Nest Thermostat Schedule & Eco Temperatures Setup Guide

To set a Nest thermostat schedule and Eco Temperatures, open the Google Home app, tap your thermostat, and use its settings to add or edit scheduled temperature setpoints for each part of the day. Eco Temperatures are a separate pair of energy-saving setpoints (one heat, one cool) that take over automatically when everyone leaves, or that you can trigger manually. The schedule handles your day-to-day comfort; Eco handles the hours nobody's home. Getting both right is what actually lowers your energy use without leaving you cold.

This guide covers the current Nest Thermostat and the older Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest Thermostat E. Most Nest thermostats are now managed in the Google Home app; some older accounts still live in the legacy Nest app. If you're just getting started, see our walkthrough on how to set up a Google Nest thermostat first, then come back here for scheduling.

Schedule vs. Eco Temperatures: what each one does

These are two different systems, and understanding the split is the key to using them well.

• The schedule is a list of temperature setpoints tied to times and days — for example, 68°F at 6:30 a.m., cooler mid-morning, warmer again in the evening. It runs whether or not anyone is home, so it's about your normal comfort routine.
• Eco Temperatures are two fixed setpoints: a low heat temperature (how cold you'll let the house get in winter) and a high cool temperature (how warm you'll let it get in summer). When Eco is active, your thermostat only runs heating or cooling to stay within that wider band, which is where the savings come from.

How to set your Nest thermostat schedule

The schedule lives inside your thermostat's controls in the app. Apps change their layout over time, so look for the labels rather than exact screen names.

1. 1Open the Google Home app and tap your thermostat
2. 2Open its schedule settings and add or edit a setpoint
3. 3Set the temperature, time, and days for each block
4. 4Save, then review the full day for gaps

1. Open the Google Home app and tap your thermostat tile to open its controls.
2. Find the schedule. Look in the thermostat's settings or scheduling section. You'll see a day-by-day timeline of setpoints.
3. Add a setpoint. Tap to add a new temperature point, then choose the temperature, the time of day, and which days it applies to. Think in terms of your real routine: wake, away, home, sleep.
4. Adjust or remove points by tapping an existing one. If you're in Heat • Cool (dual) mode, you'll set both a heat and a cool target so the system knows the acceptable range.
5. Copy across days where the app allows it, so you don't rebuild Tuesday from scratch after finishing Monday.
6. Review the whole day once you're done. Overlapping or missing setpoints are the most common reason a Nest "ignores" your schedule.

A note on the Learning Thermostat

The Nest Learning Thermostat can build a schedule automatically by watching the temperatures you set during your first days of use. If Auto-Schedule is on, your manual changes gradually shape the schedule. If you'd rather control it precisely, you can turn Auto-Schedule off in the thermostat's settings and edit every block yourself. The current Nest Thermostat doesn't learn this way — it offers preset temperature suggestions instead, and you accept or edit them.

How to set Eco Temperatures

Eco Temperatures are set once and then used again and again whenever the thermostat goes into Eco mode.

1. Open your thermostat in the Google Home app and go into its settings.
2. Find Eco Temperatures. You'll set a heating low (the coldest you'll allow when away) and a cooling high (the warmest you'll allow).
3. Choose sensible limits. A common approach is a few degrees beyond your comfort range — cool enough in winter and warm enough in summer to save energy, but not so extreme that the house takes an hour to recover when you return.
4. Save. These values now apply every time Eco activates, whether automatically or by hand.

Triggering Eco automatically vs. manually

You can switch to Eco by hand from the thermostat controls at any time — handy before a weekend trip. But the real value is automatic switching:

• Home/Away Assist (presence sensing) uses your phone's location and the thermostat's own sensors to decide whether anyone is home, then flips to Eco when the house is empty and back to your schedule when someone returns.
• Google Home Routines can tie heating and cooling to broader automations. For deeper control, see our guides on Home/Away routines in Google Home and creating routines and automations.

Requirements and quick reference

Voice control works too. You can adjust the temperature or ask what it's set to through Google Assistant on any linked speaker or display — see our list of useful Google Assistant commands for the exact phrasing.

Troubleshooting a schedule that won't behave

• The thermostat sits in Eco when you're home. Presence sensing may think the house is empty. Confirm your phone's location permissions and that your address is set correctly, and check that everyone's phone is added to the home.
• Scheduled changes don't happen. Look for overlapping setpoints or a block set to the wrong days. Also confirm the thermostat is in the right mode (Heat, Cool, or Heat • Cool) for the setpoints you created.
• Auto-Schedule keeps changing things. On a Learning Thermostat, turn Auto-Schedule off if you want manual control to stick.
• The thermostat is offline. A schedule can't run if the device dropped off Wi-Fi. If you recently changed networks, see how to change the Wi-Fi network on Google Home / Nest.

Frequently asked questions

Do Eco Temperatures override my schedule?

While Eco is active, yes — the thermostat targets the Eco limits instead of your scheduled setpoints. Once Eco turns off (you return home, or you switch it off manually), your normal schedule resumes automatically.

Can I have a schedule without using Eco?

Yes. The schedule and Eco are independent. You can run a schedule and never enable automatic Eco switching, though you'll miss most of the away-time savings. You can also leave presence sensing off and only trigger Eco by hand.

Why did my Nest change temperature on its own?

Usually it's the schedule reaching a new setpoint, Eco activating because the home looks empty, or (on a Learning Thermostat) Auto-Schedule adjusting based on past behavior. The thermostat's history in the app shows what changed and why.

Do I use the Google Home app or the Nest app?

Most Nest thermostats are now managed in the Google Home app, and Google has been moving remaining accounts over. If your thermostat still only appears in the legacy Nest app, use that for now. Either way, the schedule and Eco concepts are the same. If you're setting up your ecosystem from scratch, our first-time Google Home & Nest setup guide covers the account side.

Sources

• Google Home — official product hub
• Google Nest devices — Google Store
• U.S. Department of Energy — thermostats and energy saving