Smart thermostats are growing in popularity as more and more homeowners search for ways to reduce their energy bills. These accessories can be programmed to automatically maintain the temperature in your home in line with your regular schedule. They also have the means to learn comfort preferences over time. As a result, you can spend less on your energy bills by seeing to it that your home is only heated or cooled when you need it.
Google’s smart thermostat is the Nest, and plenty of homeowners are content with its features and overall efficiency. But one feature–the Seasonal Savings program–is stirring up trouble rather than supporting your HVAC system. Consistent issues are driving homeowners to find out how to disable this feature. We’ll review the problems some people are having with Seasonal Savings and provide instructions for how to opt out of the feature.
Many Homeowners Say the Seasonal Savings Program Isn’t Working Like It Should
Google designed the Seasonal Savings program to help homeowners increase their energy efficiency. For peak HVAC use in the summer and winter, it will automatically adjust the thermostat to satisfy your preferences with energy efficiency. The program is designed to run without disrupting your sense of comfort, making the biggest changes when you’re away or asleep. Sadly, this isn’t the case for numerous people enrolled in the program.
In fact, there are accounts that the program is inconsistent and difficult to use. Homeowners are noticing that the program is actually 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 hard to find or entirely missing. In many cases people have even observed it being turned back on after it was disabled.
Smart thermostats are designed to boost the efficiency of your HVAC system. While automatic temperature adjustments are a popular feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t bypass your favored settings. If a Nest won’t work with your comfort preferences, disabling the Seasonal Savings feature is the right move.
But First, Why Is This Happening?
Homeowners are concerned that the Seasonal Savings program was running on their Nest thermostat without their authorization. Why would a smart thermostat you control neglect your settings and enroll in the program? It could be because of an energy-efficiency agreement you subscribed to with a utility company.
These agreements help you boost your home’s energy efficiency. They will sometimes feature rebates on new products or special promotions for renewable energy equipment. But numerous people are shocked to learn they also permit your utility company remote access to the thermostat. If the power grid is under a heavy load, the utility company can control your thermostat and raise the temperature. You might be having issues with the Seasonal Savings program because a utility company is using this remote access.
But what if the program is malfunctioning or just disregarding your preferences? Whatever the reason is, you don’t want a feature to double your energy use without your permission. We’ll share how other users have disabled the Seasonal Savings program.
How to Disable Your Nest Thermostat’s Seasonal Savings Feature
A number of people have reported trouble disabling the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting could be different based on your specific Nest model, other users are nervous that Google is purposely making it harder to opt out of Seasonal Savings. To make sure you can opt out no matter what, we’ll describe the ways other users have enjoyed success.
- Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually setting the temperature should supersede the Seasonal Savings program, but quite a few users have noticed this isn’t what's happening. If you observe your Nest constantly ignoring your changes, you’ll probably opt to shut off the feature completely.
- Shutting off the setting 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 turn off Seasonal Savings, but other people have found this option within Settings. Once disabled, the program is temporarily off until the next summer or winter.
- Shutting off the program from the Nest thermostat: Your thermostat should also possess a History option where you can turn off Seasonal Savings, but some homeowners claim the disable option is missing.
- Opting out before the program launches: The Seasonal Savings program is only accessible in summer and winter. Your smart device should receive a notification when the program is about to launch, giving you the chance to opt out.
When Seasonal Savings is on, your Nest will display a small yellow symbol of a leaf. If a Nest is struggling with issues and the Seasonal Savings icon is not visible, your problem could be with yet another setting entirely.
Sometimes the Issue Isn’t Seasonal Savings but Another Setting or Program
Additional options on Nest smart thermostats aside from Seasonal Savings can cause counterintuitive temperature changes. If these settings are active during Seasonal Savings, even shutting off the program may not stop the thermostat from making alterations. Thankfully, these settings can be switched off. You’ll also have options if the issue is a third party like your power company.
- Switching 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 switching off Auto-Schedule should stop other automatic controls such as Seasonal Savings.
- Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats can still swap to eco temperatures if you use an auto-switching setting like Home & Away Routines or Home/Away Assist. These functions automatically change the temperature when the thermostat thinks that no one is around.
- Leaving the utility company’s energy agreement: Since your energy provider may be remotely controlling your Nest thermostat, nullifying the agreement should remove their access. You can obtain the full details of these agreements with your energy provider.
- Calling Google support: If everything else fails, contacting Google’s technical support could be of assistance. Staff can point you to resetting the Nest or finding the correct setting to shut off Seasonal Savings.
If the Problem Continues, Your Thermostat May Be Faulty
There’s always the chance a Nest smart thermostat is just malfunctioning. Electrical issues or software bugs can trigger all kinds of issues, including an inconsistent Seasonal Savings program. If you think the problem is isolated to your own thermostat, an experienced technician will be able to help. After all, smart thermostats continue to be a beneficial investment for your home’s energy efficiency.
If you’d like local support for your smart thermostat in Orlando, call the HVAC professionals at Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning. They can help you find the best way to disable an uncooperative Seasonal Savings program on your Nest thermostat.