Does anyone on this forum have any experience installing a Nest Gen 4 thermostat with a dual fuel heat pump? If so, any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I have had a Nest Gen 3 thermostat for about 3-4 years and have been very pleased with it. My current HVAC system is 20 years old and though it still works, I decided to replace it before it fails. My new system will be a York dual fuel packaged heat pump with 2 stages of cooling and 4 stages of heating (2 heat pump stages and 2 gas-fired stages). My existing Nest Gen 3 supports 2 stages of cooling and 3 stages of heating. So I decided to upgrade to the new Nest Gen 4 thermostat, which will support 4 stages of heating when used with a heat pump system. Well, what a nightmare this has been! It was only after I received the thermostat that I learned Google strongly recommends that a trained pro install the Gen 4 with a dual fuel heat pump system. Unfortunately, Google provides NO WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION WHATSOEVER for the Gen 4 that my HVAC dealer and I could use to figure out how to interface the Gen 4 to this new heat pump. Google also DOES NOT OFFER LIVE TECH SUPPORT for the Gen 4. Rather, Google refers me and my HVAC dealer to Ontech (and in the process, disclaims any relationship between Google and Ontech). My initial contact with Ontech did not inspire confidence; they were unable to answer basic questions about the compatibility of the Nest Gen 4 with my new York system. Yet they assured me their field techs could perform the install. Hmmm. How does Ontech do that without technical documentation from Google? So thats one problem. Another problem was the fact that the Gen 4 cover plate is smaller and covers less area than the Gen 3 cover plate. In my case this meant that I had to repaint the wall where the Gen 4 was to be installed, something the cover plate is supposed to avoid. What genius at Google decided to shrink the size of the cover plate? And then there is the fact that the Gen 4 cover plate is shallower than the Gen 3 cover plate. This means that there is a slight gap between the Gen 4 cover plate and the wall, which was not the case with the deeper Gen 3 cover plate. Again, what numbskull at Google is making these absurd changes? And why? As others on this forum have mentioned, there is also the issue of having to use Google Home to control the Gen 4 instead of the old Nest app. I went through this when Google switched off my old Drop Cam earlier this year and I have to say that Google Home is a poor substitute for the Nest App. In fact, compared to the Nest app, Google Home just sucks. Bigtime. So, does anyone on this forum have any experience installing a Nest Gen 4 thermostat with a dual fuel heat pump? Any assistance you can provide would be most appreciated. My new heat pump is not installed yet as I am having all the old, rotted flex duct in my crawl space replaced with hard pipe and that phase will wrap up next week, then on to the new York system. Just in case everything falls apart with the Nest Gen 4 and my new York system (as I fear it will in the absence of proper technical documentation and live tech support via phone), I have ordered a Bosch bcc110 smart wifi thermostat. Good old Robert Bosch; I was able to downloaded an extensive product installation and user manual as well as an advanced configuration guide for the bcc110 thermostat. And, wonder of wonders, Bosch publishes a customer support phone number and actually invites customer to call for assistance! Take note Google. This is how you support complex hardware home infrastructure products. I think my days as a Google customer are about to come to an end. Too bad, as the Nest Gen 3 was a great product as were the original Drop Cam and the follow on Nest Cam. I don't really know what Google's agenda is with these Nest product changes. Customers don't seem at all pleased with the changes, myself included. But as far as I can tell, Google really doesn't give a s**t about that! They have their plan and they are marching ahead with it, customer sentiment be damned. You have to ask yourself, who is running the show at Google? The Marx Brothers? Or maybe the Three Stooges?
