Safety Feature Request: Heat During Power Failure - Nest Thermostat

[TheGadgeteer]

I have backup power to my 120 volt circuits. My natural gas boiler functions on 120 volts and consumes only about 90 Watts.  Almost all of that 90 Watts is the water circulating pump.  So I should have heat when the power goes out, right? No.  The Nest Thermostat gets stuck on a screen complaining there is no power to my 240 volt central air conditioner (A/C) . As a result, unless there is someone home that knows how to disconnect the Y wire from the thermostat and tell it there is not A/C there is no heat. There is no way to get past the error screen even if somebody is home, unless they know how to re-wire the thermostat and definitely no heat ever if the house is empty. 

I would like the error to time out at some point and let heat continue to function for safety reasons.

There can be notifications or something displayed, but don’t prevent heat.

This is not only safety issue from a property standpoint but also human life. If a nontechnical person is trapped without heat during a severe winter storm and their heat is fully powered and functional why should they die because the Nest Thermostat is stuck complaining about the A/C even though the Nest thermostat is in Heat mode.

Please correct this potentially fatal oversight. 

[zoeuvre]

Hi TheGadgeteer, 

Thanks for posting here in Community, and I am sorry for the late reply. Let's sort this out. 

Can you help me with the error code that appeared on the Nest Thermostat display? I'll look forward to your response.

Best,
Zoe

[TheGadgeteer]

Zoe,

The error I get is E30.

My heating system has backup power in case of emergency but my air conditioning does not.

Currently when this error message regarding the A/C is displayed, the thermostat turns off the heat.  
The only way to get the heat working is somebody technically savvy must be home and able to disconnect the Y1 and reconfiguring the thermostat as if there is no A/C present.

Not having heat can be very dangerous. 

[zoeuvre]

Hi there, 

I know its been a while, and I thank you for the follow-up information. 

E30 error code means no power to Y1 wire. Can you help me with your Nest Learning Thermostat's power reading?  

1. To open the Quick View menu, press the thermostat’s ring.
2. Choose Settings.
3. Turn the ring to highlight Technical Info then press the ring to select it.
4. Select Power. 
   • Battery
   • VOC
   • VIN 
   • IIN

Thanks, 

Zoe

[Dan_A]

Hey there TheGadgeteer,

I wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Have you had the chance to try the suggestion above? If yes, how is it?

Kind regards,

Dan

[TheGadgeteer]

I do not think you thoroughly read the original post. 

The problem is if there is no power to Y1 (air conditioning), I cannot run the heat because of the error being displayed even though there is power to the heating system.

I have back up power for the heating system.