Smart thermostats are growing in popularity as more and more homeowners search for ways to lower their energy expenses. These systems can be programmed to efficiently regulate the temperature inside your home in line with your daily schedule. They also have the capability to learn these preferences over time. For this reason, you can cut costs on your energy bills by ensuring that your comfort system is only running when you need it.
Google’s smart thermostat is the Nest, and plenty of homeowners are satisfied with its features and general efficiency. But one feature–the Seasonal Savings program–might be stirring up trouble rather than assisting your HVAC system. Persistent issues are pushing homeowners to find out how to switch off this feature. We’ll review the issues some people are having with Seasonal Savings and provide instructions for how to opt out of the setting.
Many Homeowners Allege the Seasonal Savings Program Isn’t Working Well
Google built the Seasonal Savings program to help homeowners increase their energy efficiency. For maximum HVAC use in the summer and winter, it will automatically adjust the thermostat to balance your preferences with energy efficiency. The program is intended to run without disrupting your sense of comfort, setting up the biggest changes when you’re away or in bed. Sadly, this isn’t the case for lots of people participating in the program.
In fact, there are accounts that the program is contradictory and annoying to use. Homeowners are complaining that the program is really increasing their energy bills instead of reducing them. And when they try to disable or opt out of Seasonal Savings, they’ve discovered the setting to do so is tough to find or entirely missing. In several cases people have even discovered it being flipped back on after it was disabled.
Smart thermostats are meant to strengthen the efficiency of your HVAC system. While automatic temperature adjustments are a customary feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t bypass your preferred settings. If the Nest isn't meeting your comfort preferences, shutting off the Seasonal Savings program is the correct move.
But First, Why Is This Going On?
Homeowners are complaining that the Seasonal Savings program was started on their Nest thermostat without their authorization. Why can a smart thermostat you control ignore your settings and enroll in the program? It could be because of an energy-efficiency program you signed up for with the utility company.
These agreements help you raise your home’s energy efficiency. They will sometimes offer rebates on new equipment or special promotions for renewable energy equipment. But numerous people are surprised to hear they also grant your utility company remote access to your thermostat. If the power grid is experiencing a heavy load, the utility company can take over your thermostat and raise the temperature. You may well be having issues with the Seasonal Savings program due to the fact that a utility company is taking advantage of this remote access.
But what if the setting is faulty or just disregarding your preferences? Whatever the reason is, you don’t want a feature to double your energy use without your consent. We’ll take you step-by-step through how other people have disabled the Seasonal Savings program.
How to Disable Your Nest Thermostat’s Seasonal Savings Feature
A number of people have documented trouble shutting off the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting could be different according to your specific Nest model, other users are nervous that Google is purposely making it more difficult to opt out of Seasonal Savings. To ensure you can opt out no matter what, we’ll list the ways other users have found success.
- Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually adjusting the temperature should override the Seasonal Savings program, but quite a few users have observed this isn’t entirely accurate. If you notice your Nest repeatedly reversing your changes, you’ll probably prefer to disable the feature entirely.
- Shutting off the program from the Nest app: Your phone or tablet’s Nest app should have a History option and a Settings option. Google points users to their History to switch off Seasonal Savings, but other homeowners have located this option under Settings. Once disabled, the feature is temporarily off until the next summer or winter.
- Disabling the program from the Nest thermostat: Your thermostat should also provide a History option where you can turn off Seasonal Savings, but many homeowners claim the disable option is absent.
- Opting out before the program starts: The Seasonal Savings program is only obtainable around summer and winter. Your smart device is supposed to receive a notification when the program is about to start, giving you the opportunity to opt out.
When Seasonal Savings is running, your Nest should feature a small yellow symbol of a leaf. If the Nest is having issues and the Seasonal Savings icon is absent, your problem may be with yet another setting entirely.
Sometimes the Source Isn’t Seasonal Savings but Another Setting or Program
Alternative options on Nest smart thermostats aside from Seasonal Savings can result in unwanted temperature changes. If these settings are active during Seasonal Savings, even disabling the program may not stop the thermostat from making changes. Fortunately, these settings can be disabled. You’ll also have options if the problem is a third party like a power company.
- Shutting off Auto-Schedule: The Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat both offer the Auto-Schedule feature, using their ability to study your preferences to set the best possible schedule. Going into Settings and shutting off Auto-Schedule should stop other automatic changes including Seasonal Savings.
- Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats might still flip to eco temperatures if you possess an auto-switching feature like Home & Away Routines or Home/Away Assist. These features automatically control the temperature when the thermostat thinks that no one is around.
- Opting out of the utility company’s energy agreement: Considering your energy provider may be remotely controlling a Nest thermostat, negating the agreement should remove their access. You can find the complete details of these agreements via your energy provider.
- Reaching out to Google support: If everything else fails, contacting Google’s technical support might be of service. Staff can lead you to resetting the Nest or determining the appropriate setting to disable Seasonal Savings.
If the Problem Continues, Your Thermostat Might Be Malfunctioning
There’s always the risk a Nest smart thermostat is just malfunctioning. Electrical problems or software bugs can result in all sorts of problems, including an obnoxious Seasonal Savings program. If you think the problem is isolated to your own thermostat, a seasoned technician may be able to help. After all, smart thermostats continue to be a valuable investment for your home’s energy efficiency.
If you want local assistance for your smart thermostat in Tulsa, call the comfort professionals at Jack Nelson Service Experts. They can help you figure out the easiest way to switch off a stubborn Seasonal Savings program on your Nest thermostat.