Neat Thermostat Additional Boost mode

[Roundy]

can you have a vote for your customers and see who wants and update in your thermostats software that allows a boost mode ?? I reckon 90% of your customer base will want this option give the customers what they want please …..

[Ashepherdson]

I'm curious what you mean by a boost mode ?

[Kid66666]

Boost typically turns on the boiler for a limited period of time.  Read the Hive instructions to understand more. 🤣 I like nest, but boost really needs to be a feature. As others have pointed out, boost is actually more efficient than just turning the thermostat temperature up 2°. As boos is for a limited time, most people are happy when they feel the heat. I think nests philosophy around heating relies on homes that heat and cool consistently in different parts of the house. A lot of old houses, especially in Europe and the UK, can have radically different rates of heating and cooling indifferent parts of the house. I think boost satisfies the problems with varied rates of heat loss.

[JoeyC]

It's a good feature to have. Currently when it feels a bit chilly, we turn it up by 0.5 but we will forget to turn it back down. 

Hive had much better features, such as ability to use Home Assistant without a complicated setup and payment, ability to control temperature and schedules on the web interface, ability to see useful history charts.

[cw2]

I think nests philosophy around heating relies on homes that heat and cool consistently in different parts of the house. A lot of old houses, especially in Europe and the UK, can have radically different rates of heating and cooling indifferent parts of the house. 

That is possibly a reason, along with an indifference to customer requirements. It seems to be aimed at a target with heating AND cooling, rather than a European location with just heating. Also expect a full smart home configuration.

It's the complete indifference to customer requirements and offering incomplete and inadequate workarounds for a key, missing, feature which gets me. If choosing again I'd consider other options.

[PeteBuch]

if you want to have your heating come on for say 1 hour because it is cold in the house or you want to dry something on the radiators

[Ashepherdson]

If you just want the heat to turn on for a short while you can use your Google assistant on any device such as your phone or Google home and say "okay Google, I'm cold" to have the heat come on.  This operates exactly the same as the boost mode.

[cw2]

Not quite. The requirement is for a heating boost for 1, 2, 3 hours, not to turn the heating up, and leave up, as you're cold. The time requirement also limits heating costs. Also some of us don't want to use Google Assistant.

[EliK1]

Agreed. This feature (boost - ie turn on / set higher temp for 1, 2 or 3 hours) has been part of every heating controller for at least 2 decades - and yet Google in their infinite stupidity, don't provide this feature - despite substantial number of customers asking for it.

What is going on?

Only answer, is throw it out and get a proper system like Hive. 

[Mosuhu]

I didn't even bother looking in the specs for this feature when I upgraded mh whole house with nest thermostats, (4 of them!) and only when we started getting colder weather that I came to the realisation that there is no boost function. This is meant to have been an upgrade to my decade old system. I told my friend about this who was also in the process of uogarding, sufficed to say he went with Hive, my sister also has Hive and found it funny that I don't have this feature. In hindsight had I also known I'd not have upgraded to Nest thermostats. 

[TAJ51]

Thank you for this. I’m so fed up with the inability of NEST not having the simplest of controls that I had on my ancient mechanical clock, I’m going to switch them out for HIVE if they do what you say. The other night we inadvertently turned the heating up after it had gone off and it stayed on all night. Argh! 

[Plumbexe]

Thats the exact reason why the nest is potentially the inefficient stat out there.... loads of people get caught out with that.

I recommend the hive every time now and have not had a single complaint.

[Ian1]

Agree, Google just continue to ignore this simple request.

[JoeyC]

I used to have Hive and went with Nest instead as I was worries about Hives future.

Spent ages trying to figure out where the boost feature was.

Disappointed to say the least.

[Jim7224]

Just got mine and installed it. Cant believe there is no boost mode, i just wanted a mode to temporarily put heating on for 30mins - 1hr and not hold the temp…. Wtf why has this not got this…?

[Ashepherdson]

Because boost mode is from an era before learning thermostats.  You can simply tell any of your other Google devices "hey Google I'm cold" and it will temporarily increase the temperature for you, which will give you what you want.  Learning thermostats are called learning because they learn your wants and behaviours and adapt to them, a boost mode would not fit this plan.  If your cold, or if you want the heat on for a bit, try saying hey Google I'm cold, see if this works.  The thermostat will start to learn that at a certain time of day or when the temperature is at a certain point you ask for heat, and will adjust itself automatically.  

