Issue with nest thermostat

Leafowner

Nest only allows you to set heating schedule for 1 hour minimum time slots. Before I got it I had upstairs heating going on for half an hour in the morning and half an hour at night. So with nest I am using an extra hour of heating per day in my upstairs alone, a massive waste.

Is there anyway around this? I was thinking either
- manually adjust thermostat after half an hour, a hassle when I bought this thing to make life easier not give me more things to do. Plus chances are I will forget to do this half the time anyway.
- get google home device to talk to my Alexa device in order to turn the heating off, so have a reminder half an hour after heating is on, to say something like “Alexa turn heating to 9 degrees upstairs”

Anyone have other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

antix80

Set it to a lower temperature so it turns the heat off quicker.

I know, a 17 degree room with the radiator off isn't the same as 17 degrees with the radiator on.

But the purpose of nest is to maintain a temperature using the thermostat.

If your house is poorly insulated and you set nest to a nice temperature there's a good chance your boiler will stay running all day.

If my nest showed 19 and the room felt a bit chilly, I might budge nest up to 19.5. Rad gives a nice blast of heat for a few mins then nest turns it off.

ted1

Leafowner wrote: »

Nest only allows you to set heating schedule for 1 hour minimum time slots. Before I got it I had upstairs heating going on for half an hour in the morning and half an hour at night. So with nest I am using an extra hour of heating per day in my upstairs alone, a massive waste.

Is there anyway around this? I was thinking either
- manually adjust thermostat after half an hour, a hassle when I bought this thing to make life easier not give me more things to do. Plus chances are I will forget to do this half the time anyway.
- get google home device to talk to my Alexa device in order to turn the heating off, so have a reminder half an hour after heating is on, to say something like “Alexa turn heating to 9 degrees upstairs”

Anyone have other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

. Move away from on and off mentality, and set it the desired temperature...

Just cause it set to 18 for an hour it doesn’t mean it’ll be in for the hour. It could be in for 15 minutes till the house reaches 18 then may cut in every now and then to maintain temperature

Leafowner

Thanks for the replies, will try lowering temp a bit

wexfordman2

Leafowner wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, will try lowering temp a bit

Are.you sure about that, I can set my nest schedule in fifteen minute intervals.

Leafowner

wexfordman2 wrote: »

Are.you sure about that, I can set my nest schedule in fifteen minute intervals.

Yeah I have the gen 3 using android, what version do you have?

antix80

wexfordman2 wrote: »

Are.you sure about that, I can set my nest schedule in fifteen minute intervals.

You can set it in 15 min intervals.. but you'll see there has to be 1 hour between each scheduled change.

So if you set it to come on at 7:15, you can't set it to go off at 8:00 (it will only allow 8:15, 8:30, etc)

fletch

Leafowner wrote: »

Nest only allows you to set heating schedule for 1 hour minimum time slots. Before I got it I had upstairs heating going on for half an hour in the morning and half an hour at night. So with nest I am using an extra hour of heating per day in my upstairs alone, a massive waste.

Is there anyway around this? I was thinking either
- manually adjust thermostat after half an hour, a hassle when I bought this thing to make life easier not give me more things to do. Plus chances are I will forget to do this half the time anyway.
- get google home device to talk to my Alexa device in order to turn the heating off, so have a reminder half an hour after heating is on, to say something like “Alexa turn heating to 9 degrees upstairs”

Anyone have other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Nest doesn't work like a traditional timer. You are not setting when want the heating to come on, you are setting the time at which you want the house to be a particular temperature. So if you set the house to be 20 degrees at 8am, it might come on at 7am or 7:30am or 7:41am, depending on how long it thinks it will take to ramp the house up to that temperature factoring in a number of different parameters (which it learns over time). I just checked mine and it is the same, if I set a temperature in the schedule for 7am, the next adjustment I can make is 8am. I am not sure why it doesn't allow smaller frequencies of adjustment but personally it's not an issue for me.

I have the same problem,
I don't think the "smart" mode is suitable for all types of houses.
My heat is on for an hour every morning while 30mins would be fine,its silly.

fletch

BrownFinger wrote: »

My heat is on for an hour every morning while 30mins would be fine,its silly.

Reduce the temperature so and the heating won't kick in.

fletch

fletch wrote: »

Reduce the temperature so and the heating won't kick in.

In the ideal world it would'nt.
But in reality it could be on for much longer to reach the set temp.
And then we are gone.

fletch

BrownFinger wrote: »

In the ideal world it would'nt.
But in reality it could be on for much longer to reach the set temp.
And then we are gone.

Sounds to me like you are not understanding how Nest works.
Setting the heating to come on at a certain time is flawed, setting the house to be a certain temperature at a certain time makes much more sense and is how Nest works. What happens if the house falls to 10 degrees on a really cold night (slight exaggeration), it will take much more than 30 mins to ramp the house up to a comfortable temperature. Suppose it's a really warm night, turning the heating on for 30mins in the morning could make the house uncomfortably warm. Nest does away with this uncertainty. I set my house to be 19.5 degrees at 7:15am every morning with Nest and every morning at 7:15am, my house is 19.5 degrees, regardless of outside temperature. The heating may take an hour to get the house up to that temperature or it might take 10 mins, Nest decides.

