Smart thermostats are increasing in popularity as more and more homeowners look for ways to cut down on their energy expenses. These accessories can be programmed to conveniently maintain the temperature inside your home in line with your regular schedule. They also have the capability to learn comfort preferences over time. Subsequently, you can make big savings on your energy bills by seeing to it that your home is only heated or cooled when you need it.
Google’s smart thermostat is the Nest, and numerous homeowners are satisfied with its features and all-around efficiency. But one feature–the Seasonal Savings program–might be making trouble as opposed to assisting your HVAC system. Lasting issues are forcing homeowners to learn how to switch off this feature. We’ll share the trouble some people are having with Seasonal Savings and provide instructions for how to opt out of the setting.
Many Homeowners Claim the Seasonal Savings Program Isn’t Working Like It Should
Google built the Seasonal Savings program to help homeowners improve their energy efficiency. During maximum HVAC use in the summer and winter, it will automatically adjust the thermostat to satisfy your preferences with energy efficiency. The program is supposed to run without interrupting your sense of comfort, making the biggest changes when you’re away or sleeping. Sadly, this isn’t the case for many people enrolled in the program.
Instead, there are claims that the program is inconsistent and difficult to use. Homeowners are noticing that the program is actually increasing their energy bills instead of shrinking them. And when they decide to disable or opt out of Seasonal Savings, they’ve noticed the way to do so is hard to find or downright absent. In various cases people have even noticed it being switched back on after it was disabled.
Smart thermostats are supposed to increase the efficiency of your heating and cooling. While automatic temperature changes are a popular feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t override your preferred settings. If a Nest won’t work with your comfort preferences, disabling the Seasonal Savings program is the correct move.
But First, Why Is This Going On?
Homeowners are claiming that the Seasonal Savings feature was activated on their Nest thermostat without their consent. Why would a smart thermostat you operate dismiss your settings and enroll in the program? It could be because of an energy-efficiency program you subscribed to with the utility company.
These agreements help you increase your home’s energy efficiency. They will sometimes offer rebates on new products or special offers for renewable energy systems. But numerous people are shocked to learn they also grant your utility company remote access to the thermostat. If the power grid is struggling with a heavy load, the utility company can take over your thermostat and turn up the temperature. You may well be having trouble with the Seasonal Savings program because a utility company is utilizing this remote access.
But what if the program is defective or just dismissing your preferences? Whatever the reason may be, you don’t want a feature to raise your energy use without your permission. We’ll explain how other users have opted out of the Seasonal Savings program.
How to Disable Your Nest Thermostat’s Seasonal Savings Feature
A number of people have disclosed trouble disabling the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting might be different based on your specific Nest model, other users are worried that Google is intentionally making it more difficult to disable Seasonal Savings. To make sure you can opt out no matter what, we’ll include the ways other users have found success.
- Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually changing the temperature should outrank the Seasonal Savings program, but quite a few users have found this isn’t the case. If you observe your Nest persistently ignoring your changes, you’ll probably opt to shut off the feature completely.
- Opting out of the feature from the Nest app: Your phone or tablet’s Nest app is supposed to have a History option and a Settings option. Google guides users to their History to turn off Seasonal Savings, but other users have located this option in Settings. Once disabled, the setting is temporarily off until the following summer or winter.
- Disabling the program from the Nest thermostat: Your thermostat should also feature a History option where you can turn off Seasonal Savings, but some homeowners report the disable option is not there.
- Opting out before the program starts: The Seasonal Savings program is only accessible in summer and winter. Your smart device will get a notification when the program is about to launch, allowing you the chance to opt out.
When Seasonal Savings is live, your Nest is supposed to feature a small yellow symbol of a leaf. If a Nest is struggling with issues and the Seasonal Savings icon is missing, your problem could be with a different setting entirely.
Sometimes the Source Isn’t Seasonal Savings but a Different Setting or Program
Different settings on Nest smart thermostats apart from Seasonal Savings can result in counterintuitive temperature changes. If these options are active during Seasonal Savings, even opting out of the program may not keep the thermostat from making changes. Luckily, these settings can be disabled. You’ll also have options if the headache is a third party like the power company.
- Shutting off Auto-Schedule: The Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat both give you the Auto-Schedule feature, using their capability to study your preferences to define the ideal schedule. Going into Settings and turning off Auto-Schedule should prevent other automatic controls including Seasonal Savings.
- Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats can still shift to eco temperatures if you have an auto-switching setting like Home & Away Routines or Home/Away Assist. These settings automatically adjust the temperature when the thermostat assumes that no one is around.
- Leaving the utility company’s energy agreement: Because your energy provider could be remotely controlling a Nest thermostat, nullifying the agreement should take away their access. You can obtain the complete details of these agreements with your energy provider.
- Reaching out to Google support: If nothing else works, contacting Google’s technical support could be of help. Staff can point you to resetting the Nest or finding the correct setting to shut off Seasonal Savings.
If the Problem Remains, Your Thermostat May Be Defective
There’s always the possibility the Nest smart thermostat is just malfunctioning. Electrical damage or software glitches can result in all types of issues, including an aggravating Seasonal Savings program. If you believe the problem is isolated to your personal thermostat, an experienced technician might be able to help. After all, smart thermostats continue to be a beneficial investment for your home’s energy efficiency.
If you need local service for your smart thermostat in Wheeling, contact the heating and cooling specialists at Comfort Masters Service Experts. They can help you find out the ideal way to shut off a stubborn Seasonal Savings program on your Nest thermostat.