Sounds like another happy NEST customer.

Loose the nest!!!

 

You're suggesting that, despite the Nest being installed / running the system for 6 years, that swapping it back to a standard thermostat will make my power consumption go down after spiking only in the last three months?

 

The nest thermostat does some funny things to furnace control boards.
Mainly due to the power robbing the thermostat does when not wired with a C line. And sometimes even when it is.
The basic theory of operation is that it PARTIALLY closes a relay that's not in use to complete the circuit, thereby its able to charge the internal battery. It's a neat theory, but it's like driving a standard transmission car and always having your foot on the clutch......
Something will burn out prematurely.
Replacing the nest at this point may or may not solve your power consumption. Because the control board in your furnace is probably already damaged

 

No
I’m Stating for a fact!!!!!!
NEST is the biggest POS with great marketing

 

1_you need to edit those $$$ out, they are not permitted.
Or a moderator will be along shortly to remove them and admonish you.
Sound like you have not found a service tech yet.
And yea, that NEST is not all that goggle makes everyone thing it is.
Never heard of a heater pulling 4 amps, smell a bit like......to me.

 

1_you need to edit those $$$ out, they are not permitted.
Or a moderator will be along shortly to remove them and admonish you.

I did not post or ask for price comparisons. I am simply stating the cost involved as I recap the steps we've already taken.

 

I am unsure why the Nest has received so much focus in the replies when the only thing that changed about the system before all these issues started occurring was a new blower motor. Wouldn't Occam's razor tell us that the blower motor replacement is the obvious first thing to consider instead of the thermostat?

 

No, it wouldn’t, it would suggest KISS. The NEST is superfluous tech that has been suspected by many technicians to cause cascading and random failures. So, eliminating an aftermarket component is a process of elimination. Blaming the blower motor is simply guessing.
FWIW, if a tech finds issues you’re describing, this suggests a poor installation contractor. If a system is installed incorrectly it doesn’t mean it won’t work, it can take a while for issues to arise due to poor installation practices. A service tech attempts to locate a problem through what methods they’ve deemed efficient. Most homeowners don’t realize there are many little details to a properly installed system. It could take many hours in some cases to identify each detail that was not acceptable. Due to cost, a technician is there to identify a problem in the most efficient manner they know how. I will admit there are some that are better at it than others. Certainly, a blower motor failure doesn’t make a technician think, “let me trace out the drain and see if it was installed properly.”
Good luck, hope your tech can solve the issue.

 

Did you register your system initially ( if your the original owner ) if so that blower motor should be covered under a 10 year manufacturers warranty.

“He said the heat strips pull 4 amps when they're on“

Heat strips do not pull that low a amprege, what size do you have, 5KW, 7.5/8 KW, 10KW or more. As an example only a 5 KW at 220 volts draws approximately 20 amps, a 7.5 KW approximately 30 amps. a 10 KW draws approximately 40 amps.

 

It was not register and not covered.

 

“He said the heat strips pull 4 amps when they're on“

Heat strips do not draw that low a amprege, what size heater elements do you have, as an example a 5 KW, 7.5/8 KW, 10 KW or more. As an example only a 5 KW at 220 volts draws approximately 20 amps, a 7.5/8 KW draws approximately 30 amps. a 10 KW draws approximately 40 amps.

Usually they highlight the size on a electrical data plate/sheet that’s attached to the Air Handler outside of the access panel, but not always.

 

How many amps is the breaker for the heat strip ?

 

Prices not allowed in this forum as per rules.

 

Heat strips CAN pull low amps when they are broke and shorting. I diagnosed this exact issue this summer. Dont recall amp draw. Easy enough to pull and examine. The NEST can energize heat strips intermittenly. I dont care if customer has a NEST because I get paid to replace them. If unit has not been regularly serviced, then drain issue is on you. Whether or not drain was properly installed, I cant see it from here.

 

Nest thermostats have an extremely high failure rate compared to a QUALITY thermostat, like a Honeywell among others.
The Nest is an awesomely marketed turd!!!!!

And YES, that device can, and has been proven to be, the killer of boards, the cause of many oddities in operation and less than the money saver it is supposed to be.

 

Starting with the blower motor failure: A blower motor that fails in that short of a time period quit because of something destroying it. #1 cause of premature blower motor failures is lack of air flow which can be caused by inadequate ductwork (not large enough to move the correct amount of air the unit must have), air filter allowed to get too dirty before changing, some of the registers being closed and a few other reasons. Note: Lack of air flow (the original issue) is not always due to a failed blower motor. If the AC coil in the unit freezes over you will have no air flow.

The drain pan that is below the unit should never have any moisture in it period. If water ever does show up in it it means that there is an issue with the unit above it. Either the drain in the unit is plugged or something has broken or failed allowing water to leak out of the unit into the pan. Another reason could be that the AC coil is freezing up and when the unit shuts down and the ice melts it overwhelms the drain and leaks water into the pan. Again, there should never be water in the pan. And there should be a float switch in the pan to shut the unit down if the pan gets too full and leaks onto the ceiling.

You're looking for cause and effect with limited information and knowledge of what you are trying to diagnose and as such are concentrating on what you believe is the culprit when in fact it sounds like the techs you had out did a poor job of diagnosing all of your issues and worse yet did a poor job of explaining things and educating you as to how the system works as a whole. You need to find someone that will do a full evaluation of your entire system and come up with a solution that will give you many years of trouble free comfort. You're going to need to find someone you trust, because if they tell you their professional opinion and you question it because you believe something else is the issue............ you're going to have many more years of problems.

My "opinion" of Nest thermostats is I've replaced dozens of them and never had a call back about the new thermostat I installed.

 

Post some photos, or a link to them.

As others have stated, the water issue is on YOU for ignoring it. That deck drain is an EMERGENCY/IMMEDIATE fix needed sign.

 

Well, the installer put the drain pipe for the drain pan in a location that would notify the homeowner (You) that there was water in the pan, thus telling the homeowner (you), of a problem with the unit condensate drain. Something about the blower motor failure sounds fishy to me. I think you need to find a professional HVAC service company to come to your home and check your system, for proper air flow. Sounds like something is restricting it so motor wasn't receiving enough cooling. Usually comfort will be the first indicator of improper airflow.

 

sometimes a duct comes loose from unit in attic, and the air leakge can spike powewr bills.