The Google Nest Temperature Sensor lets you choose where your thermostat measures the temperature in your home to help keep you comfortable. The Nest Temperature Sensor has two generations, but both are compatible with Google Nest Thermostat E and Google Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen and 4th gen).
| Nest Temperature Sensor (1st gen) | Nest Temperature Sensor (2nd gen) |
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A temperature sensor can help if you're consistently too cold or too warm in a room in your home. A thermostat only measures the temperature of the room that it's in. It then heats or cools your entire home based on that temperature, even if it's different from the rooms where you spend the most time.
Most homes aren’t the same temperature in every room. This is due to a number of factors like the windows, size of the room, and amount of sunlight. If you install a Nest Temperature Sensor in a room, it measures that room's temperature and sends it to your thermostat. Based on the sensor reading, your thermostat can then adjust the temperature to keep you more comfortable.
For example, a temperature sensor might be useful if you have a multi-story home. The sensor can help your thermostat adjust the temperature to your needs at any time of the day.
The Nest thermostat works fine without a sensor, and you don't need a temperature sensor to use your thermostat. However, if your thermostat is in an out-of-the-way location, or if you spend a lot of time in a room other than the one your thermostat is in, a temperature sensor might help keep you more comfortable.
You can't use a Nest Temperature Sensor without a Nest thermostat. Your temperature sensor reports temperature data directly to a Nest thermostat in the same home.
Compatibility
The Nest Temperature Sensor works with the following thermostats:
- Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd and 4th gen)
- Nest Thermostat E
Supported countries:
- United States
- Canada
- Mexico
How to tell which Nest thermostat you have
Important: Thermostats purchased from a retailer in one of the countries listed above should work with the sensor. Thermostats designed for use in other countries aren’t compatible with the sensor. The app prevents you from adding the sensor to a thermostat designed for use in any other country.
The Nest Temperature Sensor should work in most homes. Since it's battery-powered, you don't need any special wiring or an outlet to use it. It connects to your Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd or 4th gen) and Nest Thermostat E over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and has a range of about 50 ft (15 m).
Important: This range can be reduced based on a number of factors such as:
- the number of walls between your sensor and thermostat
- the construction materials in your home
- any large appliances
- competing wireless signals
The Nest Temperature Sensor works with the same systems as your thermostat, regardless of what type of system you have.
- If you have a Nest thermostat that's compatible with the Nest Temperature Sensor, the sensor can work with your system.
- If you don't have a Nest thermostat yet, you can find out if your system works with the thermostat and the sensor with our compatibility checker.
You can have up to 6 sensors for each compatible Nest thermostat in your home, up to a total of 18 sensors.
Nest Thermostats are currently only compatible with Nest sensors.
Features
Your system works the same way, except that it can take the temperature reading from the sensor instead of the thermostat.
- You can add one or more temperature sensors to the Google Home app or Nest app and choose a thermostat for them to report to.
- The sensor tells your thermostat what the temperature is in the room where it's placed.
- You can also choose which sensor controls your thermostat and schedule your thermostat to use different sensors at different times of the day.
- Whenever the sensor is active, your thermostat uses its reading to control when your system turns on and off. Your thermostat ignores its own built-in temperature sensor during those times.
| Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen) | Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor setup and control |
Google Home and Nest app |
Google Home app only |
| Sensor status and alerts |
Google Home and Nest app |
Google Home app only |
| Prioritize the temperature of a specific room |
4 fixed time intervals |
Flexibility to choose 1-hour increments |
| Number of sensors supported | Up to 4 | Up to 6 |
| Average across sensors |  |
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| Include a sensor in your thermostat’s schedule | |
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| Average the temperature across rooms | |
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| Manually choose which sensor to use | |
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When you tap on a thermostat in the Google Home or Nest app, you can check all the Nest Temperature Sensors connected to that thermostat.
You can also compare your sensor's temperature reading to your thermostat's reading.
Your thermostat also shows if your sensor is usually warmer, colder, or about the same as your thermostat. This can help you learn more about your home, optimal places for your temperature sensors, and when you want your thermostat to use them.
A CR2 Lithium battery is included with your Nest Temperature Sensor. It's also commonly available for purchase at a local store.
To replace the battery for Nest Temperature Sensor (1st gen), insert a coin into the slot on the back of your sensor. Then, turn the coin to unscrew the battery cover.
For Nest Temperature Sensor (2nd gen), rotate the back cover of your sensor in a counterclockwise direction to unscrew the battery cover.
For Nest Temperature Sensor (1st gen), insert a coin into the slot on the back of your sensor and turn to unscrew the battery cover. The serial number is located on the inside of the temperature sensor once the battery cover is removed.
