Some Nest thermostat owners had some technical problems last month due to a software bug that drains power from the device's battery and later causes it to shut down. Since last December's software update from the Alphabet company many customers woke up in the middle of the night due to the heating system not functioning and the Nest device shutting off.
Another common problem is that the device maintained room temperatures set for 5 p.m. instead of 5 a.m., for example. Many similar complaints have appeared on the web via social media posts and online forums.
Nest's Learning Thermostat is a web-connected electronic and programmable heating controller. The Wi-Fi enabled smart device determines when to increase or decrease a room temperature. This heats and cools homes and businesses effectively to save energy.
The company is admitting the smart thermostat had some glitches. Nest co-founder Matt Rogers explained that the issues involve software patches that appeared in January.
The bug seemed to cause the smart thermostat to shut off, even when it was plugged in. That resulted in it powering down and made in unable to communicate to the heating system it was connected to, causing it to switch off, according to The Independent.
Nest's glitch allowed heating to be changed at the point where the device was connected to the boiler. However, the heating system had to be turned on manually.
Rogers told The New York Times that the software fix showed up in updates about two weeks after it was discovered, according to Modern Readers. However, NYT's Nick Bilton explained that small software issues can cause big problems for Nest thermostats and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Nest reports that the fix was installed on 99.5 percent of all bug-affected thermostats. It has also provided instructions for customers who have not fixed the glitch, which involve recharging the thermostat and then restarting it by using the touchscreen menu.
Nest Labs was launched in 2010 and purchased by Google in 2014, before becoming an Alphabet subsidiary one year later after the company was restructured. The company produces a smart thermostat, smoke alarm, and web camera.