-
Google, T3007ES, Nest Learning Thermostat, 3rd Gen, Smart Thermostat,...
- ›
-
Customer reviews
- Google, T3007ES, Nest Learning Thermostat, 3rd Gen, Smart Thermostat,...
- ›
- Customer reviews
Top positive review
Nest Software Malfunctioned twice. Nest replaced the unit both times. Excellent customer service, just worried about product.
January 31, 2017
I was initially impressed with my nest. The more time I spent exploring it, I found nice capabilities. Then problems started after two months. My home is in the colder climate of northern Michigan. While in Florida I checked my nest status. The nest was not calling for heat and temperature was dropping fast. I called the nest techs which were polite and helpful. They said my nest was wired for a heat pump which I do not have. Just impossible. The nest was actually calling my ac to cool down the house. Luckily I got a heating contractor to resolve it that was very familiar with nest. The nest was properly wired, but when wiring was check via the wi if it said it was erroneously wired for a heat pump. The nest was removed and reset. Now functions properly. The tech said they have never seen this malfunction before, but it's noted in their website. I asked for a replacement which they promptly sent. I'm now requesting reimbursement for my very expensive contractor services. This will be a good test if they stand behind their products. We will see.
A month later Nest did reimburse me for the furnace tech visit. They have integrity. Nice to see today.
A month later Nest did reimburse me for the furnace tech visit. They have integrity. Nice to see today.
2,075 people found this helpful
Top critical review
Doesn't quiiiite do what you'd expect
July 11, 2017
So I live in the southeast, where the summers are brutal and the winters are colder than you'd think. We get wild temperature swings which keeps energy usage quite high during peak months of the summer and winter seasons. Thinking this could help save some costs, I decided to try it. While others have explained a lot about what this system does, let me tell you what is does NOT do.
I was under the impression it would "learn" my schedule (as it advertises it does) and basically figure out that during the week, I work regular hours, as does my spouse. We leave the house within 15 minutes of each other, and arrive home pretty close together soon. So if I leave at 7am, and come home at 5 pm, I want the temperature a comfy 75-76 degrees in my home. The interim? Don't care, which is what I hoped the Nest would work on for me. Ideally, When I leave at 7 or so, it would start to dial back the AC/heat to a decent level, let's say the low 80s, so I could save money, then when it knows I'll be home around 5, it aims for heating/cooling the house back down to an acceptable level for me for when I walk in the door. This thing should be working at my house when I'm away to save me money by not heating or cooling an empty house for a few hours while I'm away, then kicking back on 30/60 minutes or so before I arrive so I walk in to a comfy house.
However, it doesn't quiiiiite do that, you see. I have to do all the heavy lifting as far as keeping it saving me money through the app while I'm away. It has a motion sensor, and a phone proximity sensor, and uses those two things to determine if you're home or not. If your phone leaves a 1 mile radius, or you don't pass by the motion sensor for a period of time, it starts an invisible countdown (anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours, though it doesn't tell you how much time, and its not programmable!). After that time, it will starts to let the AC/heat slide in the house to a temperature threshold you set to save energy. Then, it waits until it senses motion or sees your phone again to fire back up. This is a significant issue if you've been away for an extended period, as your house might actually be quite warm/cold when you arrive, but the Nest won't fire up until it "sees" you, meaning you don't walk into a comfy house, you walk into your threshold temperature and have to wait for the Nest to catch up. The motion sensor is also a big issue if you have an older home like mine, and the thermostat is tucked away at the end of a hall, instead of by the front door. Might be a non-issue to some, but be warned if your thermostat is in an out of the way location.
There IS an "early on" feature which lets you set a temperature and time ("I want it to be 75 degrees at 4:30pm"), and let it start heating or cooling your home a bit before that time depending on the ambient temperature. This is a good feature....except somebody HAS TO BE IN THE HOUSE? That makes zero sense to me. Why would I want to have the early on setting on....if I'm already home? Why, if I leave for work, should my wife sit through uncomfortable temperatures if she stays home, only to have it kick on a few minutes before I arrive? This is the feature that is missing from the home/away assist that is absolutely crucial to this being a REAL learning thermostat. This feature DOES NOT work if your home/away assist is on AND sees nobody home, so you're back to walking into a furnace during the summer, when it should realize that every Monday through Friday, I'm home at 5 (give or take a few minutes), and aim to have the temperature at my desired level at that time WITHOUT programming. As it is, you have to turn the main selling feature OFF (the learning schedule, home/away assist) to make it work right.This means manually changing everything if your schedule changes, instead of letting the cool parts of this work, like phone proximity etc. If it turns out I have to call in sick, now I have to go into the Nest software/app, and remove any settings I have for the day, and remember to set them back up so the next Thursday (or whichever day I deleted), I'm not blasted out by extreme heat/cold.
