Hey all, I spent the weekend updating my home’s thermostat to a smart model. I took a somewhat unusual path and went with a discontinued 2nd Gen Nest thermostat. Read about my journey - Nest Thermostat in 2026 - Artificially-Awesome
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I thought this was referring to it being set to 68 degrees, because 67 and 69 trigger two generations of people 😅
I am degoogled in as many places as possible but I have a nest thermostat that was in the house when I bought it.
I’m going to try this for myself! I can’t believe it never occurred to me before.
Congrats on the C wire! I was lucky in my 1950s house that when they installed AC in the 90s they ran a new thermostat wire with the C wire, they just didn’t hook it up, so all I had to do was find a power source for it and hook it up in the basement!
I’ve gotta ask - why a nest thermostat? There are cheaper options out there that you haven’t got to de-evil. I use a Honeywell Z Wave unit and it’s great.
Great question and the answer is a combination of things. First, I got an absolute great deal on it, just $25 shipped. Second, I knew the hardware itself was really high quality. And lastly, I don’t have a zwave radio in my home (this far) and looking at the ZigBee thermostats seemed like a bit of a minefield. I do mention in the blog post that I was considering a Zen ZigBee thermostat and then when I found the super cheap Nest decided it was worth a try even if I later replace it.
Nice luck on the A/C upgrade! I’ll never I understand why a house this modern skipped out on running a 5+ wire cable.
That is a sweet deal! Can’t reccommend a z wave dongle enough though. I don’t really have much wifi stuff in my smart home any more.
Why z wave over zigbee?
They’re both good. Z wave runs at 1ghz instead of 2.4ghz so the range is generally better. It also has a reputation of being more reliable, so I’ll pick it for things that are essential like door locks, thermostats, light switches, etc. For stuff like smart plugs, temp sensors, door sensors, actually most sensors generally, I usually go zigbee unless the zigbee network doesn’t reach the location.
Wow, this came up at a good time for me. I’ve been running ours like an old school one since they tried to make me link my account to it.
This is a great write up, thanks for sharing! I’d like to do something like this when I own a home someday.
I have a 1st gen Nest flashed with NLE. No google, no Nest app, just local control with Home Assistant. I love it.
