Nest Thermostat - Humidifier and blower running even when furnace is not running

[briandemski]

This is a new house that came with the Nest so I did not install it. I'm running into an issue with the Next controlling my AprilAire humidifier. When the heat is on (furnace on and blower) and the humidity is below the desired level set on the Nest (35% in my case, see screen shot #2), the humidifier also runs along with the heat (Icon showing "Heating" with little water droplet icon below, indicating the humidifier is also running). I consider this to be the normal, expected behavior. However, after desired temperature is reached and the furnace shuts off, the blower and humidifier continue to run for a significant period of time, even when the humidity level the Next shows is higher than my set level (right now Nest App is showing 39% humidity reading and is still running in the "Humidify" mode - see screen shot #1). This behavior does not seem correct and is causing my blower to run needlessly and the air coming out is really cold since the furnace is not on (not very pleasant in the middle of winter). The only thing I can do is to manually go into the App Humidfier settings and uncheck the option to have Nest control humidity (screen shot #2), which will then immediately shut off the humidifer and blower.  I would like for my humidifier to ONLY run while the heat/furnace is running. Right now the nest has been running for over 20 mins in "Humidify" mode after my furnace has shut off. Does anyone have any suggestions to remedy this??? Thank you very much in advance!

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi briandemski,

Thanks for posting ― let's get this sorted out.

A few questions: what Nest Thermostat do you have? Check this link to know what thermostat you have. Since when has this been happening? Also, what troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

Best,
Mel

[briandemski]

Hello, Mel! Thank you for offering to help! When I said "new house", I meant that this house is new to me (I've lived here a year and a half now) but it is an older house (built in 1939). I have the Nest Learning Thermostat 2nd generation. This has been happening since I first turned on the heat and humidity was lower (last winter). I was a brand new homeowner and had no experience with forced air heat and a whole house humidifier, so I just tried to ignore the symptom and figured maybe it was normal. But after reading more about it and thinking about it more, I've since concluded this behavior cannot be normal and something must not be configured correctly with the Nest. Currently, I just turned off the humidity management on the Nest because the humidity of the house has been staying relatively okay (around 39%) with humidifier functionality turned off. I don't consider this a solution but just a way for me to stop having to experience the symptom I mentioned above (Nest running in "Humidifying" mode for long periods of time, without furnace being on, even though the measured humidity is HIGHER than the preferred humidity setting on the Nest). Happy to answer any more questions or provide any further details.

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi briandemski,

Thanks for getting back to us. I suggest reaching out to a pro technician so they can check your system and your entire wiring configuration.

Best,

Mel

[briandemski]

Thank you, Mel. I was posting on this forum hoping to get some more information and perhaps resolve myself instead of shelling out money for someone to come out (and then still possibly not be able to resolve it). I'll wait to see if someone else chimes in. Thank you!

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi briandemski,

I understand. I will keep this thread open for a few days so everyone can chime in to help out.

Best,

Mel

[Jhonleanmel]

Hey there briandemski,

Checking back in should you still have some questions here. Let us know by replying to this thread. 

Best, 
Mel

[briandemski]

Thank you, Mel. I'm still waiting to see if someone might offer a suggestion other than paying someone from Ontech to come out. If you don't mind me asking, do you work for Ontech or Google, or are you just a member on the forum?

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi briandemski,

Thanks for getting back to us. I'm part of the Google Community.

I'll keep this thread open for a few days to give time for other customers to chime in.

Best,

Mel

[EdwardT]

Hi briandemski,

I wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let me know if you are still having any trouble from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Thanks,

Edward

[EdwardT]

Hi briandemski,

I'm just checking in to make sure that you've seen our response. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours.

Thanks,

Edward

[briandemski]

Hi Edward! As I said in my last post, I am still having this issue. I was waiting to see if anyone else on this forum would chime in with any thoughts on the matter or if someone else was able to resolve the same problem themselves. Have you experienced the issue I described or have any suggestions? Thank you!

[EmersonB]

Hello everyone,

@briandemski I wanted to follow up and see if you were able to fill out the form? Let me know if you have additional questions.

I appreciate the help, Mel and Edward.
 
Best,
Emerson

[EdwardT]

Hi folks,

I'm just checking in to make sure that you've seen our response. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours.

Thanks,

Edward

[EdwardT]

Hi briandemski,

Thanks for the response. We'd like to know more about this. Please fill out this form so we could investigate further.

Thanks,

Edward