Is the Nest Thermostat a dead product?

[Phoibos]

I have installed the Learning Thermostat about 2 years ago (and foolishly added another one for our A/C system). We have steam heat and the True Radiant feature was really the key decider to get the Nest. 

After installing it, I had a ton of issues getting the pre-heating to work (search my posts...). It got a little better after installing a replacement unit, but not all of the issues went away. For example, while "knowing" how long it will take to reach target temperature (typically 30-45 minutes), the Nest will trigger a heating cycle 15 minutes before the scheduled nightly fallback. The result is that the boiler will run for 15 minutes, not warming up anything and just wasting money.

Since I acquired this thermostat, there have been no firmware updates or fixes for anything. It is quite apparent to me that this hardware has been completely abandoned by Google and they just keep selling it until everyone finally wisened up to the fact that this is unsupported.

Has anyone found any indication to the contrary? Is there an actual development team dedicated to this product anyone knows of?

And, more importantly, does anyone have a good suggestion for an alternative?...

[due_lengthiness · Accepted solution]

I have seen two HVAC technicians in two days recommend an Ecobee as a Nest replacement.  I have also seen lots of them complain about Nests on their own forums saying they are problematic to the point they tell people to simply take them out.
I really like the look and the interface of the Nest Learning 3, and am looking to buy a smart thermostat now but frankly I've spent two days researching online and keep seeing all this negative feedback, including talk about heat links going out 'inevitably'.  I can't seem to get around all the bad feedback.    I wish I could, because I want to buy the thermostat!   I see none of this addressed in Youtube product reviews at all, its entirely people saying this in furnace repair forums and chat boards

[Phoibos]

The reason that you never see this on YT is that most people don’t use the thermostats for long before they post and that the faults are not immediately obvious. 

But when you start having problems and then discover that there won’t be any help from Google at all (except for boilerplate customer service recommendations like “have you tried to rest the unit”), that’s when you discover you bought the wrong product.

I have some idea what the software root cause of some of these issues is. But I’ve also come to the conclusion that everyone who knows anything about the Nest firmware has left and there is no one left to do sustaining engineering. 

It is a beautiful, well thought out product (not made by Google, but Nest). Since Google acquired Nest, it appears to have been left to whither and die…

[zoeuvre]

Hi folks, 

Thanks for chiming in, @due_lengthiness. 

@Phoibos, uh-oh! I understand your frustration with the issues you've been experiencing with your Nest Learning Thermostat and the perception that it has been abandoned by Google in terms of firmware updates and support. Please be assured that our product team is working non-stop with different partners to bring the best features to our Google Nest devices. So, please let our product team know about it by sending feedback.

Best,

Zoe

[Phoibos]

Zoe,

I appreciate the effort, but:

I have repeatedly brought up the issues. I have fought the usual denials one comes to expect these days until the representative ran out of excuses. I provided clear evidence of things not working as they should. It’s been almost two years, and there haven’t been any firmware updates.

Why on earth should I NOT believe this product is dead? It hasn’t moved in years, and I can’t detect a heart beat. That’s the definition of DEAD.