This process ended up being a lot easier than I thought. Do you have any tips for routing a new cable that is in a more difficult spot?

@magic49r

3 жыл бұрын

I've used glow rods. They're rigid yet flexible. They also glow in the dark. They're helpful if there is insulation in the wall. Also, you might want to add that ppl kill the power to their furnace before working on it. I know it's only 24 volts but shortening out the board of the furnace is still a possibility

@baconbot3106

3 жыл бұрын

As someone going to school for hvac you really shouldn't mess with your ac unless you know what your doing you can cause some pretty big problems with small mistakes. Examples I didn't hear you saying anything about shutting off power to the air handler before messing with the t-stat wire also the way your stripping the t-stat wire is incorrect cutting into the insulation for the group of wire can cause shorts my preferred method is to grip the green wire and pull it down the length of the wire then cutting away the rest of the insulation but again most people should not be messing with this there's a reason people got to school for this

@Ronins5thElement

3 жыл бұрын

@@baconbot3106 I mean yea, there's ways to mess anything up in life. People go to school to be auto mechanics, but how many people do their own brakes or oil changes. You could say the same thing there. This is basic 101 type stuff. Any man with half a brain could do this. Now hvac installations and serious electrical work, yes, that should be left to the professionals. But this is not serious. Just take the proper precautions, and you'll be just fine.

@johntonelli4510

3 жыл бұрын

Don't install a nest read my post

@vencasmissingnose

3 жыл бұрын

You comment on google video of video google home

I have been following you for years, there is no one better than you explaining and giving solutions, thanks for your videos ...

It should be noted for anyone attempting this, that this can be extremely easy and can also be extremely difficult. If there is even just ONE staple inside the wall holding the original wiring it will cause you nothing but grief. Let’s say there is a staple but it isn’t completely tight to the wire. You’ll think that you are good to pull the new using the old, but it’s not only possible but very likely that once your tape joint connecting the old and new reaches that staple it will snag. Your first urge would be to tug a little harder and then uh oh, it comes apart and now you’ve got two loose ends inside a wall or floor cavity, neither of which is connected to your HVAC system. This can also happen with a hard 90 degree turn, or a hole that was only drilled wide enough for the smaller harness. As soon as that tape joint/splice meets resistance, you’re snagged. The only recourse is to start knocking out drywall to finish the job. Not trying to scare anyone, but I do this for a living, and I’ve seen it happen

@MoreLifePlease

2 жыл бұрын

Drywall is easy! I live in an old house and the walls are plaster and furring strips. Solid, good sound suppression. Pain in the neck to work with!

@ITStechy

2 жыл бұрын

Dropping wires should not be under rated in complexity. Good info and tape well, tight, and properly staggered with 3M super 88. A poorly taped end will also come apart easily leaving you up SHITE creek without a pull wire!

@markdelbiondi

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed 100% …. People definitely need to be aware of this

@Psalm-yg6yi

2 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha (eternal laughter). No thanks

@HeartofNoah7

2 жыл бұрын

When I had a furnace replaced years ago, they had to run a whole new wire to a new location further down the hall because the original wires were probably stapled and wouldn't come out and it was too tight to get a new wire up to the original thermostat location.

One of your BEST tech videos. Upgrading my thermostat to Alexa enabled, I knew I needed a C wire, but your video showed me how easy it was to work with. I didn't have to pull any cables, and my system had an unused wire so I connected it to the thermostat and the a/c and I was done. Great video. (FYI I don't have a nest)

@reedscuba

2 жыл бұрын

You have an Ecobee, and don't need a C wire, it comes with an adaptor kit.

I’m so glad I found this video as my Nest was losing Wi-Fi every day when the battery ran down. I went to look at my wiring and there was actually a fifth wire already running from thermostat to hvac that just wasn’t being used. It was super simple to connect it to the C wire in the basement and just plug it into the thermostat. 30min of research, about 3min of work, and my thermostat is back online! Thanks!!

@TechWithBrett

Жыл бұрын

I'm so glad this could help!

@blackeman1

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing your story same situation so thankful !!

Haha!! You know I have been trying to figure out how to fish a c wire and 5 seconds before you showed it I realized what you were about to say and got a huge smile on my face! Thx man!!

Great tip on “reset”. We had a brief power outage of a few seconds that caused Nest to not recognize the c-wire! I didn’t have to do the full factory reset, just a restart! Thanks

Holy crap, that looks way easier then I thought it would be. Thanks for the vid!

