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How to Shut Off Your Nest Thermostats Seasonal Savings Program

Smart thermostats are increasing in popularity as more and more homeowners search for ways to cut down on their energy costs. These devices can be programmed to conveniently adjust the temperature inside your home in line with your regular schedule. They also have the ability to memorize your preferences over time. For this reason, you can spend less on your energy bills by seeing to it that your HVAC system is only on when you need it.

Google’s smart thermostat is the Nest, and plenty of homeowners are content with its features and general efficiency. But one feature–the Seasonal Savings program–may be causing trouble rather than assisting your HVAC system. Consistent issues are forcing homeowners to research how to disable this feature. We’ll share the concerns some people are having with Seasonal Savings and include instructions for how to opt out of the program.

Many Homeowners Allege the Seasonal Savings Program Isn’t Working Like It Should

Google designed the Seasonal Savings program to help homeowners improve their energy efficiency. During peak HVAC use in the summer and winter, it will automatically adjust the thermostat to match your preferences with energy efficiency. The program is intended to run without getting in the way of your sense of comfort, implementing the biggest changes when you’re away or sleeping. However, this isn’t the case for numerous people enrolled in the program.

Alternatively, there are reports that the program is inconsistent and annoying to use. Homeowners are concerned that the program is really increasing their energy bills instead of reducing them. And when they attempt to disable or opt out of Seasonal Savings, they’ve found the setting to do so is difficult to find or entirely absent. In various cases people have even noticed it being turned back on after it was disabled.

Smart thermostats are meant to enhance the efficiency of your HVAC system. While automatic temperature changes are a popular feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t ignore your desired settings. If a Nest refuses to accommodate your comfort preferences, opting out of the Seasonal Savings feature is the correct move.

But First, Why Is This A Problem?

Homeowners are claiming that the Seasonal Savings feature was started on their Nest thermostat without their permission. Why would a smart thermostat you operate dismiss your settings and opt in for the program? It may be because of an energy-efficiency agreement you subscribed to with a utility company.

These agreements help you raise your home’s energy efficiency. They will sometimes include rebates on new equipment or special offers for renewable energy equipment. But numerous people are surprised to learn they also grant your utility company remote access to your thermostat. If the power grid is under a heavy load, the utility company can control your thermostat and turn up the temperature. You may be having trouble with the Seasonal Savings program because a utility company is using this remote access.

But what if the program is defective or just dismissing your preferences? Whatever the reason might be, you don’t want a feature to increase your energy use without your approval. We’ll explain how other users have switched off the Seasonal Savings program.

How to Disable Your Nest Thermostat’s Seasonal Savings Feature

A number of people have documented trouble disabling the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting could be different depending on your specific Nest model, other users are concerned that Google is intentionally making it harder to disable Seasonal Savings. To ensure you can opt out no matter what, we’ll describe the ways other users have had success.

    1. Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually setting the temperature should overrule the Seasonal Savings program, but many users have discovered this isn’t the case. If you note your Nest consistently undoing your changes, you’ll probably want to shut off the feature entirely.
    1. Disabling the feature from the Nest app: Your phone or tablet’s Nest app ought to have a History option and a Settings option. Google directs users to their History to switch off Seasonal Savings, but other people have located this option under Settings. Once disabled, the setting is temporarily off until the following summer or winter.
    1. Shutting off the program from the Nest thermostat: Your thermostat should also feature a History option where you can disable Seasonal Savings, but some homeowners state the disable option is missing.
    1. Opting out before the program starts: The Seasonal Savings program is only obtainable during summer and winter. Your smart device is supposed to be sent a notification when the program is about to start, offering you the chance to opt out.

When Seasonal Savings is live, your Nest will show a small yellow symbol of a leaf. If your Nest is struggling with issues and the Seasonal Savings icon is missing, your issue might be with a different setting entirely.

Sometimes the Issue Isn’t Seasonal Savings but Another Setting or Program

Additional settings on Nest smart thermostats besides Seasonal Savings can lead to counterintuitive temperature changes. If these features are active during Seasonal Savings, even opting out of the program may not prevent the thermostat from making adjustments. Luckily, these settings can be switched off. You’ll also have options if the issue is a third party like the power company.

    1. Shutting off Auto-Schedule: The Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat both extend the Auto-Schedule feature, using their capacity to study your preferences to set the perfect schedule. Going into Settings and turning off Auto-Schedule should stop other automatic controls including Seasonal Savings.
    1. Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats may still flip to eco temperatures if you use an auto-switching setting like Home & Away Routines or Home/Away Assist. These functions automatically control the temperature when the thermostat assumes that no one is home.
    1. Negating the utility company’s energy agreement: Since your energy provider may be remotely controlling the Nest thermostat, negating the agreement should remove unwanted access. You can locate the complete details of these agreements from your energy provider.
    1. Calling Google support: If everything else fails, contacting Google’s technical support could be of service. Staff can guide you to resetting the Nest or locating the appropriate setting to switch off Seasonal Savings.

If the Problem Remains, Your Thermostat May Be Faulty

There’s always the possibility your Nest smart thermostat is just malfunctioning. Electrical damage or software bugs can trigger all sorts of problems, including an inconsistent Seasonal Savings program. If you think the problem is isolated to your personal thermostat, an experienced technician will be able to help. After all, smart thermostats are still a beneficial investment for your home’s energy efficiency.

If you’d like local support for your smart thermostat in the U.S., get in touch with the heating and cooling specialists at Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing. They can help you find out the ideal way to shut off a stubborn Seasonal Savings program on your Nest thermostat.

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