Nest 4th Generation Humidifier Indicator

[MAB1]

I installed a 4th Generation Nest to take advantage of the Smart Humidity features. Now that the heat is on, everthing seems to be working. However, I am getting no indication that the humidifier is running. My old nest had an icon both on the old nest app and on the thermostat itself. This new on has neither. It's running, but I don't know it is. Am I missing something?

[GabrielaG]

Hi  MAB1,

We appreciate you contacting the community. I understand you want to check your Nest 4th Generation Humidifier Indicator.I will be happy to help you this time.

Your humidifier and dehumidifier are turned on by default. You may use the Google Home app to adjust your humidification settings.

• Open the Home app.
• Select Devices or Favorites.
• Press the Settings Thermostat Humidity button.
• Press the switch to turn on the humidifier or dehumidifier.
• Choose the humidity level that you like.

To set up a Humidity Helper on your Nest Learning Thermostat (4th generation), you can also refer to the following guide.

Let me know if you need further assistance. 

Regards,

Gabriela

[MAB1]

I'm sorry, I guess you didn't understand. The humidifier works fine. It is running. What I do not see is a an indicator that it is running. On my old Nest, it had a water droplet on the thermostat itself and on the app. I see no indication anywhere on the home app or on  the thermostat itself that it's running.  

[GabrielaG]

Hi  MAB1, 

I’m sorry to hear that the inconvenience is still not resolved.

At the moment, there isn't an indication on the fourth-generation Nest thermostat that indicates the humidity level. I came across this article.Learn about Nest thermostat displays. 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards,

Gabriela

[MAB1]

Again my post was not read correctly. The Thermostat shows the humidity level just fine. Both on the thermostat itself and on Google Home. I am looking for an indicator that shows up on the thermostat and/or the Google home app that shows some sort of indicator to let me know that it is in fact running.  On the previous Nest models in the app and on the thermostat itself it had a water droplet graphic indicating the humidifier was in fact running. 

[Mrjoeski]

The Home app shows a black water drop, when the humidifier is called for, it’s below the temperature readout, I see nothing on the thermostat itself yet, like the previous generation. 

[MAB1]

Thanks! The reason I didn't see it was because I have the fan running 24 hrs. That puts the fan notification in it's place. I hope they make a change in software to cycle between them. I'd also like one on the thermostat itself. I wonder why the folks that run this forum didn't know that. I hope they refer my suggestion. 

[Mrjoeski]

That makes sense. Yes, I hope they take note of these threads and make some changes, as there are certainly some inadequacies on the UI’s for both the app and thermostat. I have another tread out there highlighting the lack of humidifier set up options, once you’re past initial setup. The help menu directs you to setting options that don’t exist. 😩 No replies to that yet. 

[GabrielaG]

Hi MAB1,

Please consider sharing your thoughts directly with our development team through this feedback form. Your input will help us prioritize features and ensure that we're meeting the needs of our diverse user base.

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

Best regards,

Gabriela

[Nexusis]

The humidity level does not seem to ever update based on the outside temperature. It is enabled in the app but has never updated as far as I can see. I’m having to manually go in each time when the temp drops. Anyone else?

[MAB1]

I agree. Does the same for me.  I gave up and just set it manually. Also, it seems the actual humidity level runs about 5% higher than what you have it set at. I set it at 35 and get about 40% level. I move it to 40 and get about 45%. No way to calibrate it. 

[Nexusis]

it’s funny that they added the option and it does nothing. Maybe it was just to get people to buy it. This was one of the main reason I purchased the nest/google thermostat again. Disappointing 

[MAB1]

I know. That was one of the main reasons I bought it too. That and the indicator showing the Humidifier is running. I run the fan 24hrs non stop and found that blocks the humidifier indicator from showing. It's funny, when I originally installed the 4th Gen nest, it alternated between fan and humidifier, both spelled out. Then it just stayed on fan. Must have been some sort of update. 

[Nexusis]

yeah if you have both running, it won’t show the “humidifying” icon.  The message at the bottom will alternate though that it is humidifying your home. They rarely do updates as well and I’m unsure if they even scope the forums to address other people’s concerns. 

[MAB1]

Mine doesn't alternate with the fan running. Just shows the fan. If I turn the fan off the 24/7 schedule, it does show and alternates with the other stuff. The Fan schedule kills it.

[GabrielaG]

Hi Nexusis,

Thank you for reaching out to the community. I apologize for the inconvenience caused by your thermostat display not showing the humidity level. I will do my best to help you now. 

At the moment, there isn't an indication on the fourth-generation Nest thermostat that indicates the humidity level on the display. You can refer to this article to learn about Nest thermostat displays. 

Please consider sharing your thoughts directly with our development team through this feedback form. Your input will help us prioritize features and ensure that we're meeting the needs of our diverse user base.

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

Best regards,

Gabriela

[MAB1]

Gabriela, The nest thermostat DOES show the humidity level just fine. I have NEVER said it doesn't. This was pointed out in a previous post. I'm talking about an indicator  of some sort telling me that the humidifier is running.  If you READ this whole thread, you can see if I turn off the fan, the humidifier running indicator comes on, instead of alternate with the fan indicator. 

[GabrielaG]

Hi MAB1,

I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my post. I understand that you would like an icon to indicate that the humidity is running in your Nest Learning Thermostat 4th generation, just like you did with your old thermostat; currently, this feature seems to be unavailable on your device.

