Need some HVAC help

jsnake

So I decided to get a Nest thermostat for the new house. Even got a brand new 3rd Generation for half the retail price. I install it and it works a day and then we have a failure. Seems to be a coincidence that I install the new thermostat and the motor on the furnace fails. Wife was pissed but the tech assures us it was not because of the thermostat. We get it replaced and the tech checks my Nest wiring and set up and says I did it correctly. Dual system heat pump Trane XB80. 

Thermostat is set at 70 degrees. First day and night system is working perfect. Last night though I wake up to a freezing house. Temp is set to 70 but auxiliary heat is on and the inside temp has dropped to 64 degrees. I change the settings for auxiliary heat to come on below 20 degrees since it was set at 30 degrees. The furnace kicked back to normal heating and the house warmed back up.

Just wondering if there is a setting off or something I should check for auxiliary heat? Why is it letting the temp drop so low or failing to maintain our set temp? While it was 64 degrees it was running but just not staying near 70 degrees which I have to stay close to for my daughter. We still run a separate space heater in her room but this is still a concern because she can't just stay in her room. 

If if any of you do or have done HVAC for a living I would appreciate the help. If need be message me and I'll give you my number if talking it out works better. Thanks. 

Andrew_Dzikoski

I know those things have an away mode that might be kicking on or staying on but I am not the most familiar with them. I am thinking about getting one. I woke up to the same thing last sunday my fan motor died but I was able to take it apart lube it up and get it going again.

CharlieHeis

I think @Lee.mcglynn works in HVAC.

Bigshizza

@Lee.mcglynn is a HVAC tech now, you should PM him.

jarubla

@jsnake how did this turn out? Were you able to make any progress?

matkn293

We had goofy things happen with the learning mode on ours. We eventually
turnednit to manual. 

Lee.mcglynn

Ugh yes there is a setting on your thermostat the will kick on the "emergency" heat. You should set it for 45 degrees or it will struggle to get you heat. I suggest you have the a hole that put it in come back and readjust the thermostat correctly. If he says 45 is high well good luck getting any heat from 32! Most installers just put it in and leave

Lee.mcglynn

I forgot to say some t stats are not heat pump ready so some cheap companies put them on thinking it will not get cold enough for back up heat "auxiliary"

miller65rod

Call NEST. I had a heat pump as well in Florida and had a smilier issue. They can test everything since it is hooked up to the internet and make recommendations or direct u to a NEST certified installer which in some cases I have found they never installed a NEST LOL. 

While unit does learn over time it should still function properly.

I just installed another one here in Indiana and it works fine. No heat pump though.

Check with your local utility companies as well for rebates. My gas company sent me a 100.00 check for using a programmable thermo. Plus I got another 50.00 rebate from the store i bought it at. After rebates the price was around any programmable thermo. 

jsnake

Had the HVAC company come out and they checked everything with the furnace and everything is good. The guy knew nothing about the Nest t stat so I told him to just make sure the system was good which it was. 

I call Nest and the guy on the phone has no clue. He straight tells me to take the Nest back and buy someone else's t stat. I was dumbfounded. He had no idea what to do with his own product he was supporting and no one else there had a clue either. So after hanging up and tweaking a few more settings I figured it out myself and it has been working well so far. 

jsnake

Just an update to my old thread. I had this thing working.... Until it was time to switch to AC. Couple weeks ago it got warm enough to switch on the air conditioning. I get home from work and turn it on and go to bed. Wife wakes me up hours later and it feels like I fell asleep in the oven. 92 degrees int the house. She tells me I have to do something about the thermostat. It's on AC but heating the house. 

I double check my settings and Google the issue to no avail so I call Nest up. They have me change settings and wires around but nothing works. Finally they ask if I have my old thermostat which I did. Just a cheap old no frills Honeywell thermostat. The customer service guy says to hook it up so I do and when you put it on AC you get artic cold precious freezing air. 

Nest thinks the base is bad so they send a new one. Meanwhile the cheap $20 Honeywell works like a champ. I get the new base and hook it up and that wasn't the issue either because all the Nest wants to do is heat. Ripped the Nest unit down and returned it to Home Depot and bought the fancy WIFI touchscreen Honeywell for $50 less. Hooked that sucker up and BAM it works perfectly with no BS. No BS settings or calls to customer service. Works like a thermostat should. Wonderful unit and user friendly. Honestly it looks a hell of a lot nicer and you can customize the screen color and do all the things Nest does. 

I read many bad reviews on the Nest. I had a brand new 3rd generation unit. Nest doesn't know their product or how to make it work. They even recommended I get a competitor's product. Pretty sad. Wasn't me or my system. Everything says it should be compatible and I even had a Nest Pro HVAC guy double check it all. Thought I would let you guys know and save someone else some headaches. I spent probably 20 hours total on the phone with them. Wasted almost an entire day of my life on their craptastic product. 

When you you are in the market for a new thermostat and want to go all fancy I say choose Honeywell. The Nest detectors do work well. I have a couple of the smoke detectors and will recommend those. 

avengethis

I was really wanting to get a wifi thermostat with my new furnace and a/c but now that have a programmable I don't see the need for the fancy wifi.

jsnake

The wifi thing is nice because I can check and change the setting when we are away. Or if the wife says she is hot I can grab my phone without getting out of bed and adjust it. Lazy but convenient. Especially on a cold winter morning. If you have a regular 9 to 5 and a set schedule I could see not needing wifi. Let's say you are out of town for a day or two and all the sudden a freeze is coming. Gives the ability to turn the heat on. 

Lee.mcglynn

My company won't touch nest t stats at all. We have seen issues plus a pain to set up! The Honeywell 4000 is a staple and works like a charm! Wifi stuff is cool but over rated and comes with issues no matter what.