Temperature calibration

[Zouf]

Yes, I know - Nest thermostats are factory-calibrated, their temperature sensors are perfect, anything wrong in temperature readings is my fault, it’s not installed in the right place and so on. 

This said, I’ve been in this house for 35 years, the heating system is the same since the beginning, all previous thermostats have been installed in the same location. So I think by this time I know what a 20,5 deg C heating set point feels like. 

So either all 3 previous thermostats were all wrong by the same amount in the same direction, or -perhaps, just perhaps - my Nest is reading 1,5 deg C too high. If that’s the case, is there somewhere a wonderful hidden option to put an offset on the sensor? Or I just offset my set points and go on with my life?

PS - this is a yes/no question. It does not involve wiring, piping, thermostat location or any other such amusements. 

[Jeff]

Hey Zouf, 

This isn't an option for your Nest thermostat, but it is something we could look into to see if there is an issue with the device. If you would like to get into some troubleshooting here, let me know and I would be happy to help. But to answer the yes or no portion, no, there's no offset setting available.

Thanks,

Jeff

[chiefpontiac]

I have the same problem.  I installed my learning thermostat yesterday in the same location that every thermostat I've owned was.  The house was at 69 deg F when I installed it and the thermostat immediately said it was 73 deg F.  I've had to set all my set points to at least 3 deg F above where I want the house to be.  My room manual thermostat verifies the Nest is off and reading too high.  It would be great to re-calibrate it.  I am willing to do a little troubleshooting if it's helpful.

[Jake]

Hey there,

I wanted to follow up and see if I could be of any help. I found an article that could be of use. 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. 

Best regards,
Jake

[Zouf]

Thanks for the link ; no, this does not help, as all the solutions assume the thermostat temperature sensor is correct. It’s not. So what are the options? No calibration, so ship boxes back and forth to replace the unit? Does not sound like a very efficient solution…

[chiefpontiac]

I agree with Zouf.  The temperature is off by 4 degrees F in my case.  I have to set it to 73 deg to get an actual temperature of 69 deg F in the room.  I guess I can deal with it, but if you use Eco settings and it's connected to your utility, they want you to turn it down to save energy which equals freezing in the house.  I just want it be calibrated correctly.

[Aktivator23]

My one year old 3rd Gen NEST tells me that the room temperature is 69 degrees while a wall thermometer attached to the same wall just a few inches away says the air temp is 63 degrees! So a difference of 6 degrees!  I have searched to find a way to calibrate the NEST and come up empty! Any suggestions to properly calibrate the NEST would be greatly appreciated!

[Zouf]

As far as I could find, there is no user-available sensor offset control. I’ll bet there’s one in the code, but no way to tell or change it. I just live with it, I offset my program set points accordingly, and since I set the default display to outside temp, you can’t really tell the thermostat is running with a 1,5 C offset. 

I just find it stupid not to make such an adjustment available. 

[chiefpontiac]

I spent 45 minutes on the phone with a Nest agent and they concluded it was a problem with my wifi router.  At that point I checked out and just dealt with it.

[Zouf]

I fail to see how a router issue could impact the measured temperature. You could kill the router and the thermostat would still run - would the temp measurement change then?