I got my first Nest Learning thermostat in 2019 and it worked great until earlier this year when it stopped properly powering the orange wire to trigger the reverse valve in our heat pump and switch the system from heating to cooling mode. This was verified by an HVAC technician - rest of the system was working just fine, the orange wire just wasn't receiving power. He said that he had seen this happen before with Nest thermostats. Given that the thermostat had lasted me a little under 5 years without issue and that my wife and I really liked the app and look of the thermostat, we decided to replace it with the exact same model. Now, a few months later, the new thermostat is producing the exact same issue. No power to the orange wire, so no cold air in our house.
This is very clearly a documented issue on this forum and elsewhere. Here are just a few threads with users documenting the same problem:
https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Nest-thermastat-is-not-correctly-powering-th...
https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Nest-Thermostat-will-not-power-orange-wire-t...
Search the issue and you'll find even more. I'm not alone here.
I have gone through multiple Google support chat sessions with no assistance from Google. I have tried all of the different diagnostic/troubleshooting steps provided to me by Google and in the referenced forum posts. I have had a professional come out to the house and tell me this is a thermostat issue and not a wiring, heat pump, or air handling issue. I even replaced the Nest thermostat with my old, non-smart thermostat that came with our house - and the issue was fixed. This is 100% without a doubt a fault with the Nest thermostat.
Google Nest equipment is malfunctioning, and Google has done nothing to help me, now twice.
