How to Switch Off Your Nest Thermostats Seasonal Savings Program

Smart thermostats are increasing in popularity as more and more homeowners look for ways to cut down on their energy bills. These devices can be programmed to automatically regulate the temperature of your home based on your day-to-day schedule. They also have the ability to study these preferences over time. As a result, you can spend less on your energy bills by ensuring that your home is only heated or cooled when you need it.

Google’s smart thermostat is the Nest, and lots of homeowners are happy with its features and all-around efficiency. But one feature–the Seasonal Savings program–may be causing trouble as opposed to improving your HVAC system. Constant issues are forcing homeowners to research how to switch off this feature. We’ll present the problems some people are having with Seasonal Savings and provide instructions for how to opt out of the feature.

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 peak HVAC use in the summer and winter, it can automatically adjust the thermostat to satisfy your preferences with energy efficiency. The program is designed to run without interrupting your sense of comfort, setting up the biggest changes when you’re away or sleeping. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for lots of people enrolled in the program.

Alternatively, there are claims that the program is inconsistent and annoying to use. Homeowners are noticing that the program is actually increasing their energy bills instead of lowering them. And when they attempt to disable or opt out of Seasonal Savings, they’ve discovered the way to do so is difficult to find or outright absent. In many cases people have even noticed it being turned back on after it was disabled.

Smart thermostats are designed to strengthen the efficiency of your HVAC equipment. While automatic temperature corrections are a popular feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t override your favored settings. If a Nest refuses to accommodate your comfort preferences, opting out of the Seasonal Savings option is the best move.

But First, Why Is This Happening?

Homeowners are concerned that the Seasonal Savings program was running on their Nest thermostat without their approval. Why can a smart thermostat you operate neglect your settings and activate the program? It may be because of an energy-efficiency agreement you signed up for with a utility company.

These agreements help you improve your home’s energy efficiency. They will sometimes include rebates on new accessories or special promotions for renewable energy equipment. But most people are surprised to learn they also permit your utility company remote access to your thermostat. If the power grid is struggling with a heavy load, the utility company can control your thermostat and turn up the temperature. You may be having trouble with the Seasonal Savings program because a utility company is taking advantage of this remote access.

But what if the program is defective or just disregarding your preferences? Whatever the reason could be, you don’t want a feature to double your energy use without your permission. We’ll take you step-by-step through how other people have opted out of the Seasonal Savings program.

How to Disable Your Nest Thermostat’s Seasonal Savings Feature

A number of people have documented trouble opting out of the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting could be different depending on your specific Nest model, other users are worried that Google is purposely making it tougher to disable Seasonal Savings. To ensure you can opt out no matter what, we’ll include the ways other users have found success.

1. 1. Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually setting the temperature should supersede the Seasonal Savings program, but many users have discovered this isn’t the case. If you note your Nest constantly undoing your changes, you’ll probably want to turn off the feature entirely.

2. 2. Opting out of the setting from the Nest app: Your phone or tablet’s Nest app should have a History option and a Settings option. Google points users to their History to shut off Seasonal Savings, but other homeowners have found this option under Settings. Once disabled, the setting is temporarily off until the subsequent summer or winter.

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

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

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

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

Different settings on Nest smart thermostats apart from Seasonal Savings can cause counterintuitive temperature changes. If these options are active during Seasonal Savings, even shutting off the program may not deter the thermostat from making adjustments. Luckily, these settings can be disabled. You’ll also have options if the headache is a third party like a power company.

5. 5. Shutting off Auto-Schedule: The Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat both extend the Auto-Schedule feature, using their capability to study your preferences to define the best possible schedule. Going into Settings and shutting off Auto-Schedule should disable other automatic adjustments like Seasonal Savings.

1. 1. Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats can still flip to eco temperatures if you use an auto-switching feature like Home & Away Routines or Home/Away Assist. These functions automatically control the temperature when the thermostat assumes that everyone is out of the house.

6. 6. Opting out of the utility company’s energy agreement: Because your energy provider may be remotely controlling a Nest thermostat, negating the agreement should take away remote access. You can obtain the complete details of these agreements with your energy provider.

7. 7. Calling Google support: If nothing else works, contacting Google’s technical support could be of help. Staff can guide you to resetting the Nest or finding the appropriate setting to shut off Seasonal Savings.

If the Problem Continues, Your Thermostat May Be Malfunctioning

There’s always the risk the Nest smart thermostat is just malfunctioning. Electrical damage or software bugs can cause all sorts of trouble, including an aggravating Seasonal Savings program. If you think the problem is isolated to your personal thermostat, a seasoned technician may be able to help. After all, smart thermostats remain a beneficial investment for your home’s energy efficiency.

If you want local support for your smart thermostat in the U.S., call the comfort experts 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.