Nest TStat showing “Alt. heat stage 1”

[HeidiS]

We are new to Nest thermostat and have a new heat pump system installed, and have the following message “Alt. heat stage 1” set to 57 but the temperature in our cabin shows as 45. We are accessing it remotely through the Google home app on my phone. It does not appear that the power is out at the cabin. Any ideas how to get it to start heating? We have two little walk heaters so not even sure if the Nest is turning on the heat pump. Any ideas would be much appreciated …

[Houptee]

Is this a new Nest install? First time used the Nest in winter for heating?

Basically did it ever work correctly or is this first time you are testing the Nest with the system?

Do you have Aux electric heat coils in the system or is it nat gas or propane secondary heat source?

Without seeing the way it is wired and knowing what equipment you are trying to control with the Nest it is hard to provide advice.

[HeidiS]

Thanks for replying 😊 yes it’s a new Nest tstat and Bosch heat pump and A/C installed in August 2022. It is all electric with heat coils. The heat has worked but we’ve been struggling to figure out how to use the tstat. It kept going into learning mode and the temp would change and then we got frustrated and just used emergency heat which seemed to work. My husband decided to drive up there (near Flagstaff) about an hour away through a snowstorm so hopefully the company that installed it will call him back to resolve. We had asked for a standard regular thermostat but they thought they were doing us a favor by giving us this **bleep** Nest 🤨 Hopefully they can replace it with a normal tstat now? Anyway thank you so much for responding.

[Houptee]

Oh ok is it the Bosch IDS heat pump? Those are supposed to be very efficient units that normally do not need the electric heat coils they are supposed to use the compressor to absorb heat from the outside air down to very low outdoor temperatures.

I also thought you had to use the dedicated Bosch thermostats with that system but I could be wrong about that.

Let us know what they discover was the issue. I would like to learn more about that Bosch heat pump. I never installed or worked on them yet but have seen youtube videos about setting them up and there are specific settings inside the unit you have to set with little dip switches to configure them correctly.

[HeidiS]

So the HVAC tech replaced the Nest with a standard thermostat but also found that there was lots of ice on the *whatever it’s called outside* . They chipped off the ice and the heater works again. But they did say they are no longer using the Nest, they’re using Ecobee as they have seen too high of a failure rate. We’re happy to have an old style thermostat even if it’s not as efficient.  We don’t use the cabin very much in the winter and just want to set and forget it. Thanks for your help!

[Markjosephp]

Hello folks,

I know it's been a while, but I wanted to ensure that everything was covered here.

Thanks for the help here, @Houptee.

@HeidiS, I'm sorry for the trouble this has caused you. We deeply appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences, and we'll take it as feedback. We hope we can change your mind in the future. Also, if there’s anything else I can help you with, please let me know. Otherwise, this thread will be locked within 24 hours.

Best regards,

Mark

[HeidiS]

Yes, I am pretty certain it is a Bosch IDS. The invoice says “18 SEER 4 ton heat pump with inverter technology, 2 stage air handler, and 10kw heat strips install”. My husband is staying at the cabin to keep the woodstove going to keep the pipes from freezing, and the tech is coming tomorrow morning. If they offer any useful info regarding why it malfunctioned, I will be sure to convey it to you. I’ll have my husband ask them if maybe a Bosch tstat might work better- thank you for you thoughts on this…