So you CAN program this thing to set the temp throughout the house at specific times.....but that defeats the purpose of spending $200-250 on this thing. It sure looks cool, but I can get a programmable thermostat for a fraction of the cost of this. Why won't the Nest ACTUALLY learn like it says it will? This is a sorely missed feature for those of us who live in areas that get quite warm and cold throughout the year. If they could set it to where the Nest could actually learn the fact I like the temp at 75 degrees, about the time I get home, AND keep the home/away assist stuff on, I'd change my review, but for now, I'm sorely disappointed.
I was under the impression it would "learn" my schedule (as it advertises it does) and basically figure out that during the week, I work regular hours, as does my spouse. We leave the house within 15 minutes of each other, and arrive home pretty close together soon. So if I leave at 7am, and come home at 5 pm, I want the temperature a comfy 75-76 degrees in my home. The interim? Don't care, which is what I hoped the Nest would work on for me. Ideally, When I leave at 7 or so, it would start to dial back the AC/heat to a decent level, let's say the low 80s, so I could save money, then when it knows I'll be home around 5, it aims for heating/cooling the house back down to an acceptable level for me for when I walk in the door. This thing should be working at my house when I'm away to save me money by not heating or cooling an empty house for a few hours while I'm away, then kicking back on 30/60 minutes or so before I arrive so I walk in to a comfy house.
However, it doesn't quiiiiite do that, you see. I have to do all the heavy lifting as far as keeping it saving me money through the app while I'm away. It has a motion sensor, and a phone proximity sensor, and uses those two things to determine if you're home or not. If your phone leaves a 1 mile radius, or you don't pass by the motion sensor for a period of time, it starts an invisible countdown (anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours, though it doesn't tell you how much time, and its not programmable!). After that time, it will starts to let the AC/heat slide in the house to a temperature threshold you set to save energy. Then, it waits until it senses motion or sees your phone again to fire back up. This is a significant issue if you've been away for an extended period, as your house might actually be quite warm/cold when you arrive, but the Nest won't fire up until it "sees" you, meaning you don't walk into a comfy house, you walk into your threshold temperature and have to wait for the Nest to catch up. The motion sensor is also a big issue if you have an older home like mine, and the thermostat is tucked away at the end of a hall, instead of by the front door. Might be a non-issue to some, but be warned if your thermostat is in an out of the way location.
There IS an "early on" feature which lets you set a temperature and time ("I want it to be 75 degrees at 4:30pm"), and let it start heating or cooling your home a bit before that time depending on the ambient temperature. This is a good feature....except somebody HAS TO BE IN THE HOUSE? That makes zero sense to me. Why would I want to have the early on setting on....if I'm already home? Why, if I leave for work, should my wife sit through uncomfortable temperatures if she stays home, only to have it kick on a few minutes before I arrive? This is the feature that is missing from the home/away assist that is absolutely crucial to this being a REAL learning thermostat. This feature DOES NOT work if your home/away assist is on AND sees nobody home, so you're back to walking into a furnace during the summer, when it should realize that every Monday through Friday, I'm home at 5 (give or take a few minutes), and aim to have the temperature at my desired level at that time WITHOUT programming. As it is, you have to turn the main selling feature OFF (the learning schedule, home/away assist) to make it work right.This means manually changing everything if your schedule changes, instead of letting the cool parts of this work, like phone proximity etc. If it turns out I have to call in sick, now I have to go into the Nest software/app, and remove any settings I have for the day, and remember to set them back up so the next Thursday (or whichever day I deleted), I'm not blasted out by extreme heat/cold.
