Nest not heating

[slieblich]

Unit worked fine for 2 years. Now glows orange but no signal being sent to furnace. 2 other zones on our same furnace with non nest thermostats work fine. I'm feeling its the firmware update as some others have mentioned but Google help won't acknowledge that is the issue.  Anyone in Community able to help since Google won't acknowledge the problem?

[SilentGuardian]

TLDR: Check inside the Pro Settings for any wire needing a confirmation, especially W1.

So here's my latest update after I had an HVAC tech come in to check the system after I started receiving emails warning me the system called for heat over a long period of time but the temp had decreased of 2 degrees.

I already had turned off all smart settings and suspected a pump failure (the heat source comes from the hot water circulating through a radiator, and it was not circulating). To make it short, there was no problem with the physical components. The tech checked the Pro section in the Settings and addressed a mention to check cable W1 by simply giving a confirmation. As soon as he did, heat came back. I'm almost sure this was caused by the latest 6.2 firmware update and only became apparent as winter arrived.

The next 2 days made me worried as the thermostat behavior was wierd - it took hours to barely reach and maintain target temp with usage almost constantly on. Since the temp was acceptable I decided to give it a couple of days and after about 48 hours all seems good and usage shows about 5-25 minutes of heating every hour.

[Mavrick]

I am having the same issue where my NEST 3rd generation thermostat shows is running and orange but my Furnace (heat source gas) is not running. Sometimes it runs and sometimes it doesn’t. I get to notice it closely at night then when it’s feels bit cold and upon checking the thermostat it’s showing running and orange but actually heat is not on. I checked the wires and they are setup as per directions. Only K black wire from previous thermostat I put it into Y1 cool on NEST thermostat.

[Greg02134]

Thanks for posting. This issue has been reported by enough of us that I think it points clearly to a firmware problem. My plan is to replace the Nest with another brand of smart thErmostat to see if that fixes the problem.

[Greg02134]

I intEnd to do the same. The utility consortium in these parts ran a Black Friday sale, and I got a great price on a prEmium model. After installing said replacement, I’ll post my findings. 

[Mavrick]

Between, I followed one of the post where it mentioned to go on NEST Thermostat -> Settings -> Equipment -> it will display wiring and then press done and the. On Equipment settings display go to PRO SETUP. It will give a warning but select continue. From there if it’s showing yellow (meaning check) then confirm that wiring settings and it will turn green. It was yellow in my case for one of the wire inserts. I selected that setting as is and it turned green. 
after that I think it fixed the issue but I also observed that while it’s kick starting the furnace I hear click sounds and it’s like you are ignitions starting it but it’s keep going down and after some tries it starts up and this process takes around minute or two. Not sure if it’s normal? 

[Greg02134]

Thanks for the tip about pro settings - I’ll check them. 

My system does the same thing - ignition failure. On most systems, after 3 tries, it will go into “lockout” mode, and just blow cold air. My main reason for wanting to swap out the nest is to see if this problem goes away, which would mean that somehow, the nest is causing it. 

Watch this thread for updates. 😜

[Greg02134]

THIS JUST IN: I followed Maverick's suggestion, and I found that the W1 wire (white - heating) indeed said "Check". I cleared the check, clicked DONE, and exited PRO. I'll see how things go from here.

[Jabber]

Hey Greg02134, whats the trick to see the pro settings option under the Equipment feature on the Nest?

[Greg02134]

See the detailed post from Maverick, from 9-Dec-2022, above.

[Greg02134]

See the post of 9-Dec (above) from Maverick.

[EddiePi]

My nest has worked perfectly for the past 4 years.  Now it glows orange and starts, but shuts down before reaching the requested temperature.  Went to pro and it shows check W1.  I cleared it, let's see what happens.

[EddiePi]

Same crap.  Set it to 72, furnace goes off at 70 and the dial stays orange.  It's over, onto another product.

[Greg02134]

Thanks for that update.

Today, the system is working properly, with one exception. I got up at 4:30 a.m. to feed the cat. I noted that the Nest had precisely maintained the night temp of 65°F.  I went back to bed, got up again at 6;15 a.m. Heat was running, but the temp was 64°F. The schedule is set to go to 70° at 5:00 a.m., meaning that by 6:15, when I got out of bed for the day, the house should have been at the correct temperature. I double-checked the schedule, and nothing had changed.

Bizarre!

[EddiePi]

After I wrote this, I called Google/Nest.  The guy on the other end of the line actually sounded like he knew what he was talking about.  I went into the Nest - technical information then power.  My numbers are way off of what this shows they should be.  https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9241211?hl=en#zippy=%2Cpower  .  I do not have a C wire.  The VOC was too high and VIN was close but slightly out of specs.  I feel like I need to pick up a replacement to test the Nest.  If that one is off as well, I call service.  If it shows the correct values, I call Nest back.

[Greg02134]

I do have a C wire. Very early on in my Nest experience, I hadn't connected it, because Nest (pre-Google) was saying that it wasn't needed.

