Nest Thermostat in 2026
In 2026, the author finally installed a smart thermostat after facing numerous challenges. Their previous home, built in 1970, lacked a C wire in the new thermostat, which prevented them from installing a true smart thermostat. The author considered various solutions such as using batteries, proprietary adapters, or rewiring the wall, but ultimately decided to upgrade the existing thermostat cable.
After two years of planning, the author ordered a 50ft 6-wire thermostat cable and began the installation process by tracing the existing thermostat cable to its location in the basement. They faced difficulties due to the cable's thickly taped area but managed to free it from the wall by enlarging the existing hole. The author successfully pulled the old wire down and attached the new cable to the old one behind the thermostat, then pulled the new cable through the basement ceiling hole.
The final steps involved straightening the cable and tying one end to a door handle to prevent accidental tugging.
Written by urgent.news from Lobsters's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
