Temperature schedules for the Nest thermostat

You can create or adjust the temperature schedule of your Google Nest thermostat the way you want in the app.

Unlike traditional programmable thermostats that simply use their fixed temperature schedule, even if nobody's home, your Nest thermostat can also help save energy and keep your home comfortable with its temperature schedule.

This article only applies to the Nest Thermostat and Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen).

How to tell which thermostat you have

Note: To find instructions for a different thermostat model, go to our Nest thermostat temperature schedules article to select your thermostat.

Smart schedule

Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen) can learn from the adjustments you make throughout the day to automatically optimize your schedule. Your thermostat can automatically apply these adjustments to your schedule or send you suggestions. For full instructions, refer to Use Smart Schedule on your Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen).

Default Schedule

During thermostat setup, the app will give you the option to automatically change the temperature with a default schedule. If you proceed, the app will provide a schedule for you to customize as you like. After setup is complete, the temperature schedule will work right away.

If you ever want to change the temperature or the times in your thermostat's schedule, you can easily change it in the app. Refer to the section below for complete instructions.

Temperature presets 

Note: Only the Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen) and Nest Thermostat use temperature presets. Temperature presets aren't available for the Nest Thermostat E or Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen and earlier).

Temperature presets let you customize temperatures for when you're home, away, sleeping, and more. Select a preset to easily set your thermostat to heat or cool your home the way you want.

Unlike the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen and earlier), you must select a temperature preset when you add or change a temperature in the Nest Thermostat's schedule.

• You can use ready-made presets like Comfort, Eco, and Sleep as soon as you add your thermostat in the Home app.
• You can also create custom presets. This is helpful if you want to set a temperature in your thermostat's schedule that isn't in your thermostat's existing presets.

To view, edit, or create temperature presets for your thermostat:

1. Open the Home app .
2. Select your thermostat.
3. Tap Presets.
4. Choose Edit.
5. After you've made the changes you want, select Done.

Tip: Look for the Nest Leaf  when adjusting your schedule. When it appears, you'll know that you've set a temperature that can help save energy.

Change the temperature schedule

Note: This option is only available for the Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen) and Nest Thermostat. To change the temperature schedule for the Nest Thermostat E or Nest Learning Thermostat, use the Nest app. You can also change the temperature schedule directly on the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat.

View the temperature schedule

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Select your thermostat.
3. Tap Schedules.

Add a new temperature

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Select your thermostat.
3. Tap Schedules.
4. Choose the day of the week you want to add a new temperature to.
5. Tap Add or Add event .
6. Select the temperature preset you want. You may want to edit an existing preset or create a new preset if the temperature you want isn't there.
   • Note: If you edit an existing temperature preset, it'll update everywhere it's used in the thermostat schedule.
7. Select the time.
   • Touch and drag the numbers up and down to change the time.
   • Only available times will be selectable to prevent time conflicts. Adjacent temperatures in your thermostat's schedule must be at least 60 minutes apart.
8. If you'd like, select other days of the week you'd like this temperature to occur (for example, Tuesdays and Thursdays).
9. Choose the sensor(s) you want the thermostat to use. If you don’t choose a sensor, the thermostat will use its internal sensor.
10. Tap Done or Save to save the changes.

Edit an existing temperature

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Select your thermostat.
3. Tap Schedules.
4. Tap the day of the week that has the temperature you'd like to change.
5. Select the temperature you want to change, then you can make the following changes:
   • Use a different temperature preset. You may want to edit an existing preset or create a new preset if the temperature you want isn't there.
     • Note: If you edit an existing temperature preset, it'll update everywhere it's used in the thermostat schedule.
   • Change the time.
     • Touch and drag the numbers up and down to change the time.
     • Only available times will be selectable to prevent time conflicts. Adjacent temperatures in your thermostat's schedule must be at least 60 minutes apart.
   • Choose other days of the week you'd like this temperature to occur (for example, Tuesdays and Thursdays).
6. Choose the sensor(s) you want the thermostat to use. If you don’t choose a sensor, the thermostat will use its internal sensor.
7. Tap Done or Save to save the changes.

Remove a temperature

1. Open the Google Home app  .
2. Select your thermostat.
3. Tap Schedules.
4. Tap the day of the week that has the temperature you'd like to remove.
5. Select the temperature you want to remove.
6. Tap Delete or the trash icon . The temperature will be removed from the schedule for that day.

Copy a daily schedule to other days

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Select your thermostat.
3. Tap Schedules.
4. Tap the day of the week that has the schedule you'd like to copy.
5. Choose the schedule you want to copy:
   a. Nest Thermostat: At the bottom of the screen, select the option to copy the schedule for that day (for example, Copy Wednesday schedule).
   b. Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen): Tap the temperature you want to copy.
6. Tap the day(s) you want to copy the schedule to.
7. Tap Done or Save to save the changes.

Remove the thermostat from your account

If you remove your thermostat from your account in the Home app, your schedules will be deleted from the thermostat. You'll still be able to control your home's heating and cooling systems from the thermostat manually.

Add a Nest Temperature Sensor to your schedule

Note: The Nest Temperature Sensor is only compatible with the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat. You can't use a temperature sensor with the Nest Thermostat.

Use Smart Schedule and your Temperature Sensor to optimize comfort and savings

Nest Temperature Sensors let your Nest thermostat know the temperature in other rooms, such as your bedroom or home office, to help keep you more comfortable in those spaces. You can choose which sensor your thermostat should target, or schedule your thermostat to use different sensors at different times of the day, such as having the thermostat control the temperature of your bedroom at night so it's the temperature you like for sleeping.

To add a sensor to your schedule:

1. Open the Google Home app  .
2. Select your thermostat.
3. Tap Schedules.
4. Tap the event you want to edit or tap Add event to add a new event to your schedule.
5. In the Using sensors section, tap the sensor or multiple sensors you want to add to your schedule. Both temperature sensors and your thermostat appear here. If you choose more than one sensor, it uses the average temperature between them.

Once selected as the active sensor, your thermostat will continue to prioritize that sensor until a different one is selected. For this reason, we recommend choosing a Temperature Sensor or your thermostat sensor for each event in your schedule.