Like many people who have a Nest learning thermostat 2nd generation, I received an email a few months ago advising me that come October Google would no longer allow online access to the 2nd gen models. Google offered me a discount to purchase the 4th generation Nest learning thermostat.
On July 26, I purchased the gold polished model from the Google Store. I installed it on July 29, and that's when the problems began immediately. My set-up could not be simpler: I have an electric boiler furnace and radiators. I do not have central air.
For my 2nd generation Nest thermostat, my white W1 wire was connected to the W1 slot, with the tab depressed, and my red RH wire was connected to the RH slot, with the tab depressed. The thermostat worked flawlessly for more than 10 years and still works flawlessly today.
But as soon as I installed the 4th gen Nest thermostat, it started heating right away without letting me know. I received no notice or error message on the thermostat dial or on the Google app. I only noticed that there was a problem when the house started feeling much hotter - even during a heave wave. I felt the radiators and they were hot to the touch.
In the basement, two lights on the furnace were on, indicating it was heating. The pipes were hot to the touch. I then shut off power to the furnace from my electrical panel.
I had simply connected the W1 wire to the W1 input slot, depressing the tab. I did the same for the RH wire. Prior to installation, I had turned off the power to my furnace from the electrical panel.
I installed the new 4th generation base plate, connected the two wires to the proper slots, turned the power back on and a greenish LED light came on the base plate. I then connected the thermostat to the base plate and it started heating automatically.
This was not only a waste of electricity, but possibly a safety issue. During this whole time, the app did not indicate any energy usage even though the 4th gen thermostat was heating - with the heat mode off!
The next day I contacted Google tech support. I had factory reset the device, but still had the same problem. I discovered that when I removed the thermostat from the base plate, the furnace turned off.
The tech support guy told me Google would send me a replacement and asked for the serial number on the back of the device. I gave it to him and he said it didn't match my order number. Google checked and the technician advised me that even though I purchased what I thought was a brand new item, Google had instead sent me a demo model.
The following day, I received an email that Google would send me a replacement, but the black model, not the polished gold that I had initially ordered and that I would have to wait two weeks.
I then decided to go to Best Buy and purchase another Google Nest 4th generation learning thermostat. I installed the replacement model, and the heat turned on again!
It was only when I reconnected my 2nd gen Nest thermostat that everything came back to normal. The furnace comes on only when I raise the temperature above the room temperature. It does this if I turn the dial on the thermostat manually or if I increase the temperature on my phone app. Just like it has for more than 10 years.
What this tell me is that Google is unleashing a new not-ready-for-prime-time product on customers, not realizing it may have a huge problem on its hands.
Under the circumstances, I should continue to have access to my 2nd generation Nest thermostat after this coming October and until Google works out the major flaws to its latest model. For shame, Google!
