Nest Thermostat Installation

Are all thermostats the same?

They are not. Traditional programmable thermostats run off of batteries. Nest thermostats run off of power supplied by your air conditioner unit. There are some Nest models that can run off batteries, but users have reported that they have to frequently change the batteries in them.

Can I have an Nest thermostat but not connect it to the internet?

No you cannot. The way that the Nest is designed, it has to have internet connectivity to function.

I only have 4 wires going to my current thermostat. Can I still upgrade to a Nest thermostat?

Some Nest models require that you have 5 wires running to the thermostat. Other Nest models allow for 4 thermostat wires to be used, but do not have the ability to control the fan independent of the heating and cooling system.

I only have 2 wires going to my current thermostat. Can I still upgrade to a Nest thermostat?

No you cannot. For those systems that have 2 wires, usually red and white, you would need a third wire that allows the thermostat to be powered by the HVAC system.