Great job explaining! This is exactly my issue and I’m going to try this tomorrow. Thank you!!!

Thanks. You just made a cold day warm again for my family. Only took an hour including the trip to the store

Two suggestions... 1. Agree with many comments below that thermostat wire may be secured in most instances by staple(s). So before snaking have someone hold low end and someone hold high end, pull back and forth to assess whether there is free play. 2. Use wiring lube to make sure that the "snaked" wire pulls through any holes... its $5 at any supply house or homey.

@tekvax01

Жыл бұрын

yellow 77

@LEEEEEEEEEEE1

Жыл бұрын

hehehehehe..... lube

Thank you for the wiring walk through, i was able to rewire the unit properly and the heat is on!! thanks again Brett.

@TechWithBrett

Жыл бұрын

Great to hear!

Thank you very much, I was thinking of installing this since several months, end up installing it yesterday. Rewired as the c wire was missing.Had to cut one hole in the drywall. Didn't removed the old wire, lets see how it runs for few months and then no need to go back.

Thanks Brett. I was wondering why stringing a new wire wouldn't work. Now I feel comfortable buying a Nest. I will be putting the thermostat in a new location. My old wiring is not so easy to get at. Thanks Again

Glad I saw this video. Wasn't sure how I was going to feed the new wire.

Sadly, my Nest _appears_ to have a C wire connected, yet for some reason the fan runs randomly even though it's not setup to turn the fan on, which is annoying when it's cold out and it's blowing right on you. But thankfully you made this video which makes it really easy to see what sort of work it would take to set it up again (or at least know what to look at in order to fix it). Thanks!

Great vid! Good to know to factory reset after the C is installed. 👍

This was VERY, Very helpful. Many thanks!

Great video. Made this mystery less mysterious. Really appreciate it.

Dude you rock... I just saved $120 for an hvac tech to come out and install c wire. Thank you so much!

@lizardman1303

Жыл бұрын

Damn that’s cheap people trying to charge me 175-500

Didn’t even think of using the old cable to fish the new one. Smart!

Just wanted to say thank you for your video. I was helping out a neighbor with a new Nest Thermostat and found a blue wire unused. Connected both ends (furnace "C" terminal and the thermostat "C" terminal. It is no longer asking for the power connector.

Much appreciated! I just installed mine today with your instruction.

You were VERY lucky you fished that line through so easily. My luck mine will have been stapled to the studs all the way down. 🤦🏻‍♂️

@jamesthornock8214

2 жыл бұрын

Brutal

@pthibault630

2 жыл бұрын

Mine isn't even run through the inside of the wall. It runs straight up from the furnace, into the stairwell, and through the wall behind the thermostat. It's just encased in plastic wire tracking.

@FaiyazC

2 жыл бұрын

@@pthibault630 u do know they have an official adapter now.

@pthibault630

2 жыл бұрын

@@FaiyazC Yep. This is cheaper and easier though.

@ABlackMorman

2 жыл бұрын

@@FaiyazC can I attach the adaptor to the best hookup instead of the furnace?

This helped me so much. Thank you!

Very clear and helpful, thanks

Hi What is E260 error? I don't have a C wire and I get this error which prevents the thermostat from being connected to my phone or wifi.

Even easier way to do this. Just use the green wire to the city. Most people leave the fan in auto. The green wire is used to energize the fan when the fan is "on". As an hvac tech I have done this many times before. Replacing the state wire is not always as easy as shown. A lot of times the state wire is stapled to the wall studs. When we are working on a new construction job we run a 5 wire.

@pettyjohn725

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!!

@duymariochannel3885

6 ай бұрын

It's a good idea in case you afraid of losing the cable when you pull through the wall

Photos...especially of the furnace panel, are really important. I thought I fried the motherboard, but I had connected one wire wrong.

Very good my friend for your help I will do that to my one tomorrow

Also remember if it’s too hard on one end , you can always try to pull from the board to the thermostat end . One way is always easier than the other

I’ve tried installing a C-wire adapter on my Trane furnace/ac for my Honeywell thermostat and have been unsuccessful. When I re-wire everything the thermostat has power and air will blow, but it’s not cool air as I want and the outdoor unit doesn’t run… any idea what I might be doing wrong?

Great video didn't expect that.

Great video! Clear and concise!

Hey Brett, love your videos. Can you make an updated smart home tour video for the end of 2020? That would be great.

