How to Deactivate Your Nest Thermostats Seasonal Savings Program

Smart thermostats are gaining in popularity as more and more homeowners search for ways to lower their energy costs. These accessories can be programmed to efficiently regulate the temperature in your home based on your regular schedule. They also have the means to study these preferences over time. Subsequently, you can cut costs on your energy bills by seeing to it that your comfort system is only running when you need it.

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

Many Homeowners Claim the Seasonal Savings Program Isn’t Working Correctly

Google developed the Seasonal Savings program to help homeowners boost their energy efficiency. During peak HVAC use in the summer and winter, it is supposed to automatically adjust the thermostat to match your preferences with energy efficiency. The program is expected 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 many people participating in the program.

In fact, there are claims 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 noticed the setting to do so is tough to find or outright missing. In several cases people have even discovered it being turned back on after it was disabled.

Smart thermostats are expected to improve the efficiency of your HVAC system. While automatic temperature adjustments are a common feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t bypass your favored settings. If your Nest refuses to accommodate your comfort preferences, opting out of the Seasonal Savings feature is the right move.

But First, Why Is This Happening?

Homeowners are claiming that the Seasonal Savings program was activated on their Nest thermostat without their approval. Why would a smart thermostat you operate ignore your settings and enroll in the program? It could be because of an energy-efficiency agreement you registered for with your utility company.

These agreements help you increase your home’s energy efficiency. They can come with rebates on new accessories or special promotions for renewable energy equipment. But many people are surprised to find out they also allow your utility company remote access to the thermostat. If the power grid is experiencing a heavy load, the utility company can control your thermostat and raise the temperature. You might be having issues with the Seasonal Savings program due to the fact that a utility company is using this remote access.

But what if the feature is defective or just disregarding your preferences? Whatever the reason might be, you don’t want a feature to increase your energy use without your permission. We’ll take you step-by-step through how other homeowners have switched off the Seasonal Savings program.

How to Disable Your Nest Thermostat’s Seasonal Savings Feature

A number of people have disclosed trouble opting out of the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting might be different depending on your specific Nest model, other users are nervous that Google is purposely making it more difficult to disable Seasonal Savings. To ensure you can opt out no matter what, we’ll describe the ways other users have enjoyed success.

1. 1. Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually adjusting the temperature should override the Seasonal Savings program, but many users have observed this isn’t what’s happening. If you note your Nest persistently undoing your changes, you’ll probably prefer to disable the feature entirely.

2. 2. Opting out of the setting from the Nest app: Your phone or tablet’s Nest app ought to have a History option and a Settings option. Google guides users to their History to switch 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.

3. 3. Shutting off the program from the Nest thermostat: Your thermostat should also provide a History option where you can turn off Seasonal Savings, but some homeowners state the disable option is missing.

4. 4. Opting out before the program launches: 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 begin, offering you the time to opt out.

When Seasonal Savings is active, your Nest is supposed to display a small yellow symbol of a leaf. If a Nest is struggling with issues and the Seasonal Savings icon is missing, your trouble could be with another setting entirely.

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

Different options on Nest smart thermostats apart from Seasonal Savings can result in automatic temperature changes. If these settings are active during Seasonal Savings, even disabling the program may not prevent the thermostat from making adjustments. Thankfully, these settings can be disabled. You’ll also have options if the issue is a third party like a power company.

5. 5. Switching off Auto-Schedule: The Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat both extend the Auto-Schedule feature, using their capacity to understand your preferences to establish the perfect schedule. Going into Settings and switching off Auto-Schedule should stop other automatic changes such as Seasonal Savings.

1. 1. Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats might still switch to eco temperatures if you use an auto-switching feature like Home & Away Routines or Home/Away Assist. These features automatically control the temperature when the thermostat assumes that no one is home.

6. 6. Leaving the utility company’s energy agreement: Since your energy provider could be remotely controlling the Nest thermostat, cancelling the agreement should take away remote access. You can locate the complete details of these agreements from your energy provider.

7. 7. Contacting Google support: If all else fails, reaching out to Google’s technical support could be of service. Staff can steer you to resetting the Nest or determining the appropriate setting to switch off Seasonal Savings.

If the Problem Remains, Your Thermostat Might Be Defective

There’s always the chance the Nest smart thermostat is just malfunctioning. Electrical problems or software bugs can result in all sorts of trouble, including an obnoxious Seasonal Savings program. If you believe the problem is isolated to your specific thermostat, an experienced technician will be able to help. After all, smart thermostats remain a worthwhile investment for your home’s energy efficiency.

If you want local support for your smart thermostat in the U.S., call the comfort specialists at Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing. They can help you find out the best way to disable a stubborn Seasonal Savings program on your Nest thermostat.