The Nest thermostat is one of the top-selling smart thermostats on the market today. And for good reason. It learns your temperature preferences and makes an energy-efficient schedule to match. And by geofencing with your phone, the Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest E realize when you’re at your residence or gone and can adjust temperatures to help you save even more.

The Nest is compatible with a wide range of 24-volt heating and cooling systems, but it’s always a smart idea to use the Nest thermostat compatibility checker before installing one. Don’t forget to check with your energy provider for valuable rebates, as you might be able to get a Nest for free or close to it.

Once you’ve confirmed it’s compatible, you can either wire it yourself or contact a HVAC pro like North Mechanical Heating and Cooling. If you’re installing it without help, you’ll see a terminal for the C-wire, or common wire. This wire is only used for powering your thermostat. If your residence or HVAC system is older, you might not have one of these wires. Most of the time, Nest says this isn’t a setback since the thermostat can draw enough power from other heating and cooling wires.

In some cases, your heating and cooling system might require that C-wire. And here’s why.

Why Your Nest Keeps Losing Power and Other Problems

The Google Nest Thermostat is better than aging programmable thermostats that have a combination of wiring and AA batteries for power. It relies on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and wiring to connect to Wi-Fi, power its digital display and turn on your heating and cooling system.

8 Common Nest Thermostat Problems

If it can’t get enough power, Nest says you could encounter some of these troubles:

  1. Short battery life.
  2. Thermostat motion sensing is disabled.
  3. Your thermostat occasionally disconnects from Wi-Fi.
  4. Your system suddenly turns on or off, or won’t stop running.
  5. Your system is producing odd noises, like chattering, stuttering, clicking or thumping.
  6. Heating or cooling is short cycling, or repeatedly turning on and off in a short period of time.
  7. There is a delay notice on your Nest thermostat’s screen, such as “heating is delayed for 2:30 minutes.”
  8. The system fan is continuously working, won’t switch on or turns off and on rapidly in a short period of time.

You could believe something is up with your heating and cooling system, but if you just installed the Nest, it’s best to start with your thermostat first. This is especially timely if the weather is mild, and you haven’t been relying on your heat or air conditioning frequently.

Our Professionals Can Solve Nest Thermostat Issues

If you’ve gone through Nest thermostat troubleshooting without help but can’t solve the dilemma, a smart thermostat pro like one from North Mechanical Heating and Cooling can assist you. We can diagnose the malfunction and install a C-wire, if required.

Smart thermostats including the Nest are designed to make your life easier, by automatic energy-efficient programming and the opportunity to check temps while you’re out. It’s a time-consuming experience when yours won’t operate like it should, but our heating and cooling experts at North Mechanical Heating and Cooling can take care of the issue in no time.

If you’re going through weird heating and cooling behavior with your new Nest, give us a call at to set up your appointment right away.