08-26-2022 09:53 AM
Hello. I had a company come to install smart thermostats in my home. I have a boiler with oil heat and 4 zones in my home. They explained that because I have no C wires running to any of my thermostats that they could install these new Nest thermostats that can run solely on AAA batteries. My home is old and it was far too complicated to run power to all 4 thermostats. After reading up it says that there can be reliability issues with WIFI connectivity and that the batteries can run out very quickly. Is it recommended to use the way I have it set up or is that going to cause more problems in the future? Thanks
08-27-2022 12:52 PM
According to CoolingWizard (community member),
To work with a 2-wire heat only system, you must use a Nest Learning Thermostat 3rd Generation or a Nest E learning thermostat. Only these thermostats are designed to work without a common wire.
08-27-2022 08:39 PM
That is not 100% true. THe new Google Nest Thermostat can and does work without a C wire, but I personally always recommend a C wire be installed if possible or to use the Nest Power Connector.
08-27-2022 08:42 PM
Using the Google Nest Thermostat without a C wire will typically mean power problems down the road if it even works on an oil boiler system.
Without knowing more details on how your oil boiler system was wired initially, it is hard to say how it should be wired to work correctly with any Nest thermostat.
08-30-2022 11:00 AM
Hey martonyi,
I wanted to check in and see if you saw the replies here and to see if you still had questions on this or if you got everything sorted out. If you're still needing some input, please let me know.
Thanks,
Jeff
08-30-2022 11:17 AM
Hi Jeff. Thanks for following up. The HVAC company that did the install still swears that the 4th generation Nest Thermostat will work fine without the C wire (even said that some of them had the same models at home without the C wire). But I still can't get any specific info about how this will pan out once the winter starts and my thermostats are being used. We have oil heat with no central air. There is a small transformer attached to my boiler but each of the four thermostats in my home (I have four zones) are not near the boiler and therefore the option of adding wiring is not possible. I can deal with replacing the batteries twice a year but again I can't get any specific info from people who have gone through a full season with my setup. Thanks
08-30-2022 02:24 PM
Hi martonyi,
While the C wire isn't required for many systems, battery drain will be the main consideration if you don't use it. Everything will function correctly, but some setups demand more power over time than others and your Nest Thermostat will give you warnings when power is low. I do wish we had some user examples for you to read up on. Our help article gives a bit more info. You can see that here: https://goo.gle/397bLwc.
If you have any additional questions, let me know. For now, let's keep this open to see if we can get some input from the community.
Thanks,
Jeff
09-02-2022 04:50 PM
Hi folks,
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
09-04-2022 03:47 AM
Hi,
We haven't heard from you in a while so we'll be locking this thread if there is no update within the day. If you have any new issues, updates or just a discussion topic, feel free to start a new thread in the Community.
Best,
Melba
09-04-2022 10:06 AM
Okay. I can’t say I have anymore information now than I did when I started the thread but I guess the 4th gen thermostat is new and apparently my setup is unique.
09-30-2022 11:30 AM
Hey martonyi,
I wanted to jump in, and see if I could be of any help. Do you mind me asking if you have looked into the Nest Power Connector? This is another option to provide power to your device if you do not have a C wire.
Best regards,
Jake
10-03-2022 11:41 AM
10-03-2022 11:42 AM
Hi jake. Yes based on the locations of my thermostats the power connectors r not an option.
10-04-2022 04:17 PM
Hi martonyi,
Thanks for reaching out and I'm sorry to hear that you're still having an issue with your Google Nest Wifi. We'd like to take a deeper look into this — could you fill out this form and let us know once you're done?
Thanks,
Mel
10-10-2022 11:51 AM
Hi martonyi,
Checking back in — have you had the chance to fill out the form?
Best,
Mel
10-14-2022 09:23 AM
Hey martonyi,
Do you have any more questions that we can address? If not, I'll go ahead and lock up this thread in 24 hours.
Just checking up,
Jeran