan but not enough wires to supply thermostat power so fan control wires were stolen for thermo power and the colors certainly don't match but the letters did match and it worked. I suppose the "correct" thing to do is open up the furnace and rewire it the right way and wire the thermostat the right way. In my infinite spare time. Also if someone finds thermostat wiring intimidating I'd advise not opening the cover of a modern furnace, looks like a cross between a water cooled PC and a bad star trek episode in there... Anyway the general point is whatever was connected to "G" on the old thermo had better connect to "G" on the new thermo, and ditto for all the other letters, and don't worry about the wire insulation color. Make a map (schematic) and snap some pix before unscrewing anything. Good luck to OP, its fun to install and complete projects and have a new techno toy. A neurotransmitter hit like the first time a program passes all the required unit tests, or hitting vers 1.0 or whatever else.