How seamless is replacement of Nest 1st gen with 4th gen?

[AK26]

I’ve received the email from Google indicating that my 1st gen Nest thermostats will no longer be supported at the end of this month. My HVAC provider wants to charge me $350+ per thermostat to replace them with a Honeywell model. I would be perfectly happy taking the deal that Google is offering and replacing the thermostats with 4th gen Nest thermostats instead but I’m concerned that it might be challenging to install the new thermostats on my own. I am not at all technically proficient in these kinds of things. It seems that I will need to replace the first GEN base with the fourth GEN base. Beyond that, how complicated would the swap to the new thermostats be? I have thermostats running both heat and cooling: some run only heat, some run only cooling, and some run both. Yes, it’s ridiculously complicated. Seven thermostats total. 

[JoeNutmegger]

+1 to this question as I'm in the same position. 

[ByronP]

Hi Folks,

Thank you for reaching out to the community. I see you're wondering about the compatibility of the new Nest Learning Thermostat 4th Gen with your existing 1st gen wiring, especially since you have seven thermostats to install. I understand how challenging a multi-device transition like this can feel, and I'm happy to provide some guidance.

Good news! Since you are moving from the Nest Learning Thermostat 1st Gen, the wiring configuration should typically be the same for the 4th gen replacement model. The installation process is designed to be straightforward.

For a seamless replacement, please follow these recommendations:

1. Document the Existing Setup: Before removing the old thermostat, take a photo or screenshot of the current wiring labels for your Nest Learning Thermostat 1st Gen.

2. Simple Replacement: You should then be able to simply replace the old base plate with the new base plate for the Nest Learning Thermostat 4th Gen and connect the wires exactly as documented in your photo.

If you would like an extra layer of confidence before beginning, you can visit this helpful article to confirm the compatibility of your Nest Thermostat and installation of the Nest Learning Thermostat 4th Gen.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,
Byron

[ACA68]

Why would you want to buy 7 new thermostats from a company that does not respect their customers? In a couple of years they’ll do the same to your new GEN4 thermostats. We should all be boycotting Google’s products for not giving a **bleep** about their customers… Buy a brand which respects their customers. There is no reason to stop supporting our thermostats, other than trying to sell us a new model…