Nest thermostat owners having their heating turned off because of bug

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A bug in Nest’s smart thermostats is leading many people to have their heating turned off.

The Nest thermostat is an internet-connected heating controller, which watches its owners to decide when the temperature should go up or down. But problems with the thermostat appear to be leading them to turn off and disconnect heating systems.

A bug appears to be making the thermostat’s battery shut off, even if it is plugged in. That means that it powers down and is unable to talk to the boilers that it is connected to, leading the heating to turn off.

The heating can still be changed at the point where the thermostat is connected to the boiler. But it will mean that the heating won’t turn on until people do so.

The problem can be resolved by recharging and then restarting the thermostat, according to the company. It was caused by a new software update that arrived on thermostats last month.

“Some customers may be experiencing an issue with their Nest Thermostat becoming slow, unresponsive, or unable to turn on because the battery has drained,” Nest’s page reads. The thermostat can be reset by using the menu on the screen, which should cause the problem to stop.