Trane 4 ton HP rooftop

Trane 4 ton HP rooftop

Rheem AC units!!

Helped a customer out and installed a set of Rheem Heat pump ac units.

Rheem 5 ton HP

Rheem 4 ton HP

Nest thermostat installation with Innovative Air

Innovative Air has installed more nest thermostats with 2 Nest Pro techs than any company in this state with all their employees combined. That is one big claim but, I saw the numbers of over 400 thermostats alone in 2017.

My name is Ralph, I own innovative air and fell in love with the nest thermostat long ago. Innovative air has been blessed to know this product so well. I could sit here and write a HOW to Install a Nest thermostat blog post or I can explain to you why you should REALLY have a professional install your nest thermostat. And to be honest, NOT any professional.

Look simple? Its not. There are tons of different combinations of air conditioning and heating wiring installation and applications. There are many different colored wires too. Lets break down the basics all the way up to the most complicated of nest thermostat installations.

I'll start by saying this, 85% of the consumers who try and self install a thermostat FAIL!!! You'll spend hours pulling your hair out, hours on the phone and searching google for how to install a nest thermostat. Why waste time? Better yet, why RISK blowing up your control circuits. Improper Nest thermostat installations have cost some of my customers an arm and a leg. Blown fuses, blown transformers, blown circuit boards. I can keep on going.

Don't get discouraged, the NEST thermostat is worth the trouble and worth the anxiety!!

NEST thermostats and conventional AC and heating. The easiest wiring installation.

• R- power
• W- heating
• G- fan
• Y- cooling.

Easy right? Nope!! First off, half my customers do not turn off the right circuit breakers and they end up shorting something out. Not to mention circuit breakers over the years get mislabeled or faded.

Now, add in the nest installations that actually have an active C wire, common wire. Usually ends up with a blown control fuse, blown circuit board and or blown transformer. Most customers with this have success with their Nest installation but, not always.

Throw in 2 stage cooling and heating applications and it gets deeper. Nest installations are not always plug and go. There in fact could be and is at times software changes and terminal option set ups that need to take place. A customer is bound to not have specific cooling and heating options engaged for maximum benefit. There are also applications that have humidifiers and fresh air intake systems. It can get complicated and you could ruin something.

Heat pump and nest thermostat installations, they are pretty popular in warmer climates.

• R-
• Y-
• G-
• O/B- Reversing valve

Which reversing valve type do you have? You don't know in most cases especially if your replacing a Honeywell or higher tech stat. This is also AC brand specific. B is fail-safe to cooling and O is fail-safe to heating, just depends upon your brand of AC system. Now, I'll throw another variable in there.....Some AC systems have and use the B for a common wire. Do you know if your original installer set your stat up properly? You don't and if that common wire is in disguise as a B, pop goes your fuse.

Proprietary HVAC equipment control, aka controllers/communicating and zone systems.
One thing about controller based systems is this, if you think you have conventional wiring and you connect a nest thermostat to your equipment, something will break or it wont work. Why risk it? But, don't be discouraged. Many manufacturers have been kind enough to place conventional ( Legacy wiring) on their high seer hvac equipment.

Zone systems have become more and more popular in today's HVAC industry. Two thermostats, one controller and one HVAC system. The nest is compatible with these applications most of the time. The problem sometimes is that what you see at the thermostat is not what you see at the controller and things may need to be modified.

Point of all this discussion is simple, I want customers to enjoy nest thermostats and save money with the nest thermostat. Hire a Nest pro to install your Nest thermostat in Arizona and no matter where you live. Be careful of the contractor you choose. Many nest pro installers and HVAC professionals work for companies that are commission based wanting more money or want to kiss their bosses ass and or justify their jobs by raising a service ticket cost.

Questions you MUST ask before you hire someone to install your nest thermostat:

• How much to install my nest thermostat? What is the total?
• Are there any service Fees?
• Do they charge if your HVAC system is not compatible with a nest thermostat.
• Are there any additional fees besides what they quoted?
• Do they charge to add a common wire? GET ONE ADDED during your install.
• Do they charge extra to modify for legacy wiring from communicating.

A good nest installation company always give you the full price upfront and should explain to you what their additional charges could be and why.

A good nest thermostat install tech will confirm your system is compatible by inspecting your actual hvac equipment. If they don't bust out the ladder or pop off some covers, they're just lazy.

A real professional nest thermostat installer will add your common wire for free, don't fall for the extra charge crap. The only exception they should be letting you know about additional costs is if you just do not have enough wires in the wall.

One other application you should not get charged extra for during a nest thermostat installation is the re-wire for an application that has a proprietary thermostat (NOT SYSTEM) Some pre installed thermostats out there run on 1,2,3 wiring code. But, up at your hvac control is legacy (Conventional) wires smiling and waiting for you to put them to use with a nest thermostat. It's an extra 10 minutes to complete, big deal.

And worse case scenario, if a nest pro installation cannot be completed due to incompatibility, first they should not be charging you for the compatibility check and lastly if they spend time on your system and cant make the nest work, a small fee for their time is valid. Small fee for the 20-30 they spend checking things over.

But, if they are leaving your house without giving you a reasonable, cost effective solution to why you wanted a NEST in the first place then you may need to give the boss of that company a call.

I love NEST thermostats, if one cannot be installed due to any reason, I then have to move on to a solution that is practical. IE, another thermostat brand. That, doesn't happen often.

Don't get screwed over by HVAC contractors and their cheap tactics to get your money.

Innovative air is the best NEST installation choice in Arizona. It's how I make my living! You can count on the advise set forth!

C wire and nest thermostats

What is a c wire and why does a NEST thermostat end up needing one?

"Official definition"

What is the C wire used for on a thermostat?

The C wire, or “common wire” enables the continuous flow of 24 VAC power to the thermostat. ... If your system doesn't have a C-wire, you'll need to run a new cable from your furnace to your thermostat to install most of the modern smart thermostat models. Thermostat wire is just a big spool of bundled, color-coded wires.

Majority of thermostats in homes these days do not have common wires, aka C wire. Nest thermostats claim they do not need a C wire. The nest claim is true and that is magical but, that is not always the case.

The common wire alleviates a lot of head aches for the NEST thermostat and the customer.
Installing the common wire is something WE DO and DO NOT charge extra for. Innovative air has been a nest pro for many, many years and wont neglect the benefit of installing a common wire, aka C wire during a nest thermostat installation.

It's like giving a car 87 octane and then giving it 91.... The nest will act like the happy little thermostat that it is...  In Arizona, you do not want to have issues with your AC not working because of your wonderful nest thermostat. Get nest thermostats installed professionally by innovative air, you wont regret it. WE don't charge extra to install a c wire on a nest thermostat but, we know a ton of HVAC companies in arizona that do.

Veteran air conditioning techs who have installed many Honeywell thermostats over the years know what good a common wire does to a higher technology stat.That is why they are added. Real HVAC pros and installers add C wires to any thermostat that runs on batteries. When the battery dies, you still have power to that awesome thermostat. Electrical stability is prime for any high tech thermostat and that is just what a Common, C wire does for your Nest thermostat.