How to Disable Your Nest Thermostats Seasonal Savings Program

Smart thermostats are growing in popularity as more and more homeowners seek out ways to reduce their energy costs. These accessories can be programmed to conveniently maintain the temperature at home according to your regular schedule. They also have the ability to memorize comfort preferences over time. For this reason, you can make big savings 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 lots of homeowners are content with its features and all-around efficiency. But one feature–the Seasonal Savings program–might be causing trouble as opposed to helping your HVAC system. Consistent issues are forcing homeowners to research how to shut off this feature. We’ll share the problems some people are having with Seasonal Savings and offer instructions for how to opt out of the setting.

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

Google developed the Seasonal Savings program to help homeowners improve their energy efficiency. Around peak HVAC use in the summer and winter, it can automatically adjust the thermostat to satisfy 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. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for many people enrolled in the program.

In fact, there are claims that the program is sporadic and frustrating to use. Homeowners are noticing that the program is really increasing their energy bills instead of lowering them. And when they decide to disable or opt out of Seasonal Savings, they’ve found the option to do so is tough to find or outright absent. In various cases people have even discovered it being flipped back on after it was disabled.

Smart thermostats are intended to increase the efficiency of your HVAC system. While automatic temperature corrections are a popular feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t override your desired settings. If the Nest isn’t meeting your comfort preferences, disabling the Seasonal Savings program is the best move.

But First, Why Is This Happening?

Homeowners are noticing that the Seasonal Savings feature was started on their Nest thermostat without their consent. Why would a smart thermostat you operate dismiss your settings and activate the program? It might be because of an energy-efficiency agreement you signed up for with your utility company.

These agreements help you enhance your home’s energy efficiency. They may feature rebates on new equipment or special offers for renewable energy systems. But most 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 adjust the temperature. You could be having issues with the Seasonal Savings program because a utility company is utilizing this remote access.

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

How to Disable Your Nest Thermostat’s Seasonal Savings Feature

A number of people have experienced trouble disabling the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting might be different depending on your specific Nest model, other users are concerned 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 had success.

1. 1. Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually changing the temperature should supersede the Seasonal Savings program, but quite a few users have found this isn’t the case. If you note your Nest repeatedly undoing your changes, you’ll probably prefer to turn off the feature completely.

2. 2. Shutting off the feature from the Nest app: Your phone or tablet’s Nest app should have a History option and a Settings option. Google guides users to their History to disable Seasonal Savings, but other users have located this option under Settings. Once disabled, the setting is temporarily off until the subsequent summer or winter.

3. 3. Disabling the program from the Nest thermostat: Your thermostat should also possess a History option where you can disable Seasonal Savings, but some homeowners report the disable option is missing.

4. 4. Opting out before the program begins: The Seasonal Savings program is only accessible during summer and winter. Your smart device is supposed to get a notification when the program is about to launch, offering you the chance to opt out.

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

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

Additional features on Nest smart thermostats aside from Seasonal Savings can cause unwanted temperature changes. If these settings are active during Seasonal Savings, even disabling the program may not deter the thermostat from making changes. Thankfully, these settings can be turned off. You’ll also have options if the headache is a third party like the power company.

5. 5. 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 best possible schedule. Going into Settings and turning off Auto-Schedule should stop other automatic adjustments such as Seasonal Savings.

1. 1. Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats might still shift to eco temperatures if you have an auto-switching setting like Home & Away Routines or Home/Away Assist. These settings automatically control the temperature when the thermostat detects that no one is home.

6. 6. Opting out of the utility company’s energy agreement: Since your energy provider might be remotely controlling your Nest thermostat, negating the agreement should take away unwanted access. You can locate the complete details of these agreements via your energy provider.

7. 7. Reaching out to Google support: If everything else fails, contacting Google’s technical support may be of service. Staff can guide you to resetting the Nest or determining the proper setting to switch off Seasonal Savings.

If the Problem Remains, Your Thermostat Might Be Malfunctioning

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 inconsistent Seasonal Savings program. If you think the problem is isolated to your personal thermostat, an experienced technician may be able to help. After all, smart thermostats remain a beneficial investment for your home’s energy efficiency.

If you need local service for your smart thermostat in Canada, contact the heating and cooling specialists at Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing. They can help you figure out the ideal way to shut off a stubborn Seasonal Savings program on your Nest thermostat.