Nest 3rd Gen Aux Heat - temporary reconfiguration whilst heat pump is fixed

[28173Waxhaw]

I need to temporarily reconfigure my dual system (heat pump and aux heater) whilst my heat pump is fixed. I'd like to set the aux heater to run exclusively until heat pump is fixed. Currently I can only do it by running the test aux heat for 35 minutes manually in bursts.

[GabrielaG]

Hi 28173Waxhaw,

Thanks for reaching out to the community. I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems reconfiguring your Nest Learning thermostat 3rd gen to use the auxiliary heat. I'm happy to assist you right now.

To get a better understanding of the situation, please help me out by answering the following questions:

• When was the Nest thermostat installed?
• Have you done some troubleshooting steps? If so, can you please list them?
• Can you please send me a picture of the thermostat wiring?

Any additional details you can provide will be helpful.

Regards,

Gabriela

[28173Waxhaw]

Hi Gabriela,

Thank you for your help.

Everything was going well with system. 

Nest installed in 2017

thermostat and controllers connected correctly

I can test the aux heat for 35 minutes, but can't figure out hot to get it as the sole source of heat until my heat pump main source is repaired

system will not let me upload a photo of wiring

[GabrielaG]

Hi 28173Waxhaw,

Thank you so much for keeping me updated and taking the time to answer my questions. I appreciate the information you provided me. I'm happy to continue assisting you right now.

I recommend changing Heat Pump Balance settings from the Nest Sense menu on your thermostat or with the Nest app.

Nest app

• Tap Settings .
• Select your thermostat.
• Tap Heat Pump Balance.
• Select a Heat Pump Balance setting.

On your thermostat

• Press your thermostat ring to open the Quick View menu.
• Select Settings .
• Select Nest Sense.
• Select Heat Pump Balance, then choose the setting you want.

You can refer to this article to learn more about Heat Pump Balance and aux heat. 

Feel free to keep us posted if you have more questions.

Regards,

Gabriela

[28173Waxhaw]

Hi Gabriela,

Neither the App nor the thermostat has a heat pump balance option. I have some screen grabs I could share if there is a direct send option available.

best regards

David

---

@GabrielaG wrote:

Hi 28173Waxhaw,

Thank you so much for keeping me updated and taking the time to answer my questions. I appreciate the information you provided me. I'm happy to continue assisting you right now.

I recommend changing Heat Pump Balance settings from the Nest Sense menu on your thermostat or with the Nest app.

Nest app

• Tap Settings .
• Select your thermostat.
• Tap Heat Pump Balance.
• Select a Heat Pump Balance setting.

On your thermostat

• Press your thermostat ring to open the Quick View menu.
• Select Settings .
• Select Nest Sense.
• Select Heat Pump Balance, then choose the setting you want.

You can refer to this article to learn more about Heat Pump Balance and aux heat. 

Feel free to keep us posted if you have more questions.

Regards,

Gabriela

---

---

@GabrielaG wrote:

Hi 28173Waxhaw,

Thank you so much for keeping me updated and taking the time to answer my questions. I appreciate the information you provided me. I'm happy to continue assisting you right now.

I recommend changing Heat Pump Balance settings from the Nest Sense menu on your thermostat or with the Nest app.

Nest app

• Tap Settings .
• Select your thermostat.
• Tap Heat Pump Balance.
• Select a Heat Pump Balance setting.

On your thermostat

• Press your thermostat ring to open the Quick View menu.
• Select Settings .
• Select Nest Sense.
• Select Heat Pump Balance, then choose the setting you want.

You can refer to this article to learn more about Heat Pump Balance and aux heat. 

Feel free to keep us posted if you have more questions.

Regards,

Gabriela

---

---

@GabrielaG wrote:

Hi 28173Waxhaw,

Thank you so much for keeping me updated and taking the time to answer my questions. I appreciate the information you provided me. I'm happy to continue assisting you right now.

I recommend changing Heat Pump Balance settings from the Nest Sense menu on your thermostat or with the Nest app.

Nest app

• Tap Settings .
• Select your thermostat.
• Tap Heat Pump Balance.
• Select a Heat Pump Balance setting.

On your thermostat

• Press your thermostat ring to open the Quick View menu.
• Select Settings .
• Select Nest Sense.
• Select Heat Pump Balance, then choose the setting you want.

You can refer to this article to learn more about Heat Pump Balance and aux heat. 

Feel free to keep us posted if you have more questions.

Regards,

Gabriela

---

[28173Waxhaw · Accepted solution]

In checking previous responses in the forum, I can see one from 2022 which refers to checking the Pro Setup. In my case 3 of the 6 wedges are green and 3 are yellow:

1st yellow: W2 Aux -  gives Alt heat, Gas, Force3d air and Don't use fan as options

2nd yellow Y1 for heat/cool

3rd yellow OB for heat pump

Greens are fan, power and 24V common.

What should I do next?

best rgds

David

original 2022 post below:========================

CoolingWizard

Platinum Product Expert

In response to WillR

‎12-11-2022 10:56 AM - edited ‎12-11-2022 10:57 AM

WillR,

I have found that sometimes the nest configurator tool will put the auxiliary heat on W1 instead of the AUX when defining a heat pump. We need to check the nest thermostat itself to see what it current has defined. There are a few steps to do this, and here are the steps.
1. Go to the nest thermostat and tap the screen to rotate the dial to SETTINGS and tap to select.

2. Now rotate the dial until it gets to EQUIPMENT and select. You will now see a back plate display showing the wires that the thermostat has detected. Just make sure all your wires are detected.  Select Continue. The next screen will the you your system the thermostat is controlling. It should show Heating-Cooling-Fan. Choose Continue and select..

3. At this point, you will see equipment, settings, Done, Heat Type, Pro Setup, and Back. We are going to choose Pro Setup. We will then get a warning screen, saying how bad it will be If you don’t do this right, just choose Continue and select.

4. At this point you will again see what looks like the backplate for each of those wires and you’ll see either a green wedge or a yellow wedge. If you have all greens we’re doing good if any of them are yellow, we need to fix. To fix a yellow wedge rotate the dial to the yellow wedge and select. You will now see that defined position such as Aux or W1 and you can now rotate the dial to this SOURCE and select. Once selected, you can rotate the dial and choose the source  and for you choose Electric. Press the display and select that. The next one down is called delivery and yours should say Forced Air. And the last one is fan and it should say Don't Activate. A little about this fan. On older HVAC systems  the thermostat controls the blower fan. At the same time you chose the heating function the thermostat also activated G too. Now the newer systems, such as your heat pump, have an integrated furnace control board that will take care of the fan so that’s why we select Don’t Activate. Choose Done, and select. 
5. you should now see the back plate with the green and wedges, and now it should all be green and all be defined. Select Done a few times and you should be ok.