@TechWithBrett

3 жыл бұрын

That's the plan! Somebody just needs to come clean my house first.

Mine also needed the "C" wire. Without it I could not manually control the fan. But, I did not have to run any new wire. There were several unused wires inside the cable coming out of the wall. I simply connected the unused blue wire at each end. Now, my NEST is 100% functional.

Another great video... thanks!

I just bought a 2020 google nest thermostat - Charcoal, Appreciate your tips before I install the device.

I tried installing a power adapter c wire but when I have them plugged into, the nest has them grayed out. Any reason why it doesn't recognize it?

Hi Brett and thanks for the helpful video! I see you have what appears to be a swamp cooler fan switch on the wall next to the Nest. Have you connected that to the Nest? If so, how does one do that? Thanks!!😀

Hey I have this thermostat and I have the trim plate I wanna install how to I get the wires out the google nest I don't wanna damage it by pulling them out the wrong way thx

If you have a powered thermostat system would you still have to use batteries with this device. I’m planning on buying one but I don’t wanna have to constantly put batteries in it when an a common/power wire is in place.

Happy ThanksGiving Bred

@TechWithBrett

3 жыл бұрын

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Appreciate your help explaining patiently and easy to follow 👍

Doesn’t the new Nest have removable batteries where you don’t need a C-wire? You would only need this for the 3Gen Nest correct?

Thanks for the this, I noticed that there is now a 'Update Wiring' option on the Google Home App -> Thermostat -> Settings > Theromstat -> Wiring -> Update Wiring. So you shouldn't need to factory reset anymore.

Had mine installed over a year without a c wire and still working great!

@gloriahansen6727

3 жыл бұрын

Does it ever get disconnected from the wifi or the battery dies faster?

@briancloutier2781

3 жыл бұрын

@@gloriahansen6727 the only time there was an issue was when I had a new furnace installed and power was off. Bat got a little low and internet disconnected for about 15 min until power was back on.

@michellezunnurain3555

2 жыл бұрын

I have 4 wire. Worked fine for a year then suddenly gave e298 error.

Is it possible to jump the C and R together and have the red cable connect to R?

Nice info great tutorial.👍

This is just for my gas heater only 2 wires, but it uses a 24 volt system, not sure if i need a C wire?

very good information thanks

If you are lucky, sometimes there will be an unused conductor on the existing wire. You'll need to figure out where to connect the free wire on the furnace controller board C. Sometimes the original installer prefers to just use a battery thermostat rather than connecting to C. I was able to add C wire to my Nest in my first house and never had any issues. I actually did it for my parents as well, without issue. It's generally recommended to always use the C wire anyway, as there could be temperature inaccuracies or triggering delays when the thermostat achieves the set points.

Hi, we have black, red and green wire on our old thermostat where to put in google nest please let me know .Thanks

Great video, thank you

Hopefully my story will help someone. Last fall we installed a Nest thermostat at my sons house. The replaced thermostat was using 4 wires (no C), so we hooked the Nest with the same configuration. The furnace and Nest worked fine all winter. When my son switched to AC in early summer, there was a consistent clicking sound from a relay on the control board. It clicked nearly once a minute, and was aggravating. Though the AC seemed to run fine and shut off at temp. An HVAC guy came out and said that we had a bad control board. We replaced the board and the problem was still there. After watching this video, I decided to hook up a C wire. My sons existing thermostat cable had 8 conductors. So we hooked the unused blue wire up to C on the back of the Nest and then hooked the blue wire to C on the control board. The AC has run for over 24 hours with no clicking from a relay in control board.

Forgot to mention to turn off power before removing wires. Or cutting into wires. Turn power back on last. If wires touch 24 volt will or could burn up your board

I don't have a C wire and My Motion sensing works and no battery issues. I have an OB wire so not sure if that mattered.

I wonder if this will solve the issue I’m having with my AC- the Nest turns the entire system on immediately after shutting off. Its like it runs a full cooling cycle and then turns off and back on again. Sounds awful for the compressor.

I first installed the Google Nest Thermostat on my Mr. Heater garage heater, without the C wire. The heater would continuously cycle until I installed the C wire.

@RockoRocko-rz7kx

2 жыл бұрын

U can use the neutral of the transformer for your c wire from your mr heater. Hook a wire up to it and to your tstat c terminal

I have a combined heating and cooling system. I have an older emerson thermostat. It has an RC and an RH with a jumper between the two. I just purchased the Nest thermostat that you have in this video. It only has an spot for just one R wire. Will this work and operate both my AC and Heat?

