When you’ve decided it is time to re-organize your Nest-controlled HVAC system to provide different temperatures to different rooms in your home, you have to make a follow-up decision about how you are going to achieve it. Perhaps you’ve already decided that you don’t want to follow the route of adding extra smart sensors to your existing thermostat. You prefer to have a separate thermostat for every room and control them all via your existing Nest app. But, like many other homeowners, you are still not sure whether multiple Nest thermostats can work together and be controlled by one app.
Different Nest thermostats can work together if you add them to your existing Nest app. You will be able to set the temperature of every room separately and also set different schedules for every room or zone.
In this article, we’ll look at the pros of having more than one Nest thermostat in your house, how to set up an extra thermostat, and how to control the different thermostats. We’ll also answer some of the other questions you might have in this regard.
Do multiple Nest thermostats work together?
It is possible for Nest thermostats to work together and they can be linked up with a single Nest app. The main benefit of having multiple thermostats in your home is to control different rooms’ temperatures individually.
If your home’s ducted HVAC system is correctly zoned, or if you have a ductless system, every room has its individual inside unit, all that the thermostats actually share is the Nest app. Thus, multiple Nest thermostats can work together via one Nest app.
Pros and cons of adding multiple Nest thermostats
Virtually no cons
It may sound strange, but the addition of thermostats to our HVA|C system actually has no cons if you keep to the maximum of 10 thermostats on one account. But there are many pros, including the following:
Multiple thermostats don’t decrease the system’s efficiency
Some people think the efficiency of the HVAC system will go down if multiple thermostats are installed. But that is not true. You still get the same and even better efficiency from your system and you increase the control of the temperature inside your home.
Different zones can be defined in your home
By adding multiple thermostats in your home different zones can be defined and you can manage the temperature of the zones without affecting the overall temperature settings. Multiple thermostats make it possible for every member of the family to enjoy a preferred temperature in his or her room without affecting the temperature in other rooms. Multi-level homes also benefit from multiple thermostats as every floor normally has a different “normal” temperature.
Savings on your utility bill
Different zones and multiple thermostats in your home saves energy and thus money. The saving is a result of the better control of the temperature levels in the different rooms or zones. Energy is not wasted on cooling or heating where it is not needed.
How to set up a second Nest thermostat
You use the Nest app to set up a second Nest thermostat. Just follow a few steps and it is done.
1. Use the Nest app
Open the Nest app on your device and press the “Menu” button in the top left corner of the main screen. It doesn’t matter whether it is an Android or iOS device. The procedure is the same for both types.
2. Go to “Settings” and add the thermostat
In the menu, select the home or location where you are adding the device. Then press the “Settings” icon in the top right corner of the screen. Select the “Plus” button to add the thermostat.
After you’ve completed these steps, the app will guide you with prompts through the rest of the setup process. Within a few minutes, the added thermostat will be paired with the existing thermostat(s) and be functioning.
FAQ:
1. How to control multiple Nest thermostats
Although you can control up to 10 thermostats with the same Nest app, the Nest thermostats in the same home don’t share temperature schedules. Each Nest thermostat learns a separate schedule for the zone that it controls.
2. Can you add a thermostat in each room?
In principle, you can have a Google Nest in each room. However, you must remember that every room with a separate thermostat must have either separate ducts with corresponding dampers if you have a ducted system, or individual inside units if your home is ductless. Otherwise, you will not be able to control the temperature of the different zones or rooms.
3. How many Nest thermostats can you have per account?
Generally, you can have up to 10 thermostats in a single location without any problems. By exceeding this “safe” limit set by Google, some issues might occur with your temperature control. The sensors might start malfunctioning. You won’t be able to configure more than 10 thermostats through a single app.
If you need more than 10 thermostats, you can create more Nest accounts. Then you configure the extra thermostats separately with another mobile phone.
However, it is quite rare for homeowners to install more than 5 temperature control devices in their homes.
Multiple thermostats vs temperature sensors: which is better?
Whether you are using multiple Nest thermostats or extra Nest smart sensors you have to convert your HVAC system to a zoned system. Extra sensors and extra thermostats can only be effective in a zoned environment.
One of the main differences between multiple thermostats and temperature sensors is the number of thermostats or sensors you can add without any problems. According to Google, you can add up to 10 extra Nest thermostats to your HVAC system and control them all with only one Nest app.
If you want to use smart temperature sensors, you can only add up to 6 sensors to your existing Nest thermostat. Thus, if you need different temperatures in more than six rooms in your home, you have to add extra thermostats instead of sensors.
Another important difference between multiple thermostats and temperature sensors is that with extra smart sensors you can control the temperature levels in the different rooms, but you cannot have totally different schedules for the separate rooms. Remember, you have only one thermostat with one set of schedules. It is only the level of the temperature that you can set differently in every room.
With multiple thermostats, you can set the temperature difference in every room and you can set different schedules for every room. Although all the thermostats are controlled with one Nest app, you can set a different schedule for each thermostat.
So, either multiple thermostats or smart sensors can be “the better” – it depends on your needs.
Conclusion
To provide different temperatures to different zones or rooms in your home you need to either add smart sensors to your existing Nest thermostat or add an extra Nest thermostat in every room. Many homeowners prefer to add extra thermostats rather than adding more smart sensors as separate thermostats enable you to have different temperatures and schedules in each room without any hassle. And you don’t have to worry that you must use more than one phone to control the thermostat – you add them all to only one Nest app.
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