Smart thermostats are increasing in popularity as more and more homeowners seek out ways to lower their energy bills. These accessories can be programmed to automatically maintain the temperature of your home in line with your daily schedule. They also have the means to memorize these preferences over time. For this reason, you can cut costs on your energy bills by ensuring that your home is only heated or cooled when you need it.
Google’s smart thermostat is the Nest, and plenty of homeowners are happy with its features and general efficiency. But one feature–the Seasonal Savings program–may be making trouble instead of helping your HVAC system. Frequent issues are pushing homeowners to look for how to switch off this feature. We’ll share the trouble some people are having with Seasonal Savings and offer instructions for how to opt out of the feature.
Many Homeowners Claim the Seasonal Savings Program Isn’t Working Correctly
Google developed the Seasonal Savings program to help homeowners enhance their energy efficiency. Around peak HVAC use in the summer and winter, it can automatically adjust the thermostat to satisfy your preferences with energy efficiency. The program is intended to run without getting in the way of your sense of comfort, setting up the biggest changes when you’re away or in bed. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for numerous people taking part in the program.
In fact, there are accounts that the program is sporadic and difficult to use. Homeowners are complaining that the program is actually increasing their energy bills instead of reducing them. And when they decide to disable or opt out of Seasonal Savings, they’ve found the setting to do so is difficult to find or downright missing. In several cases people have even discovered it being switched back on after it was disabled.
Smart thermostats are intended to increase the efficiency of your HVAC equipment. While automatic temperature adjustments are a widespread feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t bypass your favored settings. If the Nest won’t work with your comfort preferences, opting out of the Seasonal Savings option is the best move.
But First, Why Is This A Problem?
Homeowners are noticing that the Seasonal Savings feature was running on their Nest thermostat without their permission. Why can a smart thermostat you control brush off your settings and enroll in the program? It could be because of an energy-efficiency program you signed up for with a utility company.
These agreements help you raise your home’s energy efficiency. They may include rebates on new accessories or special discounts for renewable energy systems. But numerous people are shocked to learn they also allow your utility company remote access to the thermostat. If the power grid is under a heavy load, the utility company can override your thermostat and change the temperature. You could be having issues with the Seasonal Savings program due to the fact that a utility company is making use of this remote access.
But what if the program is faulty or just ignoring your preferences? Whatever the reason might be, you don’t want a feature to double your energy use without your consent. We’ll walk you through how other users have turned off the Seasonal Savings program.
How to Disable Your Nest Thermostat’s Seasonal Savings Feature
A number of people have documented trouble opting out of the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting could be different according to your specific Nest model, other users are concerned that Google is intentionally making it harder to disable Seasonal Savings. To make sure you can opt out no matter what, we’ll describe the ways other users have found success.
- Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually setting the temperature should override the Seasonal Savings program, but numerous users have observed this isn’t the case. If you observe your Nest persistently reversing your changes, you’ll probably prefer to disable the feature outright.
- Opting out of the program from the Nest app: Your phone or tablet’s Nest app ought to have a History option and a Settings option. Google directs users to their History to switch off Seasonal Savings, but other people have discovered this option in Settings. Once disabled, the feature is temporarily off until the next summer or winter.
- Stopping the program from the Nest thermostat: Your thermostat should also have a History option where you can turn off Seasonal Savings, but some homeowners report the disable option is missing.
- Opting out before the program begins: The Seasonal Savings program is only obtainable in summer and winter. Your smart device should get a notification when the program is about to start, offering you the time to opt out.
When Seasonal Savings is engaged, your Nest is supposed to show a small yellow symbol of a leaf. If your Nest is struggling with issues and the Seasonal Savings icon is not visible, your trouble may be with another setting entirely.
Sometimes the Issue Isn’t Seasonal Savings but a Different Setting or Program
Additional settings on Nest smart thermostats aside from Seasonal Savings can result in automatic temperature changes. If these settings are active during Seasonal Savings, even disabling the program may not stop the thermostat from making changes. Thankfully, these settings can be disabled. You’ll also have options if the headache is a third party like a power company.
- Switching off Auto-Schedule: The Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat both extend the Auto-Schedule feature, using their capability to learn your preferences to establish the perfect schedule. Going into Settings and shutting off Auto-Schedule should prevent other automatic adjustments including Seasonal Savings.
- Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats will still shift to eco temperatures if you use an auto-switching feature like Home & Away Routines or Home/Away Assist. These features automatically adjust the temperature when the thermostat assumes that everyone is out of the house.
- Leaving the utility company’s energy agreement: Because your energy provider might be remotely controlling your Nest thermostat, opting out of the agreement should get rid of unwanted access. You can find the complete details of these agreements via your energy provider.
- Calling Google support: If all else fails, calling Google’s technical support might be of help. Staff can lead you to resetting the Nest or locating the appropriate setting to disable Seasonal Savings.
If the Problem Remains, Your Thermostat May Be Malfunctioning
There’s always the possibility the Nest smart thermostat is just malfunctioning. Electrical issues or software bugs can result in all kinds of issues, including an obnoxious Seasonal Savings program. If you think the problem is isolated to your specific thermostat, a skilled technician might be able to help. After all, smart thermostats continue to be a valuable investment for your home’s energy efficiency.
If you prefer local assistance for your smart thermostat in Girard, call the heating and cooling experts at Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning. They can help you determine the easiest way to disable a stubborn Seasonal Savings program on your Nest thermostat.