Issue with Eco mode

[Driss]

Hi there,

I am staying at an Airbnb which has a nest thermostat and the host has locked the settings with a pin under what seems to be an “eco mode” with a maximum allowed temperature of 23C (74F) and, despite setting the thermostat to the maximum allowed temperature, it becomes freezing at night. I sent pictures to the host with temperature showing a display of “set to 17C degrees (63F)” with a green leaf in front but she keeps arguing that I am wrong and that what matters is the upper part of the dial and that it was indeed at 23C (74F) the whole time. This was temporarily resolved when I manually turned the dial in the middle of the night. I’d be grateful if anyone can help clarify how the eco mode works as my 2y old son is really sick now as a result and there is no way the house was heated at 23C (74F) (or around there) during the night.

Thank you for your help.

[Driss]

+picture showing how low the temperature is despite the upper target (apologies a bit blurry as taken at 5am!)

[Jarhead]

Hello,

Probably your landlord has activated the ECO function.
The thermostat switches to this mode at a certain situation. Night setback or absence.
In principle, this makes sense to save energy. That is what a programmable thermostat is for.
Maybe the thermostat is set up to detect absence (that of the landlords phone) and automatically switch to ECO mode.
However, you should be able to manually adjust the temperature directly on the thermostat at any time.
By simply turning the ring, You can select the temperature that is comfortable for you.
You should know that your landlord has access to the thermostat at any time via his phone and can make changes.
Normally, when the thermostat detects movement, it automatically switches off the ECO mode.
Depending on the outside temperature, and of course the settings, the heating or air conditioning will run.

I can see from your photo that the current temperature is 17 C and the set temperature is 22 C. Was the heating running at this time? What were the outside temperatures at that time?

Before an argument breaks out, I would ask the landlord if he can let you choose the temperature.

[Driss]

Thanks for the quick reply. The outside temperature is quite cold (3-5C) and the heaters were completely off and cold when I took the picture. The landlord actually put a lock on the thermostat (max 23C on ECO mode) and we couldn’t make any changes on our end, so every time I had to wake up in the middle of the night to turn the dial but then the temperature would drop again after an hour or so. I then almost begged her to remove the ECO mode to test for a day or two since no one had been living in the flat for more than two weeks before us and my son was unwell but she refused to do it (on the pretext that she is an environmentalist). Could the ECO mode still think no one is there if no one had been living in the flat for a while? Thanks.

[CJ1987]

Picture of what the maximum temperature can be set for ECO mode in Celsius.   I live in Florida and keep my heat off as default and cooling set to 80°F.

[Driss]

Thanks for that - so Eco mode also has a lower bound that is set by the owner before it eventually triggers a reheating towards target which could be set pretty low right?

[CJ1987]

Yes both temps are at their max for ECO in the picture I posted. Heat can be lowered and AC can go higher when in ECO mode but it's limited as it's meant to save energy lower bill etc. 

[Ryan_G]

Hey there,

Just wanted to jump in here to check to make sure that you saw our response. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours.

Have a great day.

Best regards,

Ryan

[Ryan_G]

Hey folks,

Thanks for visiting the Google Nest Community. 

Since this thread hasn't had activity in a while, we're going to close it to keep content fresh.

If you have additional questions, feel free to submit another post and provide as many details as possible so that others can lend a hand. 

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,

Ryan

[Jarhead]

Well, that the thermostat is actually locked by the landlord, you can't do anything about it.
Unfortunately
Of course, there are instructions on how to operate your heating or air conditioning without a thermostat, for example.
However, I am not allowed to give you this help.
You would surely get in trouble and it is definitely not safe.
You can only hope for the good will of the landlord and ask for understanding.
Regardless of this, I estimate you anyway will not check in there again.
Maybe get a fan heater for the wall outlet. It works independently of the thermostat. 🙂

[Ryan_G]

Hey folks,

@ Jarhead, thanks for your prompt response and always helping us out.

Also, I just wanted to follow up and see if anyone is still in need of help? Please let me know, as I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Best regards,

Ryan