I think I grasp the concept of it,
Try heating my place like that and you'll soon have an empty tank of kero.
We don't all have modern semi ds that heat up in 10 mins.

ted1

BrownFinger wrote: »

I have the same problem,
I don't think the "smart" mode is suitable for all types of houses.
My heat is on for an hour every morning while 30mins would be fine,its silly.

So set it to a lower temperature and it’ll reach that faster and turn off.
As stated numerous time’s forget about on or off , just set it to the desired temperature

ted1

BrownFinger wrote: »

I think I grasp the concept of it,
Try heating my place like that and you'll soon have an empty tank of kero.
We don't all have modern semi ds that heat up in 10 mins.[/quote

I don’t think you do.

If in the past you turned in on for half an hour and it was grand.
But know it’s on for an hour means that it’s not set to a temperature it can reach in an hour.

fletch

fletch wrote: »

hour to get the house up to that temperature or it might take 10 mins, Nest decides.

What if it takes 3/4 hours?
Would you be happy with that?

Nest is by far the worst of any of the smart thermostats.I got mine for 50e on adverts and that's the only reason I have it.
Will change to a sonoff setup or Hive as soon as possible.

Another thread on them here.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058051206

Ted you seem to be a serious nest fanboy.
(Another case of the boards.ie I have one so it's the best club)

fletch

BrownFinger wrote: »

What if it takes 3/4 hours?
Would you be happy with that?

To be warm, yes.

BrownFinger wrote: »

Nest is by far the worst of any of the smart thermostats.I got mine for 50e on adverts and that's the only reason I have it.
Will change to a sonoff setup or Hive as soon as possible.

Another thread on them here.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058051206

Ted you seem to be a serious nest fanboy.
(Another case of the boards.ie I have one so it's the best club)

I don't think you're understanding Ted's suggestion of lowering the temperature either.
What is your logic for setting the heating to come on for 30 mins in the morning? If you've a poorly insulated home, then on a really cold night, you're still going to wake up to a freezing cold house as 30mins will not be sufficient to heat the house. Why bother turning it on at all? I understand your feeling of lack of control of the heating but once you get used to it (and adjust the temperatures according to your needs), Nest is a brilliant system. I literally never touch the dial anymore and the house is always a consistent temperature. My old analogue dial used to cause the house to overheat and get too cold as it was so slow to respond to temperature change. The Nest manages it so much better.

ted1

BrownFinger wrote: »

What if it takes 3/4 hours?
Would you be happy with that?

Nest is by far the worst of any of the smart thermostats.I got mine for 50e on adverts and that's the only reason I have it.
Will change to a sonoff setup or Hive as soon as possible.

Another thread on them here.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058051206

Ted you seem to be a serious nest fanboy.
(Another case of the boards.ie I have one so it's the best club)

Maybe you are just to dumb to have one.

It’s as simple like this, if you think it’s on for to long it’s because you have the temperature set to high. Are you sure it’s even on for the full hour and cit maintain Ming the heat ?

It seems to be a case of a smart thermostat with a dumb user

londonred

Same issue here with Nest I used to set heating to come on at 6.30am for a 7am start , Nest now decides to turn on circa 5.30am or sometimes earlier thus using more energy , any wonder Electric Ireland gave them away for free.

ted1

londonred wrote: »

Same issue here with Nest I used to set heating to come on at 6.30am for a 7am start , Nest now decides to turn on circa 5.30am or sometimes earlier thus using more energy , any wonder Electric Ireland gave them away for free.

You are settling it to the temperature you want it.

So if you set it for 20 degreees at 7am , it’ll have the house at 20 degrees at 7 am. So it’ll need to come on before it so as to achieve this.

Fairly logical.

fletch

londonred wrote: »

Same issue here with Nest I used to set heating to come on at 6.30am for a 7am start , Nest now decides to turn on circa 5.30am or sometimes earlier thus using more energy , any wonder Electric Ireland gave them away for free.

You must have been satisfied with a lower temperature in the past so....so just set it to a colder temperature and it won't fire up as early.

fletch

ted1 wrote: »

Are you sure it’s even on for the full hour and cit maintain Ming the heat ?

I suspect he thinks this is the case alright. I have my Nest set to 20 degrees from 5pm to 10pm in the evenings...that doesn't mean it's on for 5 hours in the evening. It means it will maintain that temperature for 5 hrs. Sometimes the heating will be on for 30mins, others, it might be on for 1.5hrs.

londonred

fletch wrote: »

You must have been satisfied with a lower temperature in the past so....so just set it to a colder temperature and it won't fire up as early.

If its a warm night the Nest wont turn on and then I have no hot water for my shower........

Overall happy with Nest 2nd , pros are able to turn on remotely and twist the dial for heating boost , cons as above controlling what time it comes on .

fletch

londonred wrote: »

If its a warm night the Nest wont turn on and then I have no hot water for my shower........

