My Nest E thermostat has shown the dreaded W5 error today. All my research is saying the Wi-Fi chip is fried and its a well known issue with Nest thermostats.
It has only lasted me 6 months and from a Home Assistant standpoint has been a bit infuriating as it constantly needs reintegration.
The plus side is that it cost me a grand total of £15 off a charity shop on eBay that was selling it for spares and repairs because the display was “dead” but actually just needed a good charge. I saw from my research that this has happened to a lot of people who actually paid full price for it, and replacements are only sent out if it’s in warranty.
It still works as a thermostat but ain’t smart no more! I’ll have to start trawling ebay for a cheap replacement display.
Nothing else to say, I’ve been starved of social media this week, going cold turkey from the R word, so that’s what this is really.
I’ve been very happy with my EcoBee so far, I moved to it after way too many issues with my Nest. It seems to work just fine with HA.
Time to code your own thermostat.
An esp32, a 4x or 8x relay board, and a 24vac to 5vdc rectifier/regulator and you’re golden.
Even has WiFi ;)
I would dearly love to become the hack a board hobbyist that a lot of you guys are, I’m genuinely in awe of some of the things I see people make but it’s a little daunting.
I can’t solder and haven’t even tried. I get confused by the components, ohms and volts flumox me and the one time I tried to code something in ESPHome made 3 lights into bricks.
So I’m very much a “make cool stuff with off the shelf devices” kind of guy.
Have you checked to see if your state has some sort of energy program to get a smart thermostat at a discount? I got our Ecobee for $20 through our states program and it works pretty well with Home Assistant
I haven’t, but I will, thanks for the suggestion