Learn about thermostat modes and how to manually switch between them

Depending on your system type, your Google Nest thermostat can have up to five available modes: Heat, Cool, Heat•Cool, Off and Eco. Here’s what each mode does and how to manually switch between them.

 Your Nest thermostat can automatically switch between modes, but you can manually set the mode you want too.  Both your thermostat and system will behave differently depending on what mode your thermostat is set to. Learn about thermostat modes

You may not see all the modes below in the app or on your thermostat. For instance, if your home only has a heating system, you won’t see Cool or Heat•Cool.

Important: Heat, Cool and Heat•Cool modes each have their own temperature schedule. Your thermostat will learn a different schedule for the modes your system has. If you want to make changes to the schedule, be sure you select the right one.

Heat

 Your system will only heat your home. It won't start cooling unless your Safety Temperatures are reached.  Your thermostat will start heating to try to maintain any scheduled temperatures or a temperature that you've manually selected.

 Your system will only cool your home. It won't start heating unless your Safety Temperatures are reached. Cool  Your thermostat will start cooling to try to maintain any scheduled temperatures or a temperature that you've manually selected.

Heat-Cool  Your system will either heat or cool to try to keep your home within the temperature range you’ve manually set.  Your thermostat will automatically switch your system between heating and cooling as needed to meet any scheduled temperatures or a temperature that you've manually selected.  Heat•Cool mode is useful for climates that consistently require both heating and cooling in the same day. For example, if you live in a desert climate and require cooling during the day and heating at night.

Off

 When your thermostat is set to off, it will only heat or cool to try to maintain your Safety Temperatures. All other heating, cooling, and fan control are disabled.  Your system will not turn on to meet any scheduled temperatures, and you won’t be able to manually change the temperature until you switch your thermostat to another mode.

Learn more about Off mode >

Eco  Your system will either heat or cool to try to keep your home within the Eco Temperatures range.  Note: The high and low Eco Temperatures were set during thermostat installation, but you can change them at any time.  If you manually set your thermostat to Eco or you set your home to Away, it won't follow its temperature schedule. You'll need to switch it to a heating or cooling mode before you can change the temperature.  If your thermostat automatically set itself to Eco because you were away, it will automatically return to follow your schedule when it notices that someone has arrived home.

How to switch between heating, cooling, and off modes

You can easily switch between modes on the Nest thermostat with the Nest app.

Important: Heat, Cool and Heat•Cool all have their own separate temperature schedules. So when you switch modes your thermostat may turn your system on and off at different times depending on the mode's schedule.

With the Nest thermostat

1. Press the thermostat ring to open the Quick View menu. 2. Select a new mode: o Nest Learning Thermostat: Turn the ring to Mode and press to select. Then choose a mode and press to activate it. Or select Eco and press to select. o Nest Thermostat E: Turn the ring to select a mode. 3. Press the ring to confirm.

Note: Your thermostat will also ask if you want to switch to cooling if you turn the temperature all the way down while heating, or switch to heating if you turn it all the way up when cooling. You’ll see "Press to cool" or "Press to heat" appear on the thermostat screen.

With the Nest app

1. Select the thermostat you’d like to control on the app home screen. 2. Tap the Mode at the bottom of the screen to bring up the mode menu. 3. Tap on the new mode for your thermostat.

How to switch to Eco Temperatures

Switching to Eco Temperatures is done much the same way as switching between other modes, but there are some differences.

Things to keep in mind

 When you manually switch to Eco, your thermostat will ignore all scheduled temperatures until you manually switch it back to heating or cooling.  If your thermostat automatically switched to Eco Temperatures because everyone was away, it will switch back to your normal temperatures when someone comes home.

Learn more about Eco Temperatures >

With the Nest thermostat 1. Press the thermostat ring to open the Quick View menu. 2. Turn to Eco and press to select. 3. Select Start Eco.

If your thermostat is already set to Eco, select Stop Eco and your thermostat will return to its regular temperature schedule.

With the Nest app

1. Select the thermostat you want to control on the Nest app home screen. 2. Select Eco on the bottom of your screen. 3. Tap Start Eco. If you have more than one thermostat, select whether you want to stop Eco Temperatures only on the thermostat you’ve chosen or all thermostats.

To turn off Eco temperatures:

1. Select the thermostat you want to control on the Nest app home screen. 2. Select Eco on the bottom of your screen. 3. Tap Stop Eco. If you have more than one thermostat, select whether you want to stop Eco Temperatures only on the thermostat you’ve chosen or all thermostats.