[Plumbexe]

Why is there a boost mode on the hot water then?

[icon]

The increments are in half hours too. I'd have preferred more flexibility like 15 minutes. Ideally in 5 minute intervals.

[Jim7224]

No because the learning feature is not as smart as people think, people end up disabling it. Also you say hey google im cold, raises the current temp but will not revert back to what the target temp was on before. A simple feature like boost is very convenient for heating, not about being smart learning it is just smart to have for ease of use.  

[Moolintooti]

Which makes them completely unsuitable for locations which don't follow patterns e.g. holiday let's. The other colossal omission is that the only way guests can "boost" the hot water is by switching the entire system to manual which then turns the heating on! Nest is just an unbelievably poor and inflexible design.

[Bridgemaster]

Hi Moolintooti

You boost hot water by going in hot water and clicking on boost. You then scroll across the durations to choose how long you want the boost to last for.

What is counter intuitive is that eco mode when you are away doesn’t turn hot water off. You have to go in to hot water then settings (the cog top tight) and then turn HW on or off. Trouble is you have to remember to turn back on when you return from holiday. So much easier with a Hive when it is an automatic option when you go in to holiday mode when you set your holiday start and end dates/times.

[Moolintooti]

The trouble is you can't do that if you lock the thermostat which seems unavoidable in a holiday let situation. Unless you want guests to have full access to schedules etc. The thermostat needs a boost function for heat and water which is available outside of the locked menus. Preferably as a hard button as per the Hive. It would be so simple for Google to provide an accessible boost for water and heat to make the Nest a useful device in the real world (not just in the Google labs) and it just seems that they are being wilfully awkward. What makes it worse is the lack of integration with Alexa. How hard can it be to code Nest to accept an Alexa instruction such as "Alexa, boost the hot water for one hour"? Really, would it hurt Google to just invest a little bit in Nest to make it into a good product?

[cw2]

There is a readily available boost for hot water in 30min increments. I'd accept that might not be available if you lock the control.

[cw2]

But that's not the user requirement! You keep giving this answer, but it doesn't work for the user requirement. The simple requirement is for a boost, to a selected temperature, and then back to schedule for a user selected time. Not to say "I'm cold" until you get to the temperature required (although that is a useful extra).

That's why there's a 'boost' on the hot water rather than saying "the water's too cold". 

Google need to consider the UX, not what some developer thinks.

[Plumbexe]

Guys (google nest team).

your missing the point.

you know the ‘hot water boost’ feature that is available on your nest thermostat.

Well, there needs to be a central heating equivalent option available,

A user would like to simply boost the central heating for a set period of time ie 1 or 2 hours.

That way, the user doesn’t have to worry about having to remember to turn the heating off... which would waste loads of energy... especially if it was left on over night!

So im if you respond to this, forget about the learning side of the thermostat.... or any other feature for that matter.... just add a central heating boost option like every other stat has!

Exactly the same as the hot water boost function, but for central heating.

The temp can be set to what the user desires... but they can be assured that it will turn itself off after the hour or 2 is up.

Can’t put it any clearer than that.

[cw2]

You're absolutely correct about the reasoning for 'boost' on hot water, but the reason that works is that there's usually a separate thermostat (non-Nest) on the hot water tank so it doesn't overheat. The Nest thermostat doesn't work for boosting normal room heating because it doesn't have a temperature parameter. The Google team left it out in their design development.

Saying "I'm cold" is much more wasteful on energy - and more complex for the user to implement.

[Plumbexe]

So your telling me That the nest Controller is not a Thermostat that regulates the central heating?

i

[cw2]

No, it regulates the central heating. I'm saying that there's usually also a separate water temperature thermostat on the hot water which shurs off the hot water heating when it reaches the set temperature. The Nest, of course, determines the heating to achieve the desired room tempersture.

See other data on the Next, but it doesn't simply control on/off, it determines the time for a desired temperature. The 'boost' issue is that there's no 'boost' tempersture. You can manually, or via voice if enabled turn the heat up and down until the next temperature period, but that's not 'boost'.

On a traditional setup you have a thermostat at some setting, and an on/off timer. You don't change the thermostat. Boost then sets on for some time (30 mins, 1 hour, etc). The thermost retains its setting, so it doesn't heat above that.

