Do you often get a “Delayed” notice on your Nest thermostat, creating problems with your heating or cooling? Relax, there are two usual solutions to this problem.
There will be a lot of repetition in the future. The alternative option is a little more complicated, but it’s guaranteed to fix your problem for good.
Delay Issue on the Nest thermostat
Your Nest thermostat’s “Delayed” indication means that there is not enough electricity in the system. For the time being, you may charge the Nest thermostat for two hours by removing the display and plugging it into a USB connection. Long-term fixes include connecting a common (C) wire between your Nest and furnace.
A delayed communication is the consequence of low power in the Nest.
The lithium-ion batteries in the newest Nest thermostats (Learning and E) can be recharged. These are only spare batteries for when the primary ones run out.
In the case of a power outage, Nest’s backup batteries will automatically kick in and save all of your Nest data and settings.
There is no way to get a fresh set of rechargeable batteries (You may swap out the AAA alkaline batteries in the original Nest with brand new ones).
Newer versions don’t have accessible batteries. To get in, you’d have to begin disassembling your Nest piece by piece.
When the Nest’s rechargeable batteries begin to fail, it is probable that the device may begin to malfunction.
The “Delayed” notification you’re now viewing is one of the earliest indicators of this.
Charge your Nest for a short-term fix.
Fortunately, resolving the “Delayed” problem and getting your Nest thermostat running again is a simple, short-term remedy.
Just plug in your Nest and you’re ready to go.
To begin, remove the display from the Nest thermostat. The top rear of the gadget has a USB port, which you can see when you turn it around.
Depending on the type of Nest you have, you will need a micro-USB or mini-USB charging cable.
Charging your Nest is as simple as plugging it into a power charger (or even a USB connection on your laptop).
Make sure that the Nest is flashing red, since this shows that it is charging properly.
A half-hour is roughly how long it usually takes for your thermostat to be fully charged. It will take two hours to recharge a totally depleted battery.
To see whether your computer is USB charging ready, go here.
Your Nest is now fully charged and ready for installation. Eventually, the battery will run out and you’ll have to re-charge it after using it for a time.
If you want a long-term solution to this problem, continue reading for additional information.
The long-term solution is to connect the Nest and furnace to the Common wire.
Nest will consume a little amount of electricity from the heating or cooling wires in the vast majority of installations. Just enough power to keep the Nest running at all times is provided by this.
In certain cases, Nest’s heating and cooling connections don’t provide enough electricity to run the device. This is when a “Common wire” comes in handy.
Before we begin, go to Equipment under Settings on your Nest.
You can see in real time which cables your Nest is picking up. Cooling, white, green and red are the wires that connect to your fan.
What you’re searching for is the “C” wire, which is blue and connects to “C.”
To power your Nest, you’ll need a little quantity of low-voltage electricity drawn from your furnace.
Unless you notice a blue Common wire on your Nest display, you’ll want to read on.
1) First, switch off the Nest thermostat and the furnace by going to your circuit breaker panel (or just unplug it). You want that all electricity be turned off.
2) Next, remove the Nest’s display casing and examine the cables within. There is just one cable that is unconnected. There’s probably a blue Common wire buried somewhere in there, but you’ll have to look hard for it.
3) It’s time to get to the furnace after you locate the Common wire and confirm its presence.
4) There should be a motherboard in there with all the low voltage connections connected. To access to the motherboard, you may need to detach a metal panel from the furnace. First, you’ll need to remove few screws.
5) There are two major cables that branch off when you discover the low voltage wires within your furnace. This diagram shows two main wires, one with two off-shooting wires and one with five off-shoots.
6) Leave the primary wire with two offshooting wires alone. Your exterior air conditioning unit will need to be connected to this one.
7) Our Nest thermostat cable is the other main wire with five branching wires. A single one of the five off-shooting wires is blue and not attached to anything. Your Common wire is there. The “Com” wire on the motherboard should be connected to that Common wire.
8) It’s possible that “Comm” already has a wire attached to it. No worries; two wires should be no issue for it to handle.
9) Return to the Nest and connect the blue Common wire to the “C” port while keeping the furnace and Nest switched off.
10) Now, switch on the heat and the Nest thermostat. After putting back the Nest display cover, go to Settings and choose Equipment from the drop-down menu. On your Nest, check to see whether the blue C cable is visible.
11) Eleventh and last! You should no longer notice the Delayed error on your Nest, since it should now be receiving a consistent flow of electricity.
Conclusion
When the “Delayed” notification appears on your Nest thermostat, it’s a sign that your battery is going low.
There are two ways to address this.
Simply unplugging the Nest display and inserting it into a USB charger is a quick fix. Recharging your Nest might take up to two hours.
However, the battery in your Nest will eventually run out and you will have to re-charge it.
The blue Common wire may be connected to both your Nest and your furnace for a more long-term solution.
This will ensure that your Nest is always supplied with low voltage power, ensuring that the Delayed problem will never arise again.
I’m glad you found my information useful! Let me know what worked for you in the comments section.