Please consider sharing your thoughts directly with our development team through this feedback form. Your input will help us prioritize features and ensure that we're meeting the needs of our diverse user base.

Regards,

Gabriela 

[MAB1]

No, you are wrong. It is available with my device as I and others have seen it. If you had read the discussion you would see that the Thermostat does not display the humidifier icon or any other icon when I have the furnace fan running on a schedule, It seems the fan keeps the humidifier icon from showing. If I turn the fan off it works fine. I have shared my thoughts with your development  team but have never heard back from them. 

[MAB1]

Just thought I would let you know that I got the humidifier notifications to display. The notifications showing the humidifier running will appear on both app and thermostat as long as it's running on a schedule. Being retired, I never set up a schedule. Would just manually adjust if needed. Yesterday I set up a schedule to lower the heat at night and lo and behold the humidifier info rotated on the app and device with the fan schedule. Don't quite get it, but at least it's there.

[GabrielaG]

Hi MAB1,

Thank you so much for your effort and for keeping me updated. I'm glad to hear that your Nest Thermostat is now showing the humidifier running on the app and thermostat as long as it's running on a schedule.

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

Regards,

Gabriela

[Mrjoeski]

Gabriela, the water droplet icon should show any time humidity is called for, not only when running a schedule. There are such glaring errors in the software between Gen3 and Gen4. Another issue is that the humidity command does not shut off when reaching the target set point but instead, tries to drive humidity about 5% above the target value. For example: I had 40% set yesterday and despite the inside humidity being 43%, the thermostat commanded humidity until 45% was reached. If I’d wanted 45%, I’d have made that the selection. 

[MAB1]

Yes, I have mine set to the setting below what I want. It gets it close enough, I guess.  Also, I was a little too quick to speak on the Icon when running a schedule. It went away. There yesterday, but not today. Didn't change a thing. 

[Mrjoeski]

The Gen3 was much better at maintaining a humidity closer to the set point. This 5% swing, caused my humidifier (and fan) to run all day yesterday, heat commanded or not. That’s the problem with this Gen4 programming not giving access to system configuration (that’s in another thread); We are unable to specify when  the humidifier should run (heat on only,  or anytime humidity is called for). This is problematic with bypass humidifiers (that’s what I have), as I only want the humidifier active when heat is running. All day yesterday, the system tried to add humidity without the heat on and that just wasted water and energy to run the fan at low speed. Bypass humidifiers are not effective without warm air. Also, the water droplet icon should only appear when humidity is called for, once the desired humidity is reached, it disappears, is this not happening for you? 

[GabrielaG]

Hi

Thank you so much for keeping me updated. I'm sorry to hear the issue is still not resolved. I'm happy to continue assisting you right now.

Nest Learning Thermostat 4th gen doesn’t use any weather information or learning to determine when to activate a humidifier or dehumidifier. If you are worried about getting condensation on your windows when it’s cold outside, you should consider lowering your set humidity level to avoid that.

The Nest Learning Thermostat 4th gen uses Smart Humidity, which automatically adjusts the setpoint of the humidifier based on the outdoor weather.

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

Regards,

Gabriela

[MAB1]

"Nest Learning Thermostat 4th gen doesn’t use any weather information or learning to determine when to activate a humidifier or dehumidifier. "

Since when?  This was the main reason I bought it. If you can point me to some official web page from Nest saying that please do. There is an actual setting where you turn it on or off. It's called Humidity Helper. Doesn't work, but it's there. 

[MAB1]

I see the original answer was updated to include the Humidity Helper switch after my response. I'm starting to think these are AI bots answering here. I may be wrong, but they just seemed too canned and automatic. 

[Nexusis]

definitely looks like it. their answers are always very generic and not specific to what you had asked

[MAB1]

I wanted to make a correction on something I said in the above post. I stated that the Humidity Helper didn't work. I found it does. If it is actually turning off your humidifier because your humidity setting is too high, it flashes that info on the app saying "humidifier off to reduce condensation moisture", It does NOT tell you where it's set at,  Just that it is off. The settings you made for the humidity level in the app stay the same.  That's why I thought it wasn't running. I thought it would reflect the target level in the app. If your not running a schedule on your thermostat, no humidifier information shows on the app. I made a 24hr default schedule with my most common setting and adjust from there realizing it will reset the next day. But at least now I know if it is working and the humidifier is running.

[Nexusis]

great find! badly made app it seems then.. nothing is clear on it anyway

[Mrjoeski]

 

When the Humidity Helper is enabled and active, you should see the following on the Google Home App: 

Below the temperature it will say: Humidity Helper and below that, a water droplet with a small + on the right. 

Below the temperature dial indicator it will say: 

Lowering target humidity to reduce condensation.

Mine is set at 40% but our temps are near zero so it has not been turning on the humidifier, and thusly, humidity has been decreasing with each heat cycle. They have also done an update that now allows access to Advanced Settings, for the humidifier and other equipment. 

[MAB1]

Yes, That's basically what I said. The trouble that still exists is that you have to be on a schedule or non of this shows. It's probably doing it, but doesn't tell you.

[Nexusis]

This must be all new. I saw it on mine today too for the first time. It would be good if they indicate what % the humidity helper is "targetting"