Installation of your Nest Thermostat

Installing a thermostat might seem complicated and intimidating. The truth is, manufacturers like Nest have made installing a smart thermostat so easy that anyone can do it — even if you have zero experience with any kind of wiring.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Step by step Instructions

There are essentially three phases to this process: Installation, setup, and programming or learning.

Step 1: The first thing you'll want to do is download the Nest app. The best part is that the Nest app will guide you through the process step-by-step and offer helpful videos and photos.

Step 2: Next, turn off the power for your home's furnace. While most systems are low voltage, you still need to turn off the breaker to the system for safety.

Step 3: Remove your current thermostat cover. Take a photo of the existing wiring. You’ll need this for reference later.

Step 4: Disconnect and label existing wires. Nest supplies you with tiny labels so you can keep track of which wires are which — use them.

Step 5: Remove the old thermostat. Then remove the old base and wall plate, and attach the new Nest wall plate and base. Make sure everything is nice and level.

Step 6: Now it's time to wire up your new Nest thermostat. Connect the wires to your Nest thermostat’s base by following the wiring diagram from the Nest app.

Step 7: Next, attach the Nest faceplate. This is the fun part — clip the new faceplate on, and wait for the magic to happen.

Step 8: Restore power. After turning the power back on, your Nest should power up on its own. In some cases, it may need to charge up a bit first.

Step 9: With the faceplate now operational, the app will help you with the rest, which will involve making some choices regarding settings and preferences.

Step 10: The final step will be to program your thermostat in the app, or, if you opted for the Nest Learning Thermostat, it will start its learning phase, which may take a couple of weeks.

Setting up a Nest thermostat is relatively easy. You may want to allow about an hour from start to finish, including programming time — you can easily have this done in an evening or on the weekend.

Optimizing your Nest thermostat

When demand for electricity is especially high this is called a peak period. You will pay more for using electricity during those peak period times of day. Conversely, you will pay less for using electricity during off-peak periods when energy demand is lower. To take advantage of these less expensive times, you will need to program your thermostat for the off-peak periods when rates are lowest. You can make these adjustments yourself or sign up for Nest Renew and let the “Energy Shift” feature automatically prioritize cheaper energy for you.