Nest Thermostat Delayed - Complete Fixes Guide (2024)

It’s weekend! After the hectic week, I finally got to chill for some time and today was that day. I came home late last night so I woke up late. It was a bright sunny day so I thought my thermostat needs some temperature adjustment.

I stood up and went towards my thermostat, what I witnessed was Nest delayed message. What was it? I mean Nest settings not matching the temperature or Nest low battery warnings is one issue domain but this? What was I supposed to do? A lot of questions were there but I got no answer.

Nevertheless, I had to solve this issue no matter what. So I took some help from internet and also contacted my friends who were having the same thermostat model. I gathered up all the required knowledge and decided to share it with you all.

Nest says delayed because it is experiencing low power issue. To solve this, the easiest way would be to charge your thermostat for almost 2 hours. In the long run, you will have to include the C-wire connection.

Table of Contents

NEST THERMOSTAT DELAYED:

The latest models of nest thermostat come with many advanced features. One of them is the presence of backup batteries. As you know that nest thermostats require batteries for their working. While some of them require direct power supply from the breaker. What if the power goes out and no power is received by the thermostat?

Well, Nest thermostats come prepared for such cases. They have lithium-ion batteries which act as a backup. When the power goes out these batteries act as a backup and provide power to your thermostat. But these batteries also need a charge up to work continuously.

When these rechargeable batteries are about to die then your thermostat will be affected directly. One of the affects is that Nest thermostat says delayed. So this is basically the reason why does nest say delayed.

NEST AIR CONDITIONING DELAYED – FIXES EXPLAINED!

Nest thermostat showing delayed message problem could be fixed easily. If you are interested in knowing all the details regarding this then I would suggest you to continue reading this section of the article.

FIX 1 – NEST CHARGE UP

The easiest and most common fix for the delayed message problem is to charge your nest thermostat. Charging your nest will also charge the backup lithium-ion batteries and the delayed message will be vanished within no time.

STEPS TO CONSIDER:

STEP 1 – Remove the face plate or display of the thermostat

STEP 2 – Turn it around and look for the USB port

STEP 3 – Once found, plug in the charging wire to start charging. You could use either a mini USB cord or a micro USB cord depending upon the model you own

STEP 4 – To make sure that the current is flowing properly, look for the red light blinking on your Nest thermostat which indicates that the charge up process is running successfully

STEP 5 – If your thermostat had battery left in it then it will take less than an hour to charge. However, in case of fully drained battery you will have to charge the thermostat for almost 2 hours

STEP 6 – After the charging has been done, reconnect your thermostat to the wall and start using it

However, performing this fix will solve your problem temporarily. If you want to solve your problem permanently then you will have to follow the next fix.

FIX 2 – C WIRE CONNECTION TO NEST AND FURNACE

In the Nest thermostat mechanism, the power is drawn from either cooling wire or heating wire. This power is sufficient for just keeping the thermostat powered and ON. Sometimes this power becomes insufficient so you will have to adopt some other strategy to solve this issue.

This fix requires the involvement of a C-wire connection also known as a common wire. Before starting the actual process, there are some facts which must be known by you before-hand.

First of all you need to check the live footage of your thermostat’s wire connections. For this you will have to head towards the “Settings” and then “Equipment”. The wire which you need to look at is the blue wire. This blue wire is the common wire which will draw the power from furnace to your Nest.

WHAT IF THERE ISN’T ANY BLUE WIRE?

However, if you don’t see a blue wire then you will have to make some extra efforts which we will discuss in this section of the article.

STEPS TO FOLLOW:

STEP 1 – Go to your circuit breaker and unplug that breaker which controls Nest, do the same for your furnace

STEP 2 – Go to your thermostat and look at the wire connections. The wire which you are looking for is the blue wire

STEP 3 – After confirming the presence of common wire, it is time to visit the furnace now

STEP 4 – Remove the metal plate of the furnace and reach its motherboard

STEP 5 – To do this you will have to remove the screws first and then you can continue

STEP 6 – In the motherboard, look for the low-voltage wires. You will find 2 split-off wires, one having 2 off-shooting wires while the other having 5

STEP 7 – Our main focus is the 5 off-shooting wire. Out of those 5 wires, you will see a blue wire which has not been connected. Take that wire and connect it with the motherboard where it says “Com”

STEP 8 – Now head towards your Nest and connect the blue wire to the C-port

STEP 9 – Now plug back the breakers and turn ON the power. Go to your thermostat and confirm that the live wire setting is now showing blue wire connection as well

STEP 10 – That’s it! If you have witnessed the wire connection then your process has been completed

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A C-WIRE?

I know it must be hard to permanently add a C-wire to your Nest just because you want to get rid of the delayed message. But there are other benefits as well which you can get from a C-wire connection.

A C-wire fixes the strange noises that your system might cause often
Heating and cooling won’t turn OFF

The system fan won’t turn OFF
Provides consistent power to your thermostat

SHOULD I CONTACT NEST CUSTOMER SUPPORT?

In case you don’t know how to perform the above procedure or you are not sure whether you can do it or not, the easiest solution would be contacting the Nest customer support and letting them handle your case.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Every smart device comes with an issue, if you want to resolve that issue then you will have to expand your domain knowledge regarding that issue. After reading this article your query of “Why does my nest thermostat say delayed?” will be fixed in no time.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q – What Does Delayed Mean On Nest?
A – Delayed message on Nest thermostat means that the backup lithium-ion batteries are about to die and you will have to charge them up as soon as possible.

Q – How Do I Fix Delayed On Nest?
A – To fix “Delayed” on nest you will have to charge your nest for about 2 hours and then use it.

Q – Is It Necessary To Add A C-wire To Solve Delayed Issue?
A – No, it is not necessary. However, if you want to resolve the issue permanently then yes you will have to add the C-wire connection by following the above process.