For Nest Temperature Sensor (2nd gen), rotate the back cover of your sensor in a counterclockwise direction to unscrew the battery cover. The serial number is located on the inside of the temperature sensor once the battery cover is removed.The Nest Temperature Sensor's battery can last up to 2 years.
You should receive a notification on your phone and be alerted in the Google Home app or Nest app when the battery is low. You should also get another notification when your battery is critically low, so there's plenty of time to change the batteries.
If you wait too long, your sensor powers down and stops reporting temperature data. It then gets listed as offline in the Google Home app or Nest app. You need to replace the battery for it to work again.
The Nest Temperature Sensor is designed to keep you comfortable. Its energy use level depends on many factors, including sensor placement, the thermostat’s target temperature, and the temperatures set in your schedule.
For example, during the winter when you heat your home:
- If you place your sensor in a well-insulated bedroom that heats up quickly, your system might turn off sooner than usual which could save energy.
- If you place your sensor in a wide open living space that heats up slowly, your system might run longer and could use more energy.
The Nest Temperature Sensor is designed for one thing, which is to measure the temperature.
You don't need to rely on motion tracking to determine which sensor your thermostat uses. You can set a schedule for your sensors, which gives you additional control over your comfort. Once your schedule is set, your thermostat can keep the rooms you want comfortable at the times you want.
Setup and Installation
For complete instructions on the installation of your Nest Temperature Sensor, go to Set up and install your Nest Temperature Sensor.
The Nest temperature sensor was designed to blend in to your home's surroundings.
If you want to make your temperature sensor less visible, here are a tips:
- If you hide your temperature sensor behind something, make sure it has good airflow for it to accurately measure the temperature in the room.
- Don't completely cover the sensor, block airflow, or place it somewhere that's exposed to a source of heating or cooling like a fireplace.
Important: Do not paint your Nest Temperature Sensor.
Use your Nest Temperature Sensor
You can set a schedule to have your thermostat use a different sensor at different times of the day. For each thermostat, you can select the temperature sensor you want to use for each time of day.
Important: You can only do this with a zoned system or special vents installed in your home.
Single zone systems turn on and heat or cool all parts of your home at the same time. For example, you can't stop heating one room and continue to heat another. In most homes, all the rooms continue to heat or cool until your system shuts off.
For Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen), you can attach up to 6 sensors per thermostat. However, your thermostat can only use one at a time.
Nest Temperature Sensors let you choose which room in your house is most important. It can also set a schedule so your thermostat uses different sensors at different times. Your thermostat then uses the sensor you chose to keep your home comfortable.
For Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen), you can attach up to 6 sensors per thermostat and select more than one sensor. Your thermostat heats or cools your home based on the average indoor temperature of the sensors you select.
If you have a zoned system with multiple thermostats, you can set these thermostats to different temperatures. You can use up to 6 Nest Temperature Sensors for each thermostat.
Sometimes, different rooms, or sensors in the same room might show different temperatures in the Google Home app or Nest app.
Some rooms are large and take longer to heat up or cool down. Rooms with lots of windows may lose heat more quickly in the winter, or heat up more quickly if the sun is shining. Even closing a hallway door can keep air from circulating and cause a temperature difference.
The Google Home app or Nest app can show you if one of your sensors has a temperature that's significantly different from your other sensors. That way you can tell which temperature sensor to use at a certain time to keep you the most comfortable.
No. The Nest Temperature Sensor can only measure the temperature.
Safety and Security
Nest Temperature Sensors are battery-powered and work even if your home's Wi-Fi goes out. The temperature sensor uses Bluetooth to send information to your Nest thermostat so it doesn't need Wi-Fi.
If your temperature sensor fails to report data for over 10 minutes, your thermostat defaults to its built-in temperature sensors. If your sensor fails to report data for an extended period of time, you should get a notification on your phone. You may need to move your temperature sensor closer to your thermostat to bring it back online.
We take data security very seriously and work hard to make sure that your personal information isn't compromised.
It's important that any data we transmit remains secure, even the temperature data in your home. Data is encrypted and transmitted over Bluetooth directly from your temperature sensor to your thermostat.
Information from your thermostat is transmitted to Nest servers using secure AES 128-bit encryption to help keep your data safe.
Yes, Nest Temperature Sensors have a 1-year warranty.
At Nest, we take your privacy seriously. Learn more about our privacy practices at the Privacy statement for Nest products and services.
Purchase and order
There are no additional fees to use your thermostat or your temperature sensors.
You can purchase the Nest Temperature Sensor at store.google.com or from a retail partner.