The Nest, however, changes its thermostat for time intervals. It can't 'boost' since it doesn't know the temperature to boost to. That appears to be the parameter that the Google engineers omitted to allow a boost function.

Despite requests, Google seem to be resistant to adding this feature, arguing that you can just tell it "I'm cold" which, if programmed, will heat up - but until the next temperature period, i.e. not boost as understood.

If they added that then it would be the best controller out there.

[Plumbexe]

Totally agree with everything you've said there.

I cannot understand how Google can’t see everyone’s point view.

it’s the only big common complaint the nest thermostat receives.

your right, on a traditional programmer you have a boost function and the separate stat  then regulates the temperature.

If the nest combines a room stat and a programmer, then it should be able to offer all of the functions that a traditional programmer and stat can.

If the nest sets the temperature, and it can be programmed to come on and off at certain temperatures at certain times, then it would be easy to add a boost function that’s regulated by the nests own in built stat.

if I set my stat at 22 deg and forget to turn it off all night and the next program doesn’t kick in until 7am.... what a waste of energy.

if I had that little boost function, I’d have used that and could forget about turning the stat off and not wasted any energy.

if google don’t agree, then they aren’t listening to their customers which is also a black Mark.

Sorry if I’m sounding a bit forth right, im assuming you work for the Google nest department by the way! 🙌

[cw2]

No, thanks but I'm nothing to do with Google. Just a lifetime in systems and software development, requirements management, IVV, and the like + DIY.

[Plumbexe]

Here is the simple procedure:

Boost Central heating for Desired time at desired temperature. Done.

After the ch boost is activated- the user can alter the temp on the stat or the app as much as they like, but the boost will end when the set time is up.

Im a heating engineer and this feature is just a basic must have on any programmable stat.

People are opting for equivalent stats when they realise that this feature doesn’t exsist.... because it’s so useful or missed when it’s not available.

Just add it and the nest is probably the best stat out there.

[Ian1]

I can't believe that Google just keep trying to pretend that they don't understand this simple request, or try and divert your enquiry by stating you can ask heating to be made warmer( but it will likely stay on longer than the 1hour boost requested)

Given the cost of energy , If Google continue to ignore customer it may pay to dump nest and get a hive and start to realise some real and self managed savings

[Rupis]

Well from the fact that I'm on this thread means I'm like all of you. Just installed my thermostat just to find I have to set a reminder to turn the heating down... I am honestly considering returning the product... I can't imagine how you justify not adding boost button 

[Ian1]

Typical Google, sell a product and then pretend that they listen to feedback , without actually providing a simple function that all their competitors have, guess my next thermostat won't be a nest and given the cost of energy, it may pay to replace anyway to give control required

[Andyglx]

I bought nest without realising there wasn't a boost option. It's ridiculous. I bought it about 5 years ago and it still annoys me. The lack of 'boost' is the first thing I mention to friends and family when talking about nest, and means I won't buy nest when I move house soon. It also put me off buying any other nest-like products from Google like cameras because I feel like they will omit basic controls too. 

[Yonarona]

Its easy to set up a Alexa routine. I tell  Alexa to boost my heating and it turns it up to 21 for an hour and then back to 16 (off. ). Have you routine to set to 21, next step is wait one hour and third step in set to 16 or whatever your numbers are 

[Ian1]

Hi Yonarona,

Thanks for the tip I will look into this, seems amazing that one of the only ways of creating a heating boost is to use another companies system to make Google's work!

Watch out Google , let's hope Amazon don't bring out a thermostat that actually does what customers want ( if they haven't already, will take a look)

[Ashepherdson]

"Hey Google, I'm cold" .. raises temperature temporarily , reverts back to normal shortly there after.   It's a learning thermostat so it learns your likes and dislikes and adjusts.

[cw2]

Not really useful. Even worse with rising energy costs. I don't want to use Google to increase the temperature by voice command; I want to have a 'boost' which I can set for a specific period, which I can cancel, just like you can with hot water. I don't need it to 'learn' this; I just want it to do the specific job.

Listen to the feedback!

[Ian1]

It's seems such a simple request.

Falls on deaf ears with Google.

Maybe they have shares in energy companies, and want us to use more energy