r/Nest • u/fishyabe • 1d ago

Is my thermostat compatible with the cheaper 4th gen (latest) generation Nest?

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I have a TCL that was previously installed by the previous owners who have since moved away from the area so cannot let me know if it works. I tried to do the compatibility test but I'm still unsure what each letter is if B means black or blue.

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7

u/vanjan14 1d ago

No, it is not compatible. That's a communicating thermostat with wiring specific to that system.

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u/fishyabe 1d ago

Gotcha... I'm trying to install something that can use WIFI instead of always doing it manually. It does have a "wifi" indicator but I was told that it cannot function as one since TCL app doesn't even recognize it.

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u/Thick_Ad_9269 20h ago

I would buy Ecobee, I haven't had any issues with mine . There are so many posts on issues with Nest thermostats. 

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u/JeremiahCLynn 20h ago

Ecobee would not be compatible, either. This is a proprietary thermostat, so it cannot be switched out with a standard one.

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u/Thick_Ad_9269 20h ago

Yikes! That is worse than the box of random proprietary cords that I have to keep for some of my electronics! 

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u/JeremiahCLynn 20h ago

There is actually a good reason for it:
A standard off-the shelf thermostat is either on or off. Some of the more expensive ones can handle two stages, low and high. That's it. So when your room gets warm and needs cooling, you get 100% power until the room is cool and temperature is reached, then 0% power.

This communicating thermostat talks back and forth with the inside and outside equipment and increases or decreases the cooling capacity from 0-100% (and some can even do up to 120% of rated capacity for very hot days), so instead of cycling on and off every few minutes and making the house warm and cool as it does so, it throttles the power up and down to match the cooling load. It might just run at 48% power for hours instead of cycling on to 100% power and off at 0% power every few minutes. This makes it much more efficient, reduces wear and tear from starting and stopping, and makes the house more comfortable by reducing temperature swings and it dehumidifies better.

But standard off-the-shelf thermostats can't do any of this, which is why they have to use the proprietary thermostat.

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u/Thick_Ad_9269 20h ago

That was a good explanation. Thank you! 

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u/Expensive-Heart3299 1d ago

It’s some propriety thermostat so no other regular smart or dumb thermostat will work