It is needed!

[MariaA]

Same. Exact. Issue. Worked great for 4 years. Had gotten a little glitchy, but could “trick” the heat on with a combination of turning it off and back on a few times…until this morning. I’ve done everything - pulled out and re-installed the wires, reset, factory reset. Nothing. Anyone fixed the issue by purchasing a new Nest thermostat? At this point I can’t feel my nose or toes and another $250 is preferable to frostbite. 

[Greg02134]

My ultimate solution was to install a new smart thermostat - starts with Ec***. I'm still having some issues on the furnace side that my HVAC tech will deal with. But the problem of the furnace failing to reach the calling temperature has been fixed.

You might see if your utility company participates in a program that allows you to purchase a smart thermostat for way below retail. That's what I did.

As well, probably not a bad idea to have an HVAC pro go over your system. In my case, there were two interrelated problems - one on the Nest side, and the other on my HVAC.

[DrSmith]

Tried following the instructions above but don't get an option to test wiring. My Software if 5.9-5.2 (I'm in the UK) and was update don 16th November 2022. I have double checked and it says I am up to date.

I have switched on the Heatlink override, the boiler fired up and radiators started to get very hot. I started to reply to a response on another thread and in the 40 minutes reading/respond the system reached 16C then switched off the boiler and heatlink. The temperature has dropped to 15C which it seems to be happy to maintain. Good news with the high energy costs - bad news with the wfe who blames me for insisting we replace the 40 year old manual on/off switch installed when the house was built and which worked for 40 years...

Wish me luck. Call going to Tech Support

[EddiePi]

A few updates.

I purchased a replacement Nest Thermostat yesterday and ran through the installation.  I set it, it ran and turned off correctly with the screen going from orange to black at the requested temperature.  Out of the box, it is set for software version 6.1.1-21.  According to Nest's website, 6.1.1-21 was released on 9/7/21.  Subsequent updates  were 6.2-22 released on 11/1/21 and 6.2-27 released on 5/3/22.   By the end of the day, it was updated to 6.2-27 and no longer working correctly.

I found a video which showed how a technician tested voltages at the thermostat wires.  Remove the Nest thermostat, multimeter on AC.  Red lead on Red.  Black lead on Green, White and Yellow.  Each of these tested at at 28V which is perfect.

I remembered seeing an extra wire in the harness which attaches to the Nest base.  It was wrapped around the wire in the wall.  It was the 5th wire, Blue for the C connection.  I attached it to the C connection on the Nest base and on the furnace's circuit board.

It worked fine today, then upon arriving home tonight, not working so well as the heat is off with the Nest Screen Orange.

I returned the new Nest today and am done with Nest.  Customer service kept saying without a C wire, it's not going to work.  Now I have a C wire and it still does not work.  The previous Nest worked for nearly 5 years without a C wire.  The new Nest worked until the software updated.  What does that tell us the problem is and what excuse will they make when/if I call them this time ?   Nest has clearly failed.  So disposable between 4 to 5 years.   Time to move on to another brand, now with a C wire available.

[Greg02134]

Thanks for going through that process to confirm what we suspected.

I've replaced my Nest with the "Other Leading Brand" (starts with "Eco...", and I couldn't be happier.

[Dutch00]

Get that Ecobee here

[MariaA]

Mkay - after a week of playing I’m giving up too. I’d already bought a replacement Nest, but left it in the box wrapped up. Just tired of the “will it heat or won’t it heat” game of chicken. Taking my lead from the group and just ordered the Ec**** as well. 

[Shilohtown]

Similar to what you are all finding... Installed brand new HVAC system, and new Nest Learning Thermostat. Our system is a two stage heating and two stage cooling system. Our stage 1 is acting exactly as all of you state. I turns orange and says heating for 1-2 degrees above house temp, but it just blows cool air. If I crank it up +10 degrees, the 2nd stage comes on and heats as it should. But it will not maintain that temp as stage 1 doesn't blow warm air. I finally hooked up a Honeywell smart thermostat, hooked it up with the wires exactly the same as I had the Nest, and the Honeywell worked just fine in all stages, right out of the box. I really wanted the Nest to work, but sounds like it's a software issue.

[Greg02134]

Interesting, and thanks for your research! I've had a similar finding by swapping the Nest for an Eco***. My HVAC is working perfectly.

[Trevor2018-]

I live in Philly, Last Saturday, the coldest day of the year the Nest Thermostat started acting up as it does every winter. Sick and tired of dealing with all the same issues as commented above and being cold until the Nest decides to come back on. I have tried EVERYTHING. Having a technician come out this afternoon. This only happens with the heat. The cooling system works fine. 

[f350bronco]

NEST thermostat failed after 2 years when outside temp was -10F and I was 1500 miles away on vacation. Could not remotely connect to it with wifi either. Daughter reinstalled previous Honeywell thermostat (20 year old unit) and heat is working again. Pretty expensive thermostat for a 24 month lifespan. Not dependable.