Very good, Thank You!

Very informative. Thank you so much.I am going to install soon. My motion sensor is not working due to C wire missing in Nest thermostat 2020.

@michellezunnurain3555

2 жыл бұрын

My motion sensor worked fine without a c wire.

I have already white wire on my C-Common screwed, can i just add a blue put them together?

Yes, a C-Wire will save your a lot from the hassle of not having one. Without a common wirre the thermostat pulls power from both hearing and cooling. If the AC unit has it's power shutoff for winter or you have dual zone a Common wire is recommended.

@michaelbaird7636

Жыл бұрын

Thanx for the video and all the info in the comments👍

I have only 2 wires. Hooked it up in Summer worked fine till today . Any help appreciated.

Well Done. Thank you

99 out of 100 times the wire has been run through studs or has a staple that will prevent it from being pulled back. You got LUCKY.

You show a forced air furnace system c wire install only, can you kindly do a video on an instant hot water/boiler radiant system c wire install please?

Why would the nest control the fan? Would the heater/cooler not turn this on when they are activated (Uk plumber here, we have completely different system)

I have a Question. I am installing a lock case and need to remove the nest thermostat so I can screw in the backplate of the lock case. Do I need to reset the nest to do that? Thanks. Great video btw.

I'm adding 18/8 so I can have my thermostat control the whole house humidifier as well (it only needs 1 or 2 additional wires for this, depending on the humidifier)

My nest worked fine for a year. 4 wire. Motion sensing was fine. It suddenly started with the e298 error. Reverted back to programmable unit.

From what I understand, from both Google documentation and forums, you have to do a factory reset to make the Nest itself detect the C wire.

FYI, Google released a C wire substitute for Nest thermostats: The Nest Power Connector. I cannot include a link in the comments. Oh, well...

Question: do you have 2 separate wires in the green hole?

My blue wire goes to Y on the houses thermostat. Is that correct?

Can you show the AC splice? What happened to them

I had an interesting problem with our Nest Thermostat; any load I placed on our two-wire system started the furnace (think; the power it drew to run the Nest). Let me explain further… I started out with a two-wire system, Red and White, Red=Power, White=Call-for-Heat, the legacy thermostat was a standard mercury bi-metal coil. I installed the Nest and I tried placing Red on Rh and the White wire on W1, but the furnace ran constantly. So I ran and added a ‘C’ wire, I kept Red on Rh, the White on W1 (Call for heat), and the C wire, or common to the furnace. The furnace still ran constantly. The Nest thermostat functions by using a small amount of current from the furnace to, 1. Operate, and 2. Keep the batteries charged. I did some testing and ANY current draw over 6 milliamps starts the furnace. Testing with a ‘C’ (Common) wire still drew a small current and fired up the furnace. I found the markings on the furnace to be very clear, Power, Common, and Call for Heat. To be clear, W1 on the Nest is ‘Call for Heat’, the ‘C’ is common and R1 is 24 vac or power. This is not rocket science, if I draw any current from any of the wires it starts the furnace. I’m thinking there must be something screwy with the vintage furnace, vintage 1995. My initial solution was to remote the 24vac power and supply the Nest power from it, however simply placing the ‘Call for Heat’ wire (W1) on the Nest (along with the common wire), the furnace would start. Finally, I remoted the entire mess, I added a small relay and 24vac transformer in a project box near the thermostat and ran five wires up to where the Nest is mounted. Now everything works well… The takeaway here is, not all furnaces are created equal…

Awesome job

Coming from Hvac you got lucky it’s a 50/50 shot every time some aren’t stapled anywhere some are 100’ long and stapled 50 times in the run lol!

My thermostat wire runs 30 feet under my floor outside to my unit and staples all the way. No chance of this method working on mine.

Originally when I installed my Nest 3rd Gen thermostat (Y1,G,Rc,W1) I had a problem with the Nest staying charged (no other issues). I realized that it would charge when the furnace fan was turned on, so I created a schedule that would run the furnace fan a few times a day during the season where heating and cooling doesn't come on regularly. During the winter and during the summer the heat/cooling runs enough that it keeps charged. The schedule was only needed during spring/fall. What has confused me is that I turned off the schedule last winter so the fan didn't needlessly come on and I forgot to turn it on for spring time but I realized for some reason now the battery stays charged. This fall it didn't need the fan schedule again either. Can you explain how suddenly the thermostat stays charged without doing any wiring modifications?