So you CAN program this thing to set the temp throughout the house at specific times.....but that defeats the purpose of spending $200-250 on this thing. It sure looks cool, but I can get a programmable thermostat for a fraction of the cost of this. Why won't the Nest ACTUALLY learn like it says it will? This is a sorely missed feature for those of us who live in areas that get quite warm and cold throughout the year. If they could set it to where the Nest could actually learn the fact I like the temp at 75 degrees, about the time I get home, AND keep the home/away assist stuff on, I'd change my review, but for now, I'm sorely disappointed.
1,743 people found this helpful
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
May 18, 2017
My home is old and does not have a "C wire." The system consists of AC and Electric Heater, using a 4 wire controller (R=24 VAC, Y=Cool, W=Heat and G=Fan.)
I had the first generation Nest installed and it worked for about 4 years without problems, until it failed, conecting both the AC and heater for a day and a half: I have been heating and cooling my home during day and a half! I installed an ancient mechanical thermostat and things were normal again.
I decided to order the third generation Nest.
In my installation, the 24 VAC transformer delivers an open loop voltage of 28 VAC (R wire) with respect to Y (yellow) or W (white) when the thermostat is disconnected and there is no load. When connecting the 3rd generation Nest base to the wires, the AC voltage between Y and R, used by the Nest electronics, drops to about 12 VAC, impling that the current consumption of the Nest base produces a significant drop of 28 -12 = 16 VAC in the coil of the relay used by the AC activation. With that low voltage the thermostat shows an error message when the additional load of the display is connected. Bottom line, I had to return the Nest 3rd generation.
Some people (even Nest) suggests that the heater wire (W) could be connected to C (common) as a short term solution, during the summer time, or viceversa, connect the cool wire (Y) to C during the winter time, until you have the time to add a c wire. Others suggest using the fan wire G connected to terminal C. Any of these "solutions" imply not using all the features of the thermostat.
My suggestion is to avoid the Nest 3rd generation or any other smart wifi thermostat if your home does not have a c wire installed. Nest should make it clear that a c wire is a requirement.
I had the first generation Nest installed and it worked for about 4 years without problems, until it failed, conecting both the AC and heater for a day and a half: I have been heating and cooling my home during day and a half! I installed an ancient mechanical thermostat and things were normal again.
I decided to order the third generation Nest.
In my installation, the 24 VAC transformer delivers an open loop voltage of 28 VAC (R wire) with respect to Y (yellow) or W (white) when the thermostat is disconnected and there is no load. When connecting the 3rd generation Nest base to the wires, the AC voltage between Y and R, used by the Nest electronics, drops to about 12 VAC, impling that the current consumption of the Nest base produces a significant drop of 28 -12 = 16 VAC in the coil of the relay used by the AC activation. With that low voltage the thermostat shows an error message when the additional load of the display is connected. Bottom line, I had to return the Nest 3rd generation.
Some people (even Nest) suggests that the heater wire (W) could be connected to C (common) as a short term solution, during the summer time, or viceversa, connect the cool wire (Y) to C during the winter time, until you have the time to add a c wire. Others suggest using the fan wire G connected to terminal C. Any of these "solutions" imply not using all the features of the thermostat.
My suggestion is to avoid the Nest 3rd generation or any other smart wifi thermostat if your home does not have a c wire installed. Nest should make it clear that a c wire is a requirement.
October 22, 2018
I was super excited to get out of the Stone Age and start making my home smart. While the Nest looks flashy and makes you feel like your house could be smarter, it just doesn’t deliver for the price point. There are some things I love about it... the look, how the dial functions, the motion sensor, how it’s on WiFi. But the whole smart predictive capabilities are just not as smart as they make it seem. I find that I have to be the one to adjust the temp every single time. The worst part is that every night the heat kicks on at 2:30 in the morning, probably to heat up before we wake up, but my house heats up in less than an hour so 3:00am rolls around and I’m boiling. So I have to get up and crank it down time after time. This would be fine if the Nest could pick up the hint and learn not to do that but for some reason it just doesn’t. This really makes me question how smart it actually is and makes me think that it’s just not worth the price. They should really just make a nest for half the cost and not pretend that it’s going to change your life... it’s just a sleek thermostat.
