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Alexa can't set a temperature above a set schedule

Germgh0st
Community Member

I have a schedule set on my Nest thermostat that sets the heat to 20c at 7am, and turns it down to 9 at 9.30pm. This has been set for a long time. 

This morning I was up at 6.30 and asked Alexa to set the heat to 20. She replied she was unable to set the thermostat to that. 

Thinking I'd lost connectivity, I rebooted my router. Still the same. By this time the schedule kicked in and the heat came on. 

Later in the day I asked Alexa to set the heat to 21, as I was a little cold. Again she replied she was unable to do so. 

I'm now quite confused, this has only started happening today. 

After some experimentation I discovered Alexa would set the temperature to any value up to, but not including, 20.

I deleted the schedule, and then Alexa would happily set the temperature to anything I wanted. 

So it seems some sort of change has happened that I'm unaware of in that Alexa can no longer override the max temperature on a set schedule. I find this most inconvenient. I can't find any setting in Alexa, the Nest app or the Google Home app to override this behaviour. 

Can anyone shed some light on this? 

7 REPLIES 7

zoeuvre
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi Germgh0st, 

 

Yikes! I'm sorry to hear the inconvenience you're experiencing with your Nest Thermostat and Alexa integration. Here's what you can do: 

 

  1. Ensure that both your Nest Thermostat and Alexa devices have the latest firmware updates installed. Updates often address bugs and improve compatibility, so it's worth verifying that you have the most recent versions.
  2. Try unlinking and then re-linking your Nest Thermostat with the Alexa app. Sometimes, re-establishing the connection can resolve compatibility issues and restore full functionality.
  3. Make sure you're using the correct voice commands with Alexa to adjust the temperature on your Nest thermostat. Try using different phrasing or variations to see if Alexa responds differently. For example, you can try saying "Set the temperature to 21 degrees," "Increase the heat to 21," or "Raise the temperature to 21."If possible, try using a different voice assistant, such as Google Assistant, to adjust the temperature on your Nest thermostat. This can help determine if the issue is specific to Alexa or if it's a more general compatibility problem.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

Best,

Zoe

Germgh0st
Community Member

Hi Zoe

 

Thanks for your reply. I am quite the veteran and early adopter of smart tech as well as someone who has been in IT for several decades, so I have been through all of what you have advised. 

It appears that the reason that Alexa was previously able to override the scheduled temperature was because my Smart Things hub also recognises the Nest thermostat and it picked up on the command. At the time of having these issues it appears that the Smart Things service was experiencing an outage at Samsung's end, which was the cause for the change in Alexa's behaviour. 

When the Smart Things outage was resolved, Alexa was once again able to set a temperature above the scheduled top temperature. 

So it seems that via the Google Home skill Alexa will not set a temperature above the scheduled top temperature, which is something she was able tk do when using the no longer supported Nest skill. I just didn't notice this change in behaviour because Smart Things was picking up the slack, so to speak. 

zoeuvre
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there, 

 

Thanks for getting back to us. Don't give up on us yet—we'd like to further check on this. Could you fill out this form and let me know once you're done?

 

Regards,

Zoe

Can't say I particularly want to have to repeat myself... 

zoeuvre
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hello Germgh0st, 

 

I understand your frustration about this matter; however, we need more information from you filling out the form so we can cascade it to our team to help you learn more about this.

 

Regards,

Zoe

Germgh0st
Community Member

I've learned all I need to learn... 

Google Home skill does not allow Alexa to set a temperature above a maximum scheduled temperature. The Nest Skill did. The Smart Things skill makes up for this loss of functionality. Case closed. 

zoeuvre
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hello there, 

 

We're sad to see you go. We're always here to help if you ever change your mind. If you come across other information you'd like to pass along or have more questions, feel free to create a new post. 

 

All the best,

Zoe