How to Shut Off Your Nest Thermostats Seasonal Savings Program

Smart thermostats are growing in popularity as more and more homeowners seek out ways to cut down on their energy expenses. These devices can be programmed to efficiently maintain the temperature in your home according to your daily schedule. They also have the means to memorize comfort preferences over time. Subsequently, you can save money on your energy bills by seeing to it that your home is only heated or cooled when you need it.

Google’s smart thermostat is the Nest, and many homeowners are happy with its features and all-around efficiency. But one feature–the Seasonal Savings program–is causing trouble instead of assisting your HVAC system. Frequent issues are driving homeowners to look for how to disable this feature. We’ll present the trouble some people are having with Seasonal Savings and include instructions for how to opt out of the feature.

Many Homeowners Argue the Seasonal Savings Program Isn’t Working Like It Should

Google designed the Seasonal Savings program to help homeowners enhance their energy efficiency. For the highest HVAC use in the summer and winter, it should automatically adjust the thermostat to satisfy your preferences with energy efficiency. The program is intended 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.

Alternatively, there are accounts that the program is contradictory and difficult 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 found the option to do so is tough to find or just missing. In many cases people have even discovered it being switched back on after it was disabled.

Smart thermostats are designed to strengthen the efficiency of your HVAC equipment. While automatic temperature adjustments are a widespread feature in smart thermostats, it shouldn’t override your favored settings. If your Nest isn't meeting your comfort preferences, disabling the Seasonal Savings program is the right move.

But First, Why Is This Happening?

Homeowners are concerned that the Seasonal Savings setting was running on their Nest thermostat without their permission. Why would a smart thermostat you control neglect your settings and activate the program? It may be because of an energy-efficiency program you registered for with the utility company.

These agreements help you enhance your home’s energy efficiency. They can include rebates on new products or special offers for renewable energy equipment. But numerous people are shocked to learn they also grant your utility company remote access to the thermostat. If the power grid is experiencing a heavy load, the utility company can take over your thermostat and adjust the temperature. You may be having trouble with the Seasonal Savings program because a utility company is making use of this remote access.

But what if the feature is faulty or just ignoring your preferences? Whatever the reason might be, you don’t want a feature to double your energy use without your permission. 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 shutting off the Seasonal Savings feature. While the location of this setting might be different depending on your specific Nest model, other users are worried that Google is deliberately making it more difficult to opt out of Seasonal Savings. To make sure you can opt out no matter what, we’ll include the ways other users have enjoyed success.

1. Overriding Seasonal Savings: Manually setting the temperature should supersede the Seasonal Savings program, but many users have found this isn’t what's happening. If you see your Nest persistently reversing your changes, you’ll probably opt to turn off the feature entirely.
2. Disabling the feature from the Nest app: Your phone or tablet’s Nest app should have a History option and a Settings option. Google directs users to their History to shut off Seasonal Savings, but other users have located this option under Settings. Once disabled, the setting is temporarily off until the following summer or winter.
3. Shutting off the program from the Nest thermostat: Your thermostat should also provide a History option where you can disable Seasonal Savings, but many homeowners report the disable option is gone.
4. Opting out before the program launches: The Seasonal Savings program is only accessible during summer and winter. Your smart device is supposed to be sent a notification when the program is about to launch, offering you the chance to opt out.

When Seasonal Savings is running, your Nest should display a small yellow symbol of a leaf. If your Nest is having issues and the Seasonal Savings icon is not visible, your trouble may be with a different setting entirely.

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

Additional settings on Nest smart thermostats besides Seasonal Savings can cause unwanted temperature changes. If these settings are active during Seasonal Savings, even opting out of the program may not deter the thermostat from making adjustments. Thankfully, these settings can be disabled. You’ll also have options if the issue is a third party like your 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 set the best possible schedule. Going into Settings and shutting off Auto-Schedule should stop other automatic controls including Seasonal Savings.
   1. Disabling auto switching: Nest thermostats can still flip to eco temperatures if you possess 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.
2. Negating the utility company’s energy agreement: Because your energy provider could be remotely controlling the Nest thermostat, negating the agreement should get rid of unwanted access. You can find the full details of these agreements via your energy provider.
3. Calling Google support: If nothing else works, contacting Google’s technical support might be of service. Staff can direct you to resetting the Nest or locating the appropriate setting to switch off Seasonal Savings.

If the Problem Persists, Your Thermostat May Be Malfunctioning

There’s always the risk a Nest smart thermostat is just malfunctioning. Electrical issues or software bugs can result in all kinds of issues, including an obnoxious Seasonal Savings program. If you suspect the problem is isolated to your own thermostat, a knowledgeable technician may be able to help. After all, smart thermostats are still a worthwhile investment for your home’s energy efficiency.

If you want local service for your smart thermostat in Sharonville, call the HVAC professionals at Knochelmann Service Experts. They can help you determine the easiest way to stop a stubborn Seasonal Savings program on your Nest thermostat.