August 6, 2018
I have had this device for almost a year now. I have come to the conclusion that I should have kept my programmable thermostat. The Nest is great if you need to control your HVAC at a vacation home or other long distance mostly unoccupied home. It might also provide some benefit if you have a DRAMATICALLY inconsistent schedule at your primary residence. But for the average person, there is essentially nothing it has to offer over a programmable thermostat. Unless of course you just feel the need to control something electronically "just because you can."
February 5, 2019
I purchased this to replace a first generation Ecobee. The touch screen had failed and it also lost wifi connection while I was on vacation, during the record setting Polar Vortex of January 2019. It was no longer trustworthy.
After some research I decided to follow the crowd and buy the Nest.
My first impressions were the documentation is nearly nonexistant and definitely tailored to the neophite. If you have any technical ability you might be frustrated by the lack of information. Any complications or advanced setup endevor will be met with direction to seek PRO assistance, in otherwords hire someone.
I was able to get it setup after some google searches. I have a humidifier and wanted to control it from the thermostat. Turns out the Asterix output can be configured for this. No where in the box does it explain that.
It’s overall software capability compared to Ecobee is very limited. For example there is no ability to schedule a vacation. Your only option is to just turn off the thermostat from the app. The Nest folks recommend this and then just rely on the safety Min and Max temp settings which will force it back on if it gets too cold or too hot. Well this would be ok but the Min is 45f and the Max is 92f. What if I want it to be 54f and 85f. Can’t do it.
Also historical data is very limited. With the Ecobee I could see when my furnace was operating historically back many months, both with first and second stage heat(I have a 2 Stage burner), or cooling.
Finally it’s hard to comprehend but there is no hold feature. Nest says their advanced learning features negate the need to require a hold feature. I disagree.
In general I feel like the Ecobee is far more feature rich. Ecobee is also constantly improving their APP.
The Nest’s claimed advantage is it’s ‘Smart Learning Operation’. We’ll see if that pans out, but so far I think it is thoroughly overated.
After some research I decided to follow the crowd and buy the Nest.
My first impressions were the documentation is nearly nonexistant and definitely tailored to the neophite. If you have any technical ability you might be frustrated by the lack of information. Any complications or advanced setup endevor will be met with direction to seek PRO assistance, in otherwords hire someone.
I was able to get it setup after some google searches. I have a humidifier and wanted to control it from the thermostat. Turns out the Asterix output can be configured for this. No where in the box does it explain that.
It’s overall software capability compared to Ecobee is very limited. For example there is no ability to schedule a vacation. Your only option is to just turn off the thermostat from the app. The Nest folks recommend this and then just rely on the safety Min and Max temp settings which will force it back on if it gets too cold or too hot. Well this would be ok but the Min is 45f and the Max is 92f. What if I want it to be 54f and 85f. Can’t do it.
Also historical data is very limited. With the Ecobee I could see when my furnace was operating historically back many months, both with first and second stage heat(I have a 2 Stage burner), or cooling.
Finally it’s hard to comprehend but there is no hold feature. Nest says their advanced learning features negate the need to require a hold feature. I disagree.
In general I feel like the Ecobee is far more feature rich. Ecobee is also constantly improving their APP.
The Nest’s claimed advantage is it’s ‘Smart Learning Operation’. We’ll see if that pans out, but so far I think it is thoroughly overated.
October 19, 2015
After a few months of use, I've lowered my rating for the Nest from 5 to 3 stars, and here's why: Don't get me wrong, it's really cool and fun to play with and I want to love it, but, first and foremost, the thermostat should work correctly and somewhat predictably, and this thing always has surprises for me. There have been at least 3 (to my knowledge) software updates applied to the unit since I've purchased it. You can't control when you get these or prevent the unit from self-updating (unless it's not on a network of course, but what fun is that). While I'm very happy that Nest is continuously improving the unit, i'd say their testing leaves something to be desired. There have been several other instances when you walk by and the display doesn't come to life immediately - always a sign of trouble - the fix recommended by Nest is to reboot the unit. Really? Thanks. I don't know what else is not functioning correctly when things go south like this.
