How to Switch Off Your Nest Thermostats Seasonal Savings Program

Smart thermostats are increasing in popularity as more and more homeowners search for ways to reduce their energy bills. These systems can be programmed to conveniently regulate the temperature inside your home according to your day-to-day schedule. They also have the means to learn any preferences over time. As a result, 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 many homeowners are delighted with its features and all-around efficiency. But one feature–the Seasonal Savings program–may be making trouble rather than supporting your HVAC system. Lasting issues are forcing homeowners to figure out how to shut off this feature. We’ll share 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 developed the Seasonal Savings program to help homeowners enhance their energy efficiency. For maximum HVAC use in the summer and winter, it can automatically adjust the thermostat to balance your preferences with energy efficiency. The program is expected to run without interrupting your sense of comfort, implementing the biggest changes when you’re away or in bed. However, this isn’t the case for many people enrolled in the program.

Instead, there are claims that the program is contradictory and frustrating to use. Homeowners are complaining that the program is even increasing their energy bills instead of reducing them. And when they try to disable or opt out of Seasonal Savings, they’ve noticed the setting to do so is difficult to find or just missing. In some cases people have even discovered it being switched back on after it was disabled.

Smart thermostats are meant to improve the efficiency of your heating and cooling. While automatic temperature changes are a widespread feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t ignore your favored settings. If your Nest won’t work with your comfort preferences, shutting off the Seasonal Savings feature is the best move.

But First, Why Is This A Problem?

Homeowners are complaining that the Seasonal Savings program was activated on their Nest thermostat without their permission. 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 boost your home’s energy efficiency. They will sometimes offer rebates on new accessories or special offers for renewable energy systems. But lots of people are alarmed 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 override your thermostat and turn up the temperature. You may be having trouble with the Seasonal Savings program because a utility company is utilizing 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 double your energy use without your approval. We’ll walk you through 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 opting out of the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting could be different based 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 include the ways other users have enjoyed success.

    1. Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually adjusting the temperature should overrule the Seasonal Savings program, but many users have noticed this isn’t entirely accurate. If you observe your Nest repeatedly reversing your changes, you’ll probably opt to shut off the feature entirely.
    1. Opting out of the feature from the Nest app: Your phone or tablet’s Nest app is supposed to have a History option and a Settings option. Google points users to their History to switch off Seasonal Savings, but other people have found this option within Settings. Once disabled, the feature is temporarily off until the following summer or winter.
    1. Shutting off the program from the Nest thermostat: Your thermostat should also possess a History option where you can opt out of Seasonal Savings, but some homeowners claim the disable option is gone.
    1. Opting out before the program starts: The Seasonal Savings program is only obtainable around summer and winter. Your smart device will be sent a notification when the program is about to start, giving you the time to opt out.

When Seasonal Savings is active, your Nest should feature a small yellow symbol of a leaf. If a Nest is struggling with issues and the Seasonal Savings icon is absent, your trouble might be with a different setting entirely.

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

Other settings on Nest smart thermostats apart from Seasonal Savings can cause 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. Fortunately, these settings can be turned off. You’ll also have options if the headache is a third party like a power company.

    1. Shutting off Auto-Schedule: The Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat both give you the Auto-Schedule feature, using their ability to learn your preferences to establish the ideal schedule. Going into Settings and switching off Auto-Schedule should prevent other automatic changes like Seasonal Savings.
    1. Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats might still switch to eco temperatures if you use an auto-switching function like Home & Away Routines or Home/Away Assist. These settings automatically control the temperature when the thermostat thinks that no one is home.
    1. Leaving the utility company’s energy agreement: Considering your energy provider may be remotely controlling a Nest thermostat, negating the agreement should take away remote access. You can find the full details of these agreements via your energy provider.
    1. Reaching out to Google support: If nothing else works, reaching out to Google’s technical support might be of service. Staff can guide you to resetting the Nest or determining the correct setting to disable Seasonal Savings.

If the Problem Continues, Your Thermostat Might Be Defective

There’s always the possibility the Nest smart thermostat is just malfunctioning. Electrical damage or software glitches can trigger all types of trouble, including an aggravating 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 are still a valuable investment for your home’s energy efficiency.

If you want local assistance for your smart thermostat in the U.S., get in touch with the HVAC specialists at Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing. They can help you find out the ideal way to disable a stubborn Seasonal Savings program on your Nest thermostat.

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