So on a warm night at the moment, you wake up very warm so as your heating kicks in when it doesn't need to?
A plumber should be able to add a motorized zone valve to your system (if you don't already have it) and Nest can then control your heating and hot water separately. https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9252152?hl=en

illdoit2morrow

Is it the same for hot water as with heating, as it it will have the water hot at the time slot selected in the schedule, not come on at the time slots selected in the schedule?

There are two shower slots/times at home in the mornings, with an hour between them. Would i be best to set up the schedule to have the hot water hot at the required times?

fletch

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Is it the same for hot water as with heating, as it it will have the water hot at the time slot selected in the schedule, not come on at the time slots selected in the schedule?

No the hot water schedule works like a traditional timer, you set what time you want it to come on and go off at.

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Would i be best to set up the schedule to have the hot water hot at the required times?

I set mine to overlap my heating schedule so if the heating doesn't kick in (because it's too warm), then my water is still hot in the mornings/evenings. E.g, if I set my heating to be 20 degrees at 7am, then I set my hot water to come on from 6:30 to 7:00.

ted1

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Is it the same for hot water as with heating, as it it will have the water hot at the time slot selected in the schedule, not come on at the time slots selected in the schedule?

There are two shower slots/times at home in the mornings, with an hour between them. Would i be best to set up the schedule to have the hot water hot at the required times?

So to have hot water you need. To heat the whole house, Even in the summer? Use the immersion or get an electric shower

illdoit2morrow

ted1 wrote: »

So to have hot water you need. To heat the whole house, Even in the summer? Use the immersion or get an electric shower

No, hot water is independent of the heating, they have separate schedules.

fletch

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

No, hot water is independent of the heating, they have separate schedules.

So why are you asking about setting a schedule in Nest? Are you looking at getting rid of your immersion and using gas/Nest for heating the hot water too?

illdoit2morrow

fletch wrote: »

No the hot water schedule works like a traditional timer, you set what time you want it to come on and go off at.

I set mine to overlap my heating schedule so if the heating doesn't kick in (because it's too warm), then my water is still hot in the mornings/evenings. E.g, if I set my heating to be 20 degrees at 7am, then I set my hot water to come on from 6:30 to 7:00.

The other thing i haven't been able to do is to set the hot water for say 45 minutes or 1 hour 15 minutes, it must be in 30 minute increments. I read earlier in the thread that there seems to be a minimum amount of time the timer can come on for but i can't get hot water to some on for anything other than 30 minute increments.

illdoit2morrow

fletch wrote: »

So why are you asking about setting a schedule in Nest? Are you looking at getting rid of your immersion and using gas/Nest for heating the hot water too?

I have a nest, i was asking if schedules work the same way for heating and hot water.

fletch

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

The other thing i haven't been able to do is to set the hot water for say 45 minutes or 1 hour 15 minutes, it must be in 30 minute increments. I read earlier in the thread that there seems to be a minimum amount of time the timer can come on for but i can't get hot water to some on for anything other than 30 minute increments.

Yes hot water works in 30 minute increments.

fletch

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

I have a nest, i was asking if schedules work the same way for heating and hot water.

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

No, hot water is independent of the heating, they have separate schedules.

Are they both heated from the same boiler or do you have a separate boiler for the hot water? If you just turn on the heating, does the hot water tank also heat?

fletch

BrownFinger wrote: »

I have the same problem,
I don't think the "smart" mode is suitable for all types of houses.
My heat is on for an hour every morning while 30mins would be fine,its silly.

How's that 30 mins of heating working out on these cold mornings? If your house is poorly insulated as you suggest you must wake up shaking with the cold

illdoit2morrow

fletch wrote: »

Are they both heated from the same boiler or do you have a separate boiler for the hot water? If you just turn on the heating, does the hot water tank also heat?

Turning on the heating heats the radiators only.
If i want hot water, i need to turn on 'hot water' separately.

Browning

I am having an issue where the Nest is coming on as scheduled but is only heating the water and not the radiators. Any ideas ? It has happened twice in the last two weeks. Boiler is firing up on command but radiators don't heat up but hot water is available.

fletch

Could be a problem with your zone valve?

Browning

Fletch, Thanks for the quick response. Excuse my ignorance, where and what is that ? Most importantly how do I sort it out.

fletch

Trying to understand your Nest setup. All going well, can you control your hot water and heating independently with Nest? If you turn on the heating, does it also heat the hot water?

A zone valve is a valve that controls whether the hot water flows to just the cylinder or also to the heating system. Typically, will be located close to the hot water cylinder. If you turn on the hot water, the radiators shouldn't get hot, then (while the hot water is still on), turn up the heating temperature and you should hear the valve moving (or at least the water starting to flow to the heating system)

Browning

Fletch, Heats both the rads and water at the same time. Did notice this morning that I could not hear the water pushing the water to the rads. This also happened about 2 weeks ago. Boiler is on the outside wall close to the bedroom. Can normally hear the boiler firing up and the water pushing through the system in the mornings. This morning I only hear the Boiler firing up.