First of all, I gave up on the auto-learning feature, as my schedule was too unpredictable - never gave it a chance but it seemed to learn quite slowly. So I went to a self-programmed schedule like my original thermostat. Programming on the unit itself isn't very easy just because you use the dial for everything. Phone-based app is a bit too small as well (but arguably the coolest feature of the Nest - the remote monitoring and changing). Best way to set up a schedule is through the Nest web site just due to the size of the display and that you can manipulate with a mouse rather than a finger.
Also, I've found that since you can set the schedule remotely through various devices, the Nest seems to get confused and although the correct schedule is displayed, it doesn't seem to be the one that it follows. I've had to clear the entire schedule and just program from one device.
So I'm using the schedule but have enabled the "start early" feature which supposedly uses the outside temp and knowledge of how long it takes to heat your house in order to start heating beforehand and have it up to temperature (or nearly so) at the programmed time. Better than setting the start time manually since it doesn't compensate for outside temp. Great idea. If it would work right. Let's just say sometimes it starts early enough to get there, other times not. But the worst part is that on several occasions the Nest has not only failed to start heating early but simply skipped over my programmed setpoint without changing the temp at all! - but only occasionally of course - it's unpredictable - so there's this level of mistrust between me and my Nest.
I can't imagine what they are doing with software updates, but testing the basic operation of the thermostat should be something they do with every release, and it seems like they're not great at that. I'm just waiting to come home one day and find my house at 90deg. :)
First of all, I gave up on the auto-learning feature, as my schedule was too unpredictable - never gave it a chance but it seemed to learn quite slowly. So I went to a self-programmed schedule like my original thermostat. Programming on the unit itself isn't very easy just because you use the dial for everything. Phone-based app is a bit too small as well (but arguably the coolest feature of the Nest - the remote monitoring and changing). Best way to set up a schedule is through the Nest web site just due to the size of the display and that you can manipulate with a mouse rather than a finger.
Also, I've found that since you can set the schedule remotely through various devices, the Nest seems to get confused and although the correct schedule is displayed, it doesn't seem to be the one that it follows. I've had to clear the entire schedule and just program from one device.
So I'm using the schedule but have enabled the "start early" feature which supposedly uses the outside temp and knowledge of how long it takes to heat your house in order to start heating beforehand and have it up to temperature (or nearly so) at the programmed time. Better than setting the start time manually since it doesn't compensate for outside temp. Great idea. If it would work right. Let's just say sometimes it starts early enough to get there, other times not. But the worst part is that on several occasions the Nest has not only failed to start heating early but simply skipped over my programmed setpoint without changing the temp at all! - but only occasionally of course - it's unpredictable - so there's this level of mistrust between me and my Nest.
I can't imagine what they are doing with software updates, but testing the basic operation of the thermostat should be something they do with every release, and it seems like they're not great at that. I'm just waiting to come home one day and find my house at 90deg. :)
March 25, 2018
It's definitely an upgrade from our Honeywell thermostat, which was not programmable. The thermostat itself works just fine, it's the app and several other associated "smart" features that are disappointing. The smartphone app is a terribly glitchy thing and crashes more than 50% of the time. Just using the app for several minutes every day severely depletes battery life of the phone. Also, it's disappointing that the energy usage history only goes back 2 weeks, and there is no way to view energy usage beyond that time frame. Nest will send a "monthly home report", but it doesn't show how much energy was used each day or the outside temps, etc. It would be super awesome if there was a way to access this information! Anyway, we have reduced our energy bills, which is nice, but we ended up programming our Nest to a regular schedule because for some reason it always wanted to go to 67 degrees (like that was the default temp or something). If you choose to "teach" it, it will probably take a lot of time.
July 7, 2017
Installation is not bad, setup involves a lot of steps, and it keeps wanting to dial back the temperature settings. I find that I have to keep checking to make sure it hasn't decided to only cool to 77 instead of the 74 I told it to. I suppose it will learn and adjust eventually, but it has been several weeks now and it keeps wanting to change settings while I'm asleep.
It also only has one sensor (like most conventional units) so I have to guess what to set it to in order to make sure that my office (south facing, second floor) gets enough air conditioning. If I had this to do again, I might have been better off with something that uses multiple sensors.
The software interface on my phone is easy enough to use, but not great.
