Nest learning thermostat thinks my system is a heat pump, won't turn on heat

[bgsin]

I recently tried installing Nest 3rd generation thermostats. I have a forced air system, gas furnace. The wiring on my original thermostats were:
Y - Yellow
G - Green
C - Blue
O/B - Orange
W - White
R - Red

I installed the Nest backplate with the same wiring configuration, and when going through setup, the thermostat forced the equipment options:
Heat Pump Heating
Auxiliary Heating
Heat Pump Cooling
Fan

The air conditioning/cooling works perfectly fine, but the heating doesn't work. When I set a high temp on the thermostat, it just blows cold air. When I do a system test, the "Heat pump heating" blows cold air, but the "Auxiliary heating" DOES turn the furnace on and blows hot air.

What is wrong with my setup, and how can I have it automatically heat using the furnace?

[jenniffert]

Hi bgsin,

Thanks for posting in the community! I'm sorry to hear that your Nest Learning Thermostat doesn't turn on the heating as expected on your HVAC system. I'd be happy to help!

It seems like you have a heat pump system with a 2nd stage for heating, which in this case is a furnace that uses a gas source. Could you please confirm this? 

To continue gathering more information, I'd like to ask the following:

• Is the Nest Learning Thermostat newly installed? If not, was it working previously?
• When was the last time you changed the furnace's air filter?
• Have you experienced extremely cold weather lately?
• Have you recently experienced a brownout or blackout?

Regarding your question on how to activate the heating automatically, you noted that the system blows cold air when you turn the heat on. This may have something to do with how the Heat Pump system is oriented. Since the orientation parameter controls when your system switches between heating and cooling, I'd suggest adjusting it from O to B in this case. For instructions, you can follow the next article: Troubleshoot heat pump issues.

Also, check that the wires are fully inserted into the terminal and the connector buttons are securely pushed down. This ensures proper wire connections. For reference, you can check out this article: Troubleshoot strange heating or cooling behavior. Important: Before touching any wires, turn off the power to your HVAC system at the breaker box.

Let me know how it goes.

Best regards,

Jenniffer