I just received an email from Google stating that they are no longer it's going to support the Nest 1st gen and 2nd gen thermostats. While they will continue to operate locally, it appears that they will no longer work with the Nest app or Home app controls. I currently use the Nest app to control the thermostats, but does this mean that we won't even be able to control the thermostats via a Hubitat integration?

Cheers,
Simon

I got email too. WHat a bummer. It says the API will be removed, so my guess is unless someone comes up with a heck, there's no way to interact with the thermostat other than thru the physical dial.

Correct.

Thanks. That's so annoying. I have 8 Nest thermostats in my house and will have to replace them all.

If you have relatively simple HVAC systems (eg. 1H/1C, or single-stage HP with 1 AUX stage), consider getting locally controlled zigbee/z-wave thermostats.

You could also get ecobee thermostats that can be controlled locally, if you are also using Home Assistant.

The latest Nests (from 2020 on - G3 or greater?) now support local Matter - So that's a long term option that's not cloud dependant. That all said, I certainly understand if you don't want to go back to the well with Google/Nest

G4 or the 'E'. G3 is not matter compatible currently, and i dare say Google will probably never do it. Sadly, the G4 was only released in the US - those of us in Europe are a bit stuck!

Planned obsolescence is exactly this, that is the first reason why you never buy anything that needs the internet to function the way you want it to function. If you do buy it, be sure this will happen and more than less in the coming years, it's either this sh!t or the now ever so popular pay a monthly fee. YOU OWN NOTHING AND WE OWN YOU

I have 5 2nd gen Thermostats. Not a fan of shelling out $1k to get them all replaced.

These replies are all really helpful, thank you! I just checked and I have 9 Gen 1 and 2 Nest thermostats, all of which I will need to replace if I want to control them remotely (which I do). Google have offered the Gen 4 thermostats for $150 each, but I don't want to be in the same position as I am now if Google stop supporting them in the future. Is this a concern, or are we saying that these Gen 4 thermostats will ALWAYS be able to be controlled via the Hubitat hub? If not, what other thermostats do you all recommend that are more futureproof?

Cheers
Simon

Yes, theoritically this - Assuming your using Matter as the interface protocol. That said, I think the support for matter T-Stats is fairly limited, setpoints, on/off, mode, and current temps, that's about it.

But you should definitely read the following threads - There is a HE built in Googe Nest Thermostat driver available - But some questions to be considered are:

Hence my comment above about "the technically" are supported, but @bcopeland would have to weigh in on what works, and what's actually exposed on the matter side. - But yes, after provisioning (setup), Matter is all local (so no Google cloud dependancy). The second thread mentioned above, has a good screenshot at the top that shows what the Matter driver exposes.

Regardless, I would just buy 1 and test (with a site with a good return policy), before going "all in", but obviously, YMMV

If always having local control over your thermostat while maintaining full functionality while being able to control remotely I can't recommend enough getting the Ecobee thermostats and setting up an instance of Home Assistant on a RPi or a cheap second hand computer.

Then through the Homekit Device integration in HA you connect the Ecobee via the Homekit code. (Just connect the Ecobee to your wifi first, not the Homekit app).

Then using the Home Assistant Device Bridge you can bring in any amount of entities you want of your thermostats into Hubitat and have full use of them. You can write all your rules/automations in Hubitat.

Then if wifi support is dropped by Ecobee you will always have local control. The benefit of this above matter is you will have every function you would have through the Ecobee app. Unless you didn't bring them all over and that choice is yours.

Thank you both! It looks as though the Nest integration is a bit messy/painful and could have limited functionality. I have Ecobee thermostats in another house and I haven't had any trouble with them, so while IMO they don't look as cool or feel as good as the Nest thermostats, it sounds as though they are currently more reliable.

@aaiyar I have a Hubitat C8-Pro, but are you saying that I can't just pair the Ecobees with the Hubitat and I need to run a RaspberryPi to somehow connect the Ecobees to the Hubitat? I'm afraid I don't have the time right now to play around with it and just need thermostats that can connect to and be controlled by the Hubitat.

EDIT: this article appears to say I can just connect the Ecobees directly to the Hubitat: Ecobee Integration | Hubitat Documentation

You can. Using the cloud integration you linked to.

If you want a local (non-cloud) integration, then you have to include Home Assistant in the mix.

Ah thanks. So I could run the ecobee thermostats with the cloud integration for now and then in a few years time if ecobee stop supporting the cloud integration then I could run a local instance of HA and still be able to control my thermostats via habita?

Might be easier in a few years when ecobee adds Matter compatibility to their products.

Having been burned by Google on their Nest Secure and Nest Protect offerings, I fear it is only a matter of time before they end of life their Nest 3rd generation thermostat. So I have already been researching it's replacement. Take a look at Go Control z-wave thermostat. Looks promising and it is natively supported in Hubitat. Plus we won't be bugged by Google into ceeding our autonomy to the utility company over the environmental settings. I have not which it why they bug me about it. Do not believe Google about being always being able to override their remote adjustments. A lesson I learned by reading complaints from users in California. Seems the state declared a grid emergency so commanded participant devices to set to much higher cooling temperatures. Ok fine but also locked out any ability to change it back. A "feature" Google never mentions and a permanent deal breaker for me.

Hopefully Ecobee comes out with a matter solution before October.