It also only has one sensor (like most conventional units) so I have to guess what to set it to in order to make sure that my office (south facing, second floor) gets enough air conditioning. If I had this to do again, I might have been better off with something that uses multiple sensors.
The software interface on my phone is easy enough to use, but not great.
Faulty Hardware has shaken my confidence - Still they have good features and stand by their product.
August 1, 2018After 1 year I had to replace the unit because the battery stopped being able to charge to a level that would power wifi. This would have been fine because Nest was quick to replace it and things worked. Until just recently, I had my A/C die and I had noticed that heat was coming out when the A/C was supposed to be running. I replaced the air handler and outside unit b/c a valve had blown on the heat pump - only to find that heating was still happening. It turns out something in the Nest, either a bug, or a faulty mounting base is causing the AUX heater to run while my A/C was running. I have no idea how long this was going on for but I'm sure it isn't good for my A/C unit. I have not done complete analysis yet to see how much this was affecting my bill. Note to figure this out I used a temperature gun and pointed it at vents with the aux wire plugged in vs unplugged - I saw about a 10 degree difference. Update - I'm raising my rating on this because I like all of the features of the Nest Thermostat. And I like that they stand behind their hardware and do care about their customers experience.
I'm raising my rating to 2 stars because I like Nest's software and the concept behind it. Also their support, when I have known there was an issue, has been helpful. I replaced the base on my unit and it is no longer running the heater. So it appears that all of this was due to a bad component - the battery issue may have been related to this as well. It's a shame because it's the cheapest component and probably should have been replaced with the thermostat the first time to rule it out as an issue.
I'm raising my rating to 2 stars because I like Nest's software and the concept behind it. Also their support, when I have known there was an issue, has been helpful. I replaced the base on my unit and it is no longer running the heater. So it appears that all of this was due to a bad component - the battery issue may have been related to this as well. It's a shame because it's the cheapest component and probably should have been replaced with the thermostat the first time to rule it out as an issue.
September 15, 2018
So because I purchased Amazon in home installation for about 116 bucks this review can cover both. The product integrates with my nest app. Flawless operation at least for air conditioner. In winter I’ll do the heating. Versatile WiFi control with my phone, allows me to turn it on and off from virtually anywhere. Now where I have an issue is with the installer. Technically competent but poor in disguising some underlying intentions. First all of the stupid questions. What work do I do for a living ?Response a lie. Then where is my furnace ?My response a lie. He’s is walking in areas that have zero to do with installation of the device. I told him where the air conditioning condenser was but he wasn’t interested. Then the kicker. He literally runs up the stairs claiming he was looking for the furnace without my permission. I told him to come back which he did after looking around what I had upstairs. He then goes on to state there is poor cell service in my area and needs to connect to WiFi to notify Amazon he’s completed the job. I took his phone and put in the password and when he left changed the SSID and password. Then had the update all devices on my network. A real pain in the ... So if these stranger come to your house be aware beforehand of exactly what they need access to. That said I know where to go if some untoward should happen in the near future. He thought he was slick but I read him right out the gate. Casing your home is a preview of what they might get if they break in. He was not aware of my wife and child or of my Rottweiler dog who’d be happy to chew him and his cohorts butts off. Beware of these idiots. Don’t even think to try it.
November 25, 2017
These are so easy to install and get setup, even for someone with very little tech skills. If you are able to pull off the old thermostat and take a picture of the wiring configuration there, turn a screwdriver to install the new base, and match those wires from the picture right back into their proper label - then installing this should be a breeze! Every little bit you can save on heating these days really helps and Nest does a great job keeping the house comfortable while being smart about energy usage.
3 stars because the Nest support line is HORRIBLE! Pray to anyone or anything you have that you NEVER have to deal with them. Their solution when you can't add a family member to the account - don't add them. Their solution when their website is broken and can't send a confirmation email - keep using different emails until one works, because we all just have 50 Gmail accounts waiting to be used for one single login.
3 stars because the Nest support line is HORRIBLE! Pray to anyone or anything you have that you NEVER have to deal with them. Their solution when you can't add a family member to the account - don't add them. Their solution when their website is broken and can't send a confirmation email - keep using different emails until one works, because we all just have 50 Gmail accounts waiting to be used for one single login.
