This article guides you through Rush Hour Rewards, Auto-Eco, Seasonal Savings, Nest Renew, and Smart and Auto Schedules: how each adjusts your home's temperature for efficiency and how to disable them for comfort. Your Nest thermostat offers several intelligent features designed to help you save energy and reduce your utility bills without sacrificing comfort. Understanding how these features differ and work together can empower you to make the most of your Nest thermostat.
Rush Hour Rewards is a utility-based program that incentivizes participants to decrease their energy usage during peak demand periods, often referred to as "energy rush hours." By collectively reducing consumption in an area, participants effectively form a "virtual power plant," which helps lower overall energy costs for both utility companies and consumers. Unlike Nest Renew, Rush Hour Rewards might involve larger temperature adjustments (typically up to 4°F/1°C) over an extended duration (typically 3-4h) during these specific high-demand events.
Tip: There may also be a preconditioning period prior to the event to reduce discomfort.
Unenroll from Rush Hour Rewards
You’ll need to contact your utility provider or the Google Support team through their Contact Us page. Once unenrolled, your thermostat will no longer participate in these energy-saving events.Auto-Eco enables your Nest thermostat to automatically switch to energy-saving Eco Temperatures when it detects that no one is home. This feature can be identified by "Eco" displayed on your thermostat or in the Google Home or Nest app. Specific notifications may vary by model. For example, "Auto-Eco," "Eco hold," or "Adaptive Eco" may be displayed. You also have the flexibility to manually activate Eco Temperatures at any time, even when you are home, for additional energy savings.
While in Eco mode, your system will still operate to ensure your home stays within the set "Cool to" or "Heat to" Eco Temperature ranges. Certain 4th gen Nest Learning Thermostats with Adaptive Eco will pre-heat to your comfort temperature within an hour of your return.
Pause Auto-Eco while it's active
Google Home App
- Open the Google Home app
.
- Tap Favorites
or Devices
.
- Select your thermostat.
- If Auto-Eco is active, it shows “Using Auto-Eco because no one is Home” below the thermostat dial image.
- Tap Turn off next to the Auto-Eco message.
Nest App
- Open the Nest app .
- Select your thermostat.
- Tap Mode in the lower left to set the mode to Heat/Cool.
- Tap Eco in the lower center to end Eco Temperatures on all thermostats.
Turn off Auto-Eco
Google Home App
- Open the Google Home app
.
- Tap Automations
Away.
- Under “Actions,” select your thermostat.
- Turn off Automatically adjust the temperature?
- Tap Save.
Nest App
- Open the Nest app.
- Select your thermostat.
- Tap Settings
Home/Away Assist.
Seasonal Savings is a short term program offered each Summer and Winter. If you opt in, Seasonal Savings will make small, gradual temperature adjustments (typically up to 2°F/1°C) to your thermostat’s schedule to optimize energy efficiency without sacrificing comfort. The program runs for 3 weeks and will respond to temperature changes you make to avoid temperatures that you find uncomfortable.
Turn off Seasonal Savings
If you don’t want to use Seasonal Savings, you can turn it off anytime.
Important: If you opt out or turn Seasonal Savings off, you won’t be able to opt in to the program again until the next season it becomes available.
Google Home App
- Open the Google Home app
.
- Tap Favorites
or Devices
.
- Select your thermostat.
- Tap Settings
Temperature Preferences
Seasonal Savings.
- If it's active, tap Leave Seasonal Savings. If Seasonal Savings isn't available, it will say “Seasonal Savings is not currently active.
- To stop receiving future invitations, turn off Get notified about Seasonal Savings.
Nest App
- Open the Nest app.
- Tap your thermostat and select History
.
- If Seasonal Savings is running, you can check how many days remain.
- Tap Stop.
Nest Renew is a no charge service available in the continental United States (except Alaska and Hawaii) that integrates with your compatible Nest thermostat to adjust your usage when energy is cleaner or less expensive. It intelligently shifts your energy usage to periods when the grid relies more on clean energy sources or when energy prices are lower. This service enables effortless savings on utility bills, environmental benefits, and community support by making minor, short-term temperature adjustments that align with optimal energy periods.
Turn off Nest Renew shifts
- Log in to your Nest Renew account.
- Select Settings
.
- Under “Energy Shift Settings” turn off Standard Savings and/or Time of Use Savings.
Cancel your Nest Renew subscription
- Log in to your Nest Renew account.
- Tap Settings
Manage Enrollment
Unenroll my home.
Smart Schedule and Auto Schedule are similar features that learn from the temperature adjustments you make to optimize the temperatures in your schedule.
- Smart Schedule is an updated version of the algorithm only for the Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen). It has the option to automatically make changes or provide changes as suggestions for you to review. Learn to use Smart Schedule on your Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen).
- Auto Schedule can only make changes automatically, and is available on the Nest Learning Thermostat (1st through 3rd gen) and the Nest Learning Thermostat E. Learn how to use Auto Schedule on your thermostat.