Wake on Approach

[prawlings1]

I have a gen 3 Nest Learning Thermostat that will works well except that the Wake On Approach function does not work properly. If the configuration is set for any of the Farsight options are selected the thermostat wakes on approach, but if Wake of Approach is selected, I have to press the face of the thermostat to see the display. If the thermostat is set to Wake on Press, it wakes on pressing the display just as it should.

I spent almost an hour with Nest first and second level tech support here are the things that were found:

The C wire connection was confirmed to be present and working.

The supply and battery voltages were good.

The supply current draw was good.

The software is the latest version.

There clear film that covers the face of a new thermostat is not present.

We powered down the thermostat and restarted it.

We did both a soft reset and a hard reset to factory settings.

We investigated settings within the Nest Android app and made several changes without resolving the problem.

The final conclusion from tech support is that I need to replace the thermostat which is no longer under warranty. I'm not happy with this conclusion, because I believe the thermostat isn't bad.👎

I believe that the sensor that is used for the Wake On Approach is the same as the one used for Farsight. Since everything else works properly I believe that this is some kind of software bug, because the thermostat has worked properly for ~ 18 months without problem. I have two other gen 3 Nest Learning thermostats that wake on approach just as they should.

The only thing that I can think of that I haven't done is to open the thermostat and disconnect the battery and reinstall it. Maybe there is something in memory that is not cleared by a factory reset.

If you respond to this post, please don't waste your or my time be suggesting things that I have already tried. My background is in electronics instrumentation and controls engineering so I think I have a reasonably good grasp on the things that I need to know to troubleshoot this problem. The symptoms indicate that this is a software/firmware problem and not a hardware failure.

[Markjosephp]

Hello prawlings1,

Thank you for sharing your detailed troubleshooting efforts regarding the issue with your Nest Learning Thermostat. It's clear you've invested significant time and expertise in diagnosing the problem. We appreciate your commitment to resolving the Wake On Approach function issue.

Your thorough description of the steps taken, including interactions with our tech support, provides valuable insights. I'd suggest sharing feedback on your detailed findings and insights directly with our Product team, emphasizing the software/firmware aspect of the issue. Your input could contribute to the ongoing improvement of Nest products.

Thank you for your patience and dedication to resolving this matter. Let us know if you have any other questions and feel free to reach out for any future questions or concerns with your Nest Thermostat.

Best regards,
Mark

[prawlings1]

I use use the Nest app, not the Google Home app.

[Markjosephp]

Hi there,

Your observation regarding the Wake of Approach function in the Nest Thermostat is crucial, and we appreciate your diligence in identifying potential software or firmware issues. To ensure that the product team is informed promptly, you can use the Google Assistant if you don't have the Google Home app.

If there’s anything else I can help you with, please let me know.

Warm regards,
Mark

[prawlings1]

I have no idea how to share the information with the Product team, but they probably need to know about the problem because I suspect is as a software or firmware update that broke the Wake of Approach function.