@JeffreyTheTaylor

3 жыл бұрын

This does not directly answer your Q, but I just got over a related experience w my Nest. After a couple months issue free it suddenly went into low battery mode. The fan was running plenty but diagnostic showed the power in was only supplying 20mV, or right at the tipping point for risking a low battery from what I have learned. So I popped it off the wall and did USB charging of the unit for an hour to bring the battery up out of low power mode. Stuck it back on the wall, it reconnected to wifi and now reported it was getting 40mV in. This latter datum seems to mirror your "for some reason now the battery stays charged" experience. Maybe it is combo of heating/cooling stages and fan activity that determine the mV the Nest receives. In any event, I think all you can do is monitor the battery and mV in each week to avoid disconnect, low battery surprises.

Nice video brett

After watching your install video, happy to see that you did this video, too. Thanks! So, to confirm, if you have TWO Nest thermostats (upstairs and downstairs), one would need a C wire for both, no?

Why did you leave y and c wires attached I thought they have to go too

I have a blue wire on the y1 terminal and no wire on c

Simply use ADD A WIRE DEVICE or disconnect G wire and connect on C terminal

Hello, thank you very much for your videos, they are great! My equipment is only cooling and when I took out the old thermostat it had a C (blue) wire. I connected it according to the instructions but the thermostat never turns on! Please could you help me? Thanks in advance! Daniel

@bigmac22ify

Жыл бұрын

I learned to not look at the color and loot what it’s connected to. For instance my thermostat is 4 wire and my blue wire was in fact my yellow wire

So I got it to work except my ac compressor does not kick on?

Thanks to the front man of Queens of the Stone Age, I now know how to connect the C wire!

@StephenQuirk207

2 жыл бұрын

Actually, no one knows.

What pisses me of is my system actually has 5 wires at the furnace but it appears the common wire was chopped off behind the existing thermostat. I can't run a new wire without relocating it due to how it was stapled down inside the plenum.

Good job

This is exactly what I was looking for. I have a Sensi WiFi thermostat, with essentially the same problem. I can use batteries for WiFi, but they don’t last long. My thermostat is directly over my furnace as well so it should be an easy project. Thanks!

@Blackdog4818

2 жыл бұрын

Wait, I have to put a battery in my Nest? Mine just came in the mail, and I thought the red wire was the power?

@super70seven

2 жыл бұрын

@@Blackdog4818 I have an Emerson Sensi thermostat, which requires 2 AA batteries. Before running the new wire, I had to replace the batteries about once a month. The WiFi would really drain it.

@Blackdog4818

2 жыл бұрын

Okay so it's a rechargeable battery with the 3rd generation Nest thermostats. So luckily, it recharges whenever the furnace power goes on.

Nice job

Adding new wire option is in the app only. No need to reset.

What kind of medieval heating monstrocity do you use over there? In Europe we have high energy efficient gas central heating systems.

@kobeandgary

3 жыл бұрын

We have HVAC heat pumps here. Gives you both heating and air conditioning (cooling).

@joecephus352

3 жыл бұрын

Some appliances here in the United States also offer and gas heating with a heat exchanger but because of the multitude of parts and not all areas being readily available with natural gas services we also utilize what's called a heat pump (IE compressor Heating) and or a heat strip at grades of 5kw 7.5 KW and 10 KW depending on wire size and living space to be heated. In most cases I would recommend the heat pump solution simply because it is more cost-efficient (no gas utilized and no electric heat) using the compressor to heat the home with a 5kw on defrost cycles activated every 45 minutes to prevent ice build up on the condenser. The reversing valve/heat pump costs less to run, about half the amp draw versus a straight cool (electric heat only) saving money on electric consumption.

Thanks man

I only have 2 wires in my existing thermostat does that matter? Do I just cap off the wires that I don’t need in a thermostat wire?

@Coltrain207

2 жыл бұрын

With only two wires your nest could cause problems with your heating and cooling equipment when it tries to charge its battery.

WHAT IS A C WIRE? I disconnected my old thermostat and there was a blue wire and a yellow wire NOT connected. The only connected wires were Red, White and Green. Are one of the yellow or blue wires a C wire?? What is a C wire for??

On installing the new nest thermostat all works however my batteries die every 10 days. Clearly there’s a power issue but I can’t identify it any thoughts?

@TechWithBrett

2 жыл бұрын

Have you adjusted settings to reduce battery usage like lower event time recordings and detection settings?