Nest Temperature Sensor

Most homes aren’t the same temperature in every room since the number of windows, insulation, and room size can all vary. In addition, your thermostat may be in a place where you don’t spend much time such as a hallway, alcove, stairwell, or even a closet. Or if your thermostat is downstairs, you may be too cold or too warm when you’re upstairs in the bedroom. These situations can cause your thermostat to underheat or undercool certain areas or rooms in your home.

Most homes heat and cool unevenly.

Nest Temperature Sensors can let your Nest thermostat know the temperature in other rooms, such as the living room or your bedroom, to help keep you more comfortable there. You can even schedule when your temperature sensors are active, so your thermostat will know when to focus on keeping a specific room comfortable. For instance, you can schedule a sensor in your bedroom to be active at night so it’s the temperature you like for sleeping.

The Nest Temperature Sensor wirelessly connects to your thermostat. After you connect your temperature sensor to your thermostat with the Nest app, you can set a schedule for it. While the sensor is scheduled to be active, your thermostat will use the sensor’s temperature instead of its own internal temperature sensors.

When a temperature sensor is active, your thermostat will try to maintain the current target temperature in that room.

For example, you set your thermostat to 70°F (21°C) to keep your home comfortable. But your thermostat shuts off when the air near your thermostat is about 70°F (21°C). Other parts of your house, such as your living room, might only be 68 °F (20 °C).

If you put a sensor in your living room (see the house graphic), your thermostat can shut off heating when the air in your living room reaches 70°F (21°C) helping to keep you more comfortable while you’re using that room. However, other parts of your home, such as the second floor, can get a little warmer than the living room. For example, your upstairs rooms might heat up to 73°F (23°C).

A temperature sensor can be helpful, but it’s not a cure-all. If you put it on an uninsulated or poorly insulated room, such as a porch or basement, or a room that has a lot of large windows, your system will have to work a lot harder to keep that room comfortable.

When a temperature sensor is active, other rooms in your home may get warmer or cooler than you prefer.

Inefficient heating or cooling systems can also cause larger temperature differences between rooms. For instance, rooms that are further away from your system can sometimes be warmer or cooler than the rest of your home.

If other rooms in your home are uncomfortable while your temperature sensor is active, you may want to simply change the temperature on your thermostat a few degrees until you find a temperature balance that feels good throughout your home.

While a temperature sensor can help keep you more comfortable, your system will probably need to work a bit harder when your sensor is scheduled to be active. So you might notice an increase in energy use in your thermostat’s energy history and your monthly Nest Home Report.

If your thermostat notices that your system is running a lot harder when your sensor is active, and possibly wasting